Fort Haste: Winter

by Zencolour

Humanity has been swept clean by some unknown virus and the few survivors count themselves the unlucky ones. In a new world of mutant Pokémon, crippling winters, and a survivalist camp to run - Orion has plenty on his mind. But what if the true enemy are the deeds of his past? Rated T for violence and language.

10. Chapter 9

FH:WINTER

"Fort Haste: WINTER" is a recount of a tale set within the Pokémon world - one in which everything has gone wrong. Here we meet the final survivors as they struggle to endure through hell and beyond. An unknown virus has wiped-out most of humanity, leaving behind children which seem to be less affected by the disease. In an attempt to preserve what remains of humanity, Fort Haste was bodged in the months following the pandemic. Even now, the settlement remains at the very heart of the ongoing apocalypse. For everything that has happened and all the trials humanity has faced - Fort Haste stands as a vision of hope.

Please note, this and following chapters will contain both narrative and speech in various dialects and languages. Anything said in Pokémon will be underlined as shown. Normal speech will remain unaffected, although italics and bold may be used for effect following standard rules. For whistle calls *…something like this…* will be used. Any random flashbacks are marked with {''}.

Fort Haste is a work of fiction written as a collaboration between ZenColour and Just-A-Reader0Love. Both are also very thankful for the additional help from Oblivion Wave Productions as our very own beta reader.

---

AUTHOR NOTES

---

Zen: This chapter brings together all the strands for the next two to three chapters which will bring this story to a close. The huge delay on updated came from a number of IRL commitments, as well as R'love and I becoming a little distracted by writing other stories. Please excuse some of the typos, and enjoy the story!

R'Love: This chapter definitely took quite a while, but the wait will be worth it! Very important information will come about in this chapter.

---

HAYS SNH Version 3 (0058 PA)

Forward written by H. Bennett and A. Good [EXTRACT]

9000406224992 - Sinnoh Outreach Programme for Historical Preservation

Recovery after the outbreak was slow, with complete societal collapse across most of the globe. The chains of civilisation that had bound us fell away, and humans were free to pray on each other. Fort Haste was an anomaly amongst the sweep of short-lived tribe-like population centres. Here people and Pokémon once more adjoined to live life symbiotically.

---

CHAPTER 9

---

An Extract from the 'Book of Hays'

"We waited for what the future would bring. Only this time, we were ready."

---

MIKE's POV

---

I held the door open for Fenn.

'Here we go.'

The kind gesture failed to register as Fort Haste's second-in-command stepped through. Fenn lifted her chin, eyes surveying the drab interior of the medical ward.

With a sigh, I dropped-in behind. The action of closing the door of the make-shift hospital rattled the MDF walls against the shed's steel supports. Only dull candle light illuminated the long room and row of hospital beds inside. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the gloom. Haley and Jane silhouettes jumped between beds as they worked. I gave a short wave to my girlfriend and she smiled warmly in return. It couldn't help but grin as a warm feeling rose in my chest.

There was a strange glow to Haley that I didn't see in anyone else. She seemed to burn with fierce energy...all the while radiating a calm oneness with both herself and her actions. How could I have avoided falling in love with her? Haley was level-headed, completely unlike myself. We got on so well simply because we complimented each other's weaknesses with our own strengths. Where I was physically strong Haley was emotionally unbeatable. Where I struggled for words Haley could convey a whole situation in one look. She did that now, glancing between Jane and Fenn before (with a small shrug) she made it clear she was going to be stuck there for some time.

Not like we had much of a home to go back to. The two of us had slept in the farmhouse last night in what had been Orion's room.

Fenn had quickly spun the story of what had just happened in a remarkably level tone. Jane made agreeable noises in the right places although she was clearly preoccupied with re-bangading one of the male teenager's legs. Whether from medication or shock, the boy was out stone cold. One of the girls was moaning in her sleep.

Both Haley and Jane were wearing plastic aprons as they worked. The contrast between the sterile uniform and the dusty barn interior didn't go unnoticed. Neither did the dried blood on their gloved hands.

'It might be a good idea to devise a plan of action at this point.'

Fenn skipped over the freakish disappearance of Derrick, jumping to the rather demanding need for a Chain meeting. Jane seemed unbothered anyhow, unconcerned by Derrick and everything that meant. I was convinced that the medic hadn't really understood the implications of what she had just been told. Personally, I was still struggling with the whole context of our dilemma. I mean, the Pokémon Legendaries really did exist...

'So I think we need to-'

'I'm busy.' Jane interrupted sternly, frantically pulling out another box of supplies from a shelving unit. She waved over at the casualties inside the medical wing, not even mentioning the infected boy in the second ward. Jane's bloodshot eyes lacked any emotion as they flicked between Fenn and I.

'It's kinda important.' Fenn's words were delicate.

'Yeah? So's keeping these Hasties alive. Let me worry about this...and you can sort out everything else.' Jane continued, pushing her glasses up her nose. With a huff she brushed flecks of bandage cloth from the apron and sighed heavily.

'Whatever it is…You know what you're doing. I trust you. Just let me do what I know.'

At last the second-in-command nodded, brushing blonde hair out of her blue eyes. That was one member of the chain down for our meeting and a hope for a warm venue loss. Fenn glared at the back of Jane's head before leaving with a grunt of disapproval. I followed shortly after, but not before giving Haley a peck on the cheek. She giggled before pushing me away with a shove.

Fenn was waiting for me outside with her arms crossed.

'She's got a point.' I said lightly, zipping up my jacket. It wasn't exactly cold outside, but a brisk breeze ruffled my ginger hair. 'There's always been too much work. Not to mention nobody really slept last night. At least, I didn't.'

'I know.' Fenn looked like she was going to say something scathing, but refrained. 'Ugh. Let's find Bass shall we?'

Although Fenn looked even more haggard than ever, I was taken aback by the boundless energy the young woman possessed. At this point I was dead-tired and was struggling to stay on my feet. Fenn seemed completely unfazed by the deteriorating madness. With a calm exterior and a ready (if strained) smile, Fenn held the whole of camp on the brink of anarchy with nothing but an abundance of self-confidence and a calm composure.

We found Bass frantically organising a number of activities in the far shed to distract the younger kids from exploding rumours. Since the incident the evening before, everything had warped into an extrapolated and rather terrifying mess. And we hadn't even had breakfast yet! If Fort Haste was in a hushed stupor before, now it was a bubble of terrified silence.

Bass leant against a wall outside a busy activity room. She scratched at her tired eyes during Fenn's rapidly recited story. The sounds of kids fletching and sewing in the background did little to calm my nervous energy.

'Like...I get where you're coming from.' Bass pulled a face, 'But I think I'm more useful keeping things upbeat in the dorms. Things are a little crazy at the moment.'

Fenn was in the middle of preparing a sharp retort but was interrupted by one of the year-leaders calling for help from the opposite room. Bass rolled her eyes at the timing of the shout. The small teenager felt no need to emphasise the irony.

'You don't need any help?' I asked but Bass shook her head. She tugged at the collar of her orange fleece.

'Nah. I've got Matt and a load of the Wildlings offering comfort. Anyways...are you sure this happened? Like, legendaries? Other people saw this too right? People have been freaking out all night!''

All I could do was nod.

'And this is to do with Orion?' Bass continued, 'Where is he by the way? I haven't seen him since...Wait. Wasn't he sleeping outside our door again this morning….?

She trailed off as is contemplating Orion's strange behaviour for the first time. Fenn was all business however, rolling some unease out of her shoulders. The feeling of fear and uncertainty was an emotion which seemed part of the air itself. The second-in-command shivered before replying,

'He's in the Foodhall recovering with a cup of tea.'

'Recovering?'

'He had a bit of a shock.' I explained quickly. It had become clear that Fenn was doing her best to cover-up Orion's more feral nature. Burying my hands into the pockets of my wax jacket, I grunted in pain as my thumb prodded the sharp end of a screw.

There was a yell from behind as one a couple of the older year leader shouted for Bass down the hallway. Something about one of the fire-types scolding a certain individual. The young girl sighed, tidying up her short balck hair with a hand.

'I better get back to it. Legendaries or not…I trust you guys to make the right decision. Let me keep the kids happy and you deal with the big-picture stuff. Alright? See you in a bit.'

'Thanks Bass.'

The teenager shrugged-off the gratitude as if it was nothing, closing the door and leaving Fenn and I out in the hallway. For a few moments, the second-in-command stared at the closed door before, with a sorrowful look, she turned to me. She pushed a few loose strands from her ponytail behind her ears.

'It looks like the chain is breaking up.' Fenn spoke matter-of-factly.

All I could do was nod as I followed the girl outside and across the yard towards the Foodhall.

'If what just happened...happened…' I mumbled, 'Maybe Bass and Jane are right? We don't need the chain anymore. In fact, we need some kind of fookin' war council...Then again, I don't think it would go down well if we, you know...broke the Chain.'

'Better now than never.' Fenn shrugged before humming aloud in thought, 'Though that's not a bad shout. I kinda like the sound of war council even if it is kinda morbid.'

'And Orion?' I questioned, following the teenager towards the Foodhall. Fenn shot me a worried look that seemed to encompass all her fears without even uttering a word. I don't know whether she was trying that or not. I trod carefully on the growing ice around the edges of the yard.

'I'm starting to realise some things about Orion I should have figured out sooner.' Fenn turned to me, sucking on her teeth. 'Hauser and I saw some things that are only now starting to make sense...about his past I guess. You never know, he may have been involved with the Legendaries after all!'

'And he didn't think to tell you?' I returned sharply though Fenn simply shrugged. We stepped into the Foodhall together. The added warmth was a blessing in the increasingly frigid morning air. The kitchen was a merry orange colour from a combination of the perpetual fires and a number of oil-burners proving extra light. A few stragglers were finishing up the cleaning of dinner plates. Insley hung over them like a dark cloud.

Fenn took a few moments to reply.

'I don't think Orion knows himself. It's complicated. He has some split-personality disorder…' She rubbed at her chin, 'You saw what it was like. I think we can agree that he's some kind of hybrid, possibly created before the outbreak...or perhaps we're just seeing what happens to those infected in the long run as they start to lose their minds…'

I shuddered. To be fair, I'd seen enough of the man to know he wasn't the most usual of characters.

'It's getting worse.' Fenn muttered. I had to ask her to speak up. The second-in-command had spotted Orion however. The Umbreon-morph was sat on a table close to the kitchens with a steaming mug held firmly between his hands. The man had his feet up on the bench and was hunched over the drink, staring into space. The complete lack of any golden glow from his Umbreon features made Orion difficult to spot in the dim light.

'Orion. Over here! Insley too.' Fenn called loudly, waving them over to a free table. I sat down heavily, Orion following soon after as he hurried over. Insley wandered over at a more leisurely place, carrying an oil lamp which she set down to provide the four of us some light. My watch reminded me it was still not even nine o'clock

'Chain meeting?' Insley guessed, resting her elbows on the solid oak surface.

'Something like that…' Fenn nodded, eyeing Orion in a manner that was near invisible. With the three of us there, Fenn and I started to explain the truth of what had happened last night.

'Fookin' hell! So all those rumours were true after all. I know Jeff was gossiping for ages about it last night.' Insley had gone very pale, but she managed to ridicule the story anyhow.

'It's true.' I added slowly, tugging my coat around myself. It felt colder inside the Foodhall as a shiver ran up my spine. Almost at once, all three of us turned to look at Orion. The leader of Fort Haste hadn't moved, still cradling his cup of hot chocolate. Blinking slowly, his glassy eyes failed to focus. I shared a worried look at Fenn.

'So a Chain meeting?' Insley prompted during the silence, 'And find out what the hell is going on?'

The latter was said with a thumb pointed towards Orion.

Fenn's brow furrowed before she announced shakily, 'I'm disbanding the Chain. The management system was too heavy and people now know their jobs well enough. Us four...we're making a war council.'

Insley almost choked.

'Seriously? A supposed legendary turns up and you want us to break up the only order we have? Didn't you say Derrick, or whatever it was, explicitly said this was Orion's fault?'

There was a long pause. The three of us watched the morph waiting for a response. Orion swirled hot chocolate around his mug for a moment before setting it down on the table with a thud. It was clear he hadn't even sipped at the drink.

'Yes.' Orion spoke at last, tentatively sniffing at the beverage in front of him. I know I was shocked over the Derrick Incident, but Orion seemed to be in a state of utter denial. It was as if somebody had dragged away the foundations of his very world. He took a moment to scratch at an ear. I tried to ignore how animalistic the habit had become.

'We're going to need a little more than that to work on.' Insley spoke pointedly, leaning on her elbow and shooting the man a sideways glance. 'If fooking Arceus itself, or whatever legend of the legendaries decides to-'

'Insley.' Fenn cut through shortly. 'I get where you're coming from, but we need to put things into perspective!'

Insley didn't enjoy being interrupted, shooting Fenn a dark look.

There was a long pause.

'Go on.' I prompted quietly, feeling an awkward silence growing between the four of us. Orion and Fenn were sharing a glance that could have meant anything. There seemed to be an inherent understanding there. A certain softness to the edges of their relationship that appeared was lost to the rest of us. Orion almost looked cute with his large ears perked upright.

'Let's get the facts on the table.' Fenn stated roughly, splaying her fingers across the wood. 'For starters, Fort Haste will stay on high alert now following that Feral attack. I'm thinking that the mysterious ghost Ferals and now a weird physics-breaking Derrick appearing in one day can't be coincidence. Fair?'

We all nodded. Orion stared into his drink.

'So issue number one.' Fenn continued, counting each number off on her fingers. 'We've got casualties and some...some kids that were killed. Not to mention a new vulpix morph. Jane's got everything under control in the medical ward but we need to think about dealing...uh...arranging what to do with those that didn't make it.'

The girl rubbed at her eyes, steeling herself. I tried to pretend I hadn't noticed the wobble in my voice - mostly by taking a sudden interest in a stain on my jacket.

In truth, I had only really known one of the kids. He was a young chap that had been a good laugh on sentry duty...and just so happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The fact that he, along with a handful of others, simply weren't here anymore hadn't yet sunk in. Dead. Gone. Fenn's cold exterior said more for the compassion that any tears. The hard front was a brick wall to hide a crumbling interior.

'Secondly, communication.' Fenn continued in her commanding tone. It was yet another method to steel her softer side. 'The whistle calls are good and so are runners...but have we got enough electricity and supplies to get a number of radios out? If something like this happens again I want instant coordination.'

'That's doable.' I nodded slowly, 'I'd have to find some radios. But if I don't have any, Kim will know of some. It might involve a trip back into town to get more kit if you want one for each sentry.'

'Leaving Fort Haste is off the cards right now...given whatever the hell is going on out there. Make do with the few you have for now.' Fenn sighed heavily, 'However. Radios will make things a hell of a lot easier. Then we need to decide how to improve our defences-'

'Defences? We're being serious about this war council thing?' Insley interrupted, leaning her elbows on the table. Fenn seemed to deflate, sagging in her seat before replying.

'I think we need to take this whole thing seriously.'

'It doesn't make sense...but it's better to prepare.' I agreed camly. Once more the three of us turned to Orion looking for some kind of input. The gash across the morph's cheek seemed to catch the light, casting a long shadow across his face. Above the stitches, his blood-red eyes seemed to glow in the darkness.

'This is abree...about surviving.' He mouthed slowly.

'Really…' Insley couldn't refrain from the sardonic response, 'And supposedly you know why a legendary Pokémon, which shouldn't exist by the way, wants to get involved?'

'I'm part Pokémon.' Orion replied in a small voice, refusing to make eye contact. 'All Pokémon know about the umm Gods. They want to maintain order...and bre guess we're breaking it?'

Even I could tell that was only a partial truth. Insley was in too much of a temper to notice.

'Make sense.' Fenn interjected, trying to hold off any arguments from the Cook 'Yet Fort Haste pretty much runs itself now. Developing some form of system and bubble of civilisation has always been a top priority...but I think we need to take this threat seriously.'

'What...and food isn't a major concern any more?' Insley replied flatly.

'We've got less mouths to feed.' I pointed out before suddenly realising what I'd just said, 'Uh, if you know what I mean…

That might have been a horrible thing to say, but Insley agreed with a dull nod.

Our conversation was interrupted by the appearance of two children entering the Foodhall. I say interrupted, but in fact they were in fact tiptoeing inside that I didn't hear them at first. It was only a tightening around Insley's eyes that gave it away as she tried to identify the new arrivals.

'Breakfast isn't for another half an hour.' The cook muttered under her breath, sliding back her chair. 'What now?' Fenn demanded, turning in her seat to identify the new arrivals.

'It's Megan with uh...somebody else?' I fumbled over the words. Orion ears perked up as he became aware of the children. However, it seemed to be an instinctive response as he quickly lost interest.

'Felix.' Insley provided, answering our question at the same as calling out to the boy. 'Oi!'

It turned out that Felix was one of the kids I'd been fretting over earlier. Out of the dozen involved in the morning attack, he was the lucky one. Well, lucky in the sense he survived at all. Even if it meant he was now deformed into something that was no longer technically human. Better that then dead I supposed.

A glance towards the a rather downcast Orion made me think twice about that assessment.

Megan, a known morph who we'd theorised to be hiding her deformities under the illusion of a Zorua, was holding Felix upright. The boy had never been tall. Now he looked even shorter, walking with oddly bent legs. I'd known Felix to have greasy black hair in the past. Now it was a fiery red which seemed to glow orange in the lamp light. He winced with each step, ears drawn back in discomfort.

Felix's legs didn't bend the right way. He looked like a fox walking on its hind legs, if that makes sense. In fact, a Vulpix was exactly what he looked like. Apart from the face and his arms which had maintained their human form, Felix looked like some anthropomorphic Pokémon dressed in human clothing. Twin furry ears sprouted out of his mess of hair. Not to mention six small elegant tails hanging out behind a black raincoat.

The new morph seemed to shy away from our gazes. Megan seemed content with dragging him along with her nonetheless. Felix limped forward, mummbeling angrily under his breath.

'He's hungry.' Megan panted, still holding-up the boy as he stumbled. The exertion from such an act was evident by the sheen of sweat across her fact.

'Vul vull!' The firefox pouted. His small yaps were barely audible. With a yip, Felix tried to pull free from the young girl but it only left him stumbling once more on his strange backwards legs. The morph's eyes widened for a second as his windmilled before Megan caught him again. She gave Felix a hard look before returning her attention back to our table.

'If you have anything before breakfast that is?' Megan asked sweetly, trying to mimic the puppy dog eyes that Felix was now perpetually cursed with. Insley snorted. I could tell the cook was tempted to turn away the pair. However, she were all swayed by just how adorable the two twelve year-olds looked. It was hard to say no to such faces.

'Ah...I think we can find something.' Insley gave in, 'But only this once!'

'Vvvul vulpix.' The fox-morph replied sweetly, bobbing his head. Given the perplexed look on Insley's face, I was surprised she didn't ask the question we were all thinking. Only Orion seemed unfazed by the Pokémon language. In fact, the man perked up a little upon hearing the response.

'I think he's having some issue speaking.' Megan pointed out. If it was possible for the Vulpix-morph to redden anymore, he managed it. 'But he said he could help? You know, for food?'

There was a long pause,

'Bre asked very politely.' Orion mentioned. For the first time all evening, some colour had returned to his otherwise blank gaze.

'Oh I bet he did.' The girl responded driely, 'Fine! Let's get you something.' Insley got up and called the pair over to the main kitchen area. The two teenagers that had been working there tried not to stare. Turning back to Orion and Fenn sat opposite, I found the two lost in thought.

'So...uh, roles?' I prompted.

Fenn pulled a face and shrugged.

'Basically what we have now...but with some idea of strategy in case anything happens.'

'And by everything-' I drew quotation marks in the air, '-we're talking about one or more legendaries storming the place. You think we could defend against that? These guys are capable of anything!'

'Ummm…' Orion hummed to himself in thought, 'Not really. They're constrained by the same rules.'

I stared at the man in confusion. So we weren't completely screwed? Weren't these beasts supposed to be fookin' Gods who not only created the universe, but had the ability to destroy it piece by piece? Whatever the answer, Orion seemed unwilling to discuss it further. In fact, he had begun to shiver, shimmying closer to Fenn for comfort. Orion's eyes were struggling to focus, darting about while dilating and constricting.

Fenn sighed before turning to me, 'I think you can be the one in charge.'

'What!?' It took a moment for that to register, 'What do you mean?'

'Well, you know…' Fenn trailed off. 'We've got Jeff and hopefully Matt in charge of organising any manned defences. That's good enough for a few stray Ferals, but we need to turn Fort Haste into FORT haste...if you know what I mean.'

'No. I don't know what you mean.' I returned flatly. Seriously? Fenn wanted to put this much responsibility on my shoulders. Sadly, feigning ignorance would have worked on anyone else. Fenn was sly at the worst of times. The teenager had been organising all of us for so long that she probably knew me better than knew myself.

'You'll be in charge of planning for every and any attack that may happen to ensure we survive. I want you to liaison with Jeff...and Bass too if you need a workforce. Basically you need to do everything you can to make this place bomb-proof. I want written reports like I get from the others. Outline what you've done and what needs doing...and what supplies you need. '

Fenn had plucked her notepad out of her pocket and was already jotting all of this down.

'Uh...Uhn…' I spluttered.

We locked eyes for a moment. Fenn's gaze was icy as if daring me to reject the job.

For all my logic, I knew there was no way to back out of this one. So, with a huff, I responded with a curt 'Yes ma'am.'

The seriousness of the situation was cut short by the sound of Felix happily yipping. The reaction from the boy was utterly spontaneous and appeared to be just as much of a shock to fire fox as it did to Insley pulling out tray of flatbreads.

'Vul…' he mumbled, ears pressing against his head as he saw me staring. I averted my eyes only for them to land upon Orion. Behind him, Megan seemed to be squeeing in delight at the shared happiness of the other child. Blink twice and it was hard to ignore how puppyish the two morphs were behaving. Pokémon chatter filled the Foodhall.

Insley returned to the table a couple of minutes later as if nothing had happened.

'You can't say no to a face like that. It physically hurts to resist!' The cook joked as she sat down with a thud. Seeing Fenn's eye roll, Insley tried to drop into a more serious tone. 'OK? What did I miss?'

'Mike's in charge of defending Fort Haste.' Fenn stated, much to my discomfort. Insley must have noticed me squirm as she eyed me for a few moments before stating,

'You don't seem too happy about that fact.'

'It could be worse.' I muttered.

'Why not put Orion and Mike in charge of defences?' Insley countered, much to my unvoiced delight. 'Maybe once Orion's a little more...uh, human? Like, you're good at making things-' Insley nodded in my direction, 'But the Umbreon came up with some pretty good ideas. Together you should be able to manage Jeff's recklessness.'

'Hmm…' Fenn drummed her fingers on the table. 'That's a good point.'

'And you lead.' Insley finished. She pointed a finger at Fenn. 'You're the brains of the situation whilst Orion is the brawn...or at least you keep everything in check.'

'I think that would work.' Orion inserted himself into the conversation. As if to make a point, he pushed his hot chocolate out of reach. The man crossed his arms across the wood table top, dumping his chin on his wrists. For a second the morph chewed on a lip, the golden rings on his ears starting to lighten a little. Orion cleared his throat almost as if to regain function in his voice box.

'So...What are we going to tell the Hasties?'

There was a long pause.

'The truth?' I suggested mildly.

Insley snorted, 'We've been sugar-coating the truth for months. The only person that knows what's going on is Orion...and he only speaks in riddles. Paranoid and-'

'That isn't our problem right now.' Fenn snapped. I was taken-aback at how suddenly the teenager lashed out. Insley raised her palms in mock surrender, equally surprised. Fenn regained her composure instantly. Orion, however, shot her a meek sideways glance.

The silence left behind was awkward beyond comparison. Given my new role as camp protectorate (to some yet unknown degree) I felt obliged to step in.

'Right then. So us four make up the war council. If this Legendary thing is real or not...we do know that the Ferals are getting smarter. I can work on a defence plan with Jeff and the others. I'll get Kim on the case with the radios…' I trailed off, a stray thought popping into my head. 'Insley can work on our human resources. And you two can start working on a speech for dinner to tell camp what's going on. Sorted.'

'Epic.' Fenn grinned, 'Now that's what I call a plan!'

Insley's expression was one of confusion rather than glee.

'Human resources? What the fook does that mean?'

I pointed in the direction of the kitchen where Megan and Felix were chortling much to the dismay of the attending teenagers. The vulpix-morph was still being held up by Megan even as he tried to wolf down what was turning out to be a disproportionate amount of food. Felix choked, coughing up his last mouthful along with a burst of flame. Almost instantly the kitchen cabinets were set alight. My heart skipped a beat. However, as quickly as the flames started licking up the wood, they were gone again...apparently sucked back into the tails of the fox-like morph. It made sense, given that Vulpix could absorb and shoot fire at will; although Felix seemed unable to control this ability.

Insley was already swearing under her breath. Pretending I hadn't seen the incident, I continued my explanation.

'We've got a camp full of bright people, Pokémon, and some strange mix of in-betweens. Fletching arrows is good and all...but we need to start tailoring certain people towards certain roles. Felix can clearly light fires. I guess, uh...well you know. The only reason Jeff does his job is because he's so damn loud!''

Insley thought about that for a few moments.

'To be fair, that's not a bad idea. So what about you Orion? Sane enough to do something?'

The morph's ears perked up and his eyes flicked between the three of us.

'We need to tell the Wildlings.' He spoke softly, almost too quiet to hear. 'I can sort that out...and maybe look into how not to upset a God.'

There was a long moment of silence.

'Diplomacy is a good defence.' I replied awkwardly, unsure what that would entail but supportive of the possibility nonetheless. Fenn nodded.

'So that's that. Everyone knows what to do?'

Insley grunted. Orion's lack of any response seemed good enough for the rest of us. With a scrape of chairs on concrete, Fenn was already on her feet. Clapping me on the shoulder, she pulled up the hood of her grey raincoat.

'Good work. See you all at breakfast.'

I nodded glumly.

It's not that I didn't want to make Fort Haste as safe as it could be...I just didn't want the responsibility of such a task. Tinkering around building walls, making weapons, and even a new drainage system was fun. The events of the past few days had put everything into perspective. This was the end of the world. I had the skills and abilities which, if correctly applied, could be the difference between camp living and dying. Such a fact became even more important when Haley was involved. The power of love makes you do crazy things.

In the space between the meeting and our first meal of the day, I only managed to talk to Jeff about the upcoming change of command. The teenager seemed unbothered. In fact, he was almost pleased to have me passing on the orders. Jeff was never seen without his rainbow scarf these days...and was a bit of a fanatic when it came to killing Ferals.

The rest of the time was spent trying to recover what I could from my old workspace.

I returned to the Foodhall for breakfast only to find the place nearly silent. There was a dull vibe to the air which seemed to be a mix of tiredness and uncertainty. Even the head table for Chain members (and add-ons) emanated a mood like a wet sponge. Jane never even turned up, with Haley grabbing a plate to take back to the medical ward. Hauser had been helping Jeff with sentry duty (given his keen aura-sensing abilities) and looked beyond exhausted. The Lucario's greying muzzle dipped a few times as the humanoid Pokémon began to nod-off in the corner. There was no joking between Bass and Matt as we'd all vaguely become used to. The Leafeon morph practically moped the whole time.

First cart didn't come as quickly as they normally did. My stomach rumbled as I took a seat next to a rather tired-looking Kim. The short girl, openly displaying her previously hidden Espeon features, sat with her chin resting on folded arms. Her lender tail twitched as she eyed the year leaders getting their respective cohort of children to sit. I didn't bother asking what she'd been up to.

Fenn was one of the last people to arrive.

She strode in from the entrance with a strange spring in her step. By now everyone had become aware that food, although steaming in the kitchens, was not yet being served. The reason for the wait became clear when the second-in-command didn't immediately take her seat at the top table. Striding past the different year groups, a sudden hush fell over the Foodhall. All eyes turned to follow the teenager as she made her was to the back of the shed. Somebody dropped a fork and the sound echoed around the otherwise silent barn.

Fenn took a long moment to stare around the Foodhall. It was almost as if she was trying to make eye contact with each and every person in turn. The teenager cleared her throat.

'OK. I think everyone knows what I'm going to say at this point. We've all heard what's happened by now. So I'm going to tell you exactly is going on and how we are dealing with the current issues. I'm going to make this rough but to the point. Fast. No punches pulled. The truth.'

The teenager brushed off her woolen jumper and, pulling in a deep breath, began her monologue. I wasn't sure what to expect. However, knowing most of the facts myself, I was surprised at how honest her speech was.

'The night before last we were attacked by a number of highly adapted Ferals which managed to sneak past our defences before being rapidly dealt with. Some of our friends are no longer with us because...because we were never prepared to deal with such quick and clever Ferals. Mike, along with Orion and Jeff are creating new defences which will mean nothing like this will ever happen again. We will hold a remembrance ceremony as soon as...as possible.'

The leader of Fort Haste took a moment to wipe her eyes.

'Then, last night we had a cryptic visit from a person we originally thought was Derick...who you will remember as the boy who split off from us before Fort Haste was created.'

The mention of Derick raising some angry mutterings from the Hasties. However, more were concerned about the attack. Some, like myself, were still in a state of shock. Whenever Ferals were openly discussed like this, it seemed to drive home a personal hatred of the beasts in me.. not to mention the other teenagers. If you wanted a poster-boy for the apocalypse, then Feral's were the go-to. Now we'd lost some of own to the mutant creatures, it only made my natural indignation towards their existence burn hotter.

'From those that were present last night during this meeting-' Fenn continued despite the muttering, raising her voice above the clammer. 'We now believe that the visit was from a legendary Pokémon who, for as of yet undiscussed reasons, disagrees with our survival.'

Once again, more murmurs passed as whispers between the children. Most of the young people were in denial about the existence of Legendary Pokémon, some going as far to scoff at the suggestion. Those that had been on duty at the time killed the rising arguments with cold stares.

'We believe that the Feral attack and the visit from a legendary are linked. Together they increase the risk that larger and more dangerous Pokémon may threaten Fort Haste. '

'He wants us gone!' One of the teenagers called from the older age group.

Fenn paused.

'We have interpreted that Derick, or whatever it is that we talked to, threatened us with violence. Unless we have the possibility of talking over this issue further and coming to a mutual understanding, Fort Haste is effectively at war. We will work on defences to keep everyone safe. We will do everything possible to beat this apocalypse and prove that we Hasties are unstoppable...although this may involve extra sentry duty.'

Given the gravitas of the situation, the collective moan was almost humorous.

'I thought Orion was in charge?' A younger girl hollored from near the kitchens. It was in a smaller voice than maybe she would have liked, but it was just loud enough for everyone to hear.

There was a long pause during which Fenn visibly sighed.

'Orion is currently talking with the Wildling Pokémon and seeing if the visit from Derick was actually a visit from a Legendary Pokémon. We all know that such powerful Pokémon should not exist, but Orion is working to find the truth!'

Fenn took a deep breath.

The Foodhall fell silent as the teenager's voice carried across the dinner tables,

'This is when Fort Haste becomes FORT Haste. We all share the responsibility of keeping each other safe. This very spot here in this barn is where us Hasties were born.' She stamped her feet on the concrete. 'This is where we originated...and we will do everything we can to protect it. No matter what happens, we have the brains, brawn to survive.'

I nodded to myself. Fenn framed the speech not as a call to arms, but as a reiteration of what it meant to be a Hastie.

'Now. Enough of that. We're all in this together and we're all starving. Let's eat.'

Unlike everything previously, it was the mention of food that brought a cheer.

---

Fenn's POV

---

I was glad to be sat in the meeting room by myself. It was the first time in what felt like days that I was truly alone. The farmhouse was silent but for the ticking of a clock downstairs and the hum of activity percolating through the stone walls. Now I could breathe. It was strange, but I was almost happy to bury myself into the ritual of paperwork. Sinking into the concrete routine came unthinkingly.

'All that I need now is a bit of calming music.'

You could tell I was tired. I hadn't meant to say that out loud.

I eyed the CD player sat in the corner with caution. Since turning 'Sparky' on a few days ago, I'd left the haunted machine alone. In fact, I'd avoided even approaching the device within a one-metre radius. However, the desire to fill the void in my stomach with music was too much. Rotoms couldn't be that bad right? They were used in a Pokedex after all.

Tiptoeing over to the corner of the room, I bent down in front of the machine.

'Uh...Sparky? Do you-'

'HEllo fEnN! MuSIc diD i HeAR yOu SaY?' The machine sprung to life in a flash of colour. The tiny screen sunny showed a yawning face before two pixelated blinking eyes regarded me.

'Kinda?' I replied shortly, trying to pretend I hadn't jumped when the machine awoke. 'You know any good songs?'

'BzzZ! I cAn SINg iF YoU WaNT?' The haunted music machine buzzed back in anger. It was harsh electronic sound, 'DidN'T OrION gIvE YoU TapEs TO pLaY?'

I grimaced. Yeah. It was either that weird mash-up of the Beatles which was actually the individual band members solo work, or some weird mixtape I had yet to try. Given that anything was better than psychedelic remixes of old pop music, I decided on the latter. The cassette was still in its box lying on the floor. AZURE was written across the plastic in bold black sharpie.

'Let's give this a go.'

I slid the cassette in with the A-side up. Sparky closed the deck himself. A moment later and the sounds of what the Rotom identified as the 'Buggles' thrummed through the air.

'Beats whatever that fake Beatles album was we were listening to…' I mumbled. Like...why did a video kill the radio star? How Orion got his hands on such a tape was beyond me. What was even more intriguing was how protective he was over them. The Beatles? Seriously? Mike said that the band had broken up in the seventies...in contrast to the release date of the cassette in the mid eighties. At least this blue tape had songs I recognised.

'AZURE' had been scribbled across the side. The sharpie text looked worn out from a combination or hard use and...well, time itself. Squeaky and crackly, the cassette had stretched from being played over and over. Somebody had obviously loved listening to the mixtape…being the type of music you'd listen to on long sleepless nights. The Buggles faded into The Rolling Stones, although I didn't recognise the song.

Azure, I thought to myself. That could have meant anything. The only reason I'd heard of such an obscure colour like Azure was from…

I jumped as the pencil I was holding snapped in my hand. I didn't even realize I was strangling it until just now. Flecks of splinters dotted my palms.

Azure

Why would Orion have a cassette tape named Azure? A colour which just so happened to be the namesake of a certain flute known to be related to the Legendary Pokémon. The correlation seemed to blatant that for a moment I thought I was simply imagining things.

For a moment I just stared at the spreadsheets scattered across the table.

I needed to talk to Hauser. He'd know about this.

So much for filing my light-bulb moment had been anything more than

Back outside and it was another overcast day. The sky was a homogenous white mass of vapour which framed the bleak landscape below. There hadn't been much an autumn this year. Instead, the trees dropped their leaves so quickly that almost overnight it was as if the land had been left barren and lifeless. The palisade was a frenzy of activity however.

'KEEP OUT OF THEIR WAY!' Jeff yelled in his huge voice. The fog-horn like noise was aimed towards a bunch of sentries on duty. They were still trying to tread out their old path along the top of the embankment. Meanwhile, Mike was leading a small team to fix the palisade boards where the Kecleon Feral had burst through. Old planks and stakes were scattered across the slope of the embankment as they worked. A lanky teenager was attempting to knock in a take with a sledgehammer to little avail in the hard ground.

At the base of the slope, Matt was watching with his hands on his hips. The Leafeon-morph's large tail was sweeping out frustrated little circles. I could hear him occasionally chatter whatever it was that Pokémon spoke, apparently in a full-blown conversation with a Linoone perched at his feet. A number of other normal-types waited by the Matt in preparation for some kind of drill.

I couldn't help but stand back and watch with an eyebrow raised. I'd like to say it was organised chaos...but organised might be pushing it. Whistling to myself in an attempt to keep my spirits up, I couldn't help but think about just how under-prepared we were. Bows and arrows against the lightning, as I heard Kim once say. Even more so if there were Legendary Pokémon involved for whatever feud they had. It seemed absurd to even consider why literal God's would want to attack Fort Haste...although Orion certainly had something to do with it.

'Oi Fenn!' Jeff yelled, which to him was speaking normally. 'I need a word.'

Before I could stop him, the over-zealous boy had already slipped down from the palisade and was jogging over. He tugged his scarf back under the collar of his jacket, puffing out a small cloud of vapour in the cool air.

'Mike's in charge here.' Was the first thing I said to the boy as he transferred muck from his hands onto the legs of his jeans. 'I know it's not official yet, but Mike's in charge of the defences.'

Jeff went to say something, stopped, and then said it anyway.

'I just wanted to ask about having Pokémon along with the archers.'

'Ask Mike.'

'And also about the amount of training the Pokémon.' The skinny boy continued, unaware of the dark look I was giving him, 'With long range attacks and all.'

'How about...you ask Matt? Or maybe Mike? He should know what the plan is.' I replied nonchalantly

'Oh and-'

'Seriously Jeff!?' I rubbed at my forehead in exasperation. 'MIKE.'

The boy sniffed,

'Anyways…' I continued, turning my attention to the fuss being made behind the teenager. One post had been knocked in wonky, with some cursing about who's fault it actually was. Jeff scratched at the back of his head awkwardly.

'I need your opinion on how best to integrate Pokémon into our defences.' I continued, 'Work with Mike. Come up with a plan that...uh, OK. Let's pretend we did have the Wildlings here to help. What would you do? To defend camp I mean?'

Jeff stared at me blankly.

'That wasn't a rhetorical question.' I had to avoid facepalming. Speaking too fast was one of my bad habits, but Jeff was usually a good listener. A few glances from the teenager back up at the work going on behind suggested his concern lay elsewhere.

'Where's Hauser? I need a word.' I asked stiffly, tugging at the collar of my grey raincoat

'He's on the east side.' At least Jeff could answer that question, 'Last I saw anyway. He's been helping, uh...keeping lookout.''

'Good. Why don't we talk as we walk?

Jeff grunted, something I took for acceptance.

After a moment's hesitation, the teenager fell into step beside me, sticking his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Taking a few paces away from the ongoing construction and back up the side of the farmhouse, I raised a few concerns.

'How are you guys integrating with Matt and the Wildling Pokémon?' I glanced across at the remains of Mike's workshop. Tarp was stretched over where the doors used to be.

'Poorly.' The Squadron leader shrugged, plodding beside me with a steady pace, 'I can't see how it would work unless...unless we split up the teams? If anything like the Kecleon happen again, it might be worth having a flanking team that work in close quarters. It would make sense given that only a few are capable of long-ranged attacks.'

'Noted.' I replied shortly, thinking over the teenager's suggestion. It might not be a bad idea to have a few Pokémon on call to flank anything that might break through the defences.

'Most of them are physical attackers, or just normal types, not too much with range.'

I nodded, not wanting to tell Jeff he'd already explained all of that. Instead, I murmured the suggestion 'Why don't you talk to Mike? He might have some ideas.'

Jeff gave me a flat look. I returned said look with the same intensity. Normally, I'd be able to put up with a bit of the teenager's moaning. Today I was too tired and stressed to even try and be civil. I had more important things to worry about

'I've got Mike in charge for a reason.'

'Yep.' Jeff grunted, 'Because you don't trust me.' The boy rubbed one of his arms, looking to his side.

'Come on Jeff!' I shook my head, 'You're the best we have! The reason the Wildlings broke through was a problem with the design of the defences, not the manning of them! You've got the skills, but we need to work on how to improve it as a whole…'

'Fine.'

Jeff still refused to meet my gaze, showing that everything was not fine. Then again, he tugged at his rainbow scarf once more and blew out a short sigh. I had to hand it to him, Jeff was a good example of a true Hastie. Even after everything that had happened with the attack and his willingness to shoulder the blame, Jeff always stepped up to the line.

He paused, coming to a stop.

'I better get back to them. You know...Integrating everything together.'

'Sound good. I check by later to see how things are going.'

'And Orion?' Jeff asked, already turning on the spot with the help of the slick mud underfoot. I wasn't sure if he really wanted to get back to work...or simply didn't like the direction our conversation was heading.

I sighed,

'We're going to have a chat. You'll see him later.' In what state I didn't say, but I could only hope the morph could finally pull himself together. In fact, I had a certain Lucario to talk to about that...amongst other things.

'See ya.'

Jeff waved a short goodbye. For a moment I simply stared at his back, chewing on a lip in thought. I was worried about the dynamics of our chain of command. Jeff had grown protective of his role, although this appeared to be a coping mechanism to hide the shame of Kecleon attack. He thought that he had failed his responsibility...and my sudden introduction of Mike into the mix only seemed to reinforce that possibility. It was as if Jeff thought I didn't trust him anymore.

I sighed, rubbing at my face with a groan. Ugh. Why did this have to be so hard?

Orion should be doing this. This was what he was good at. Managing people and allocating tasks. The man was a natural commander, even if in person he often didn't seem like it. People did what he asked. Orion left a rather strong first impression that made people forget that he had a soft side. They didn't know about his inner demons.

Internally fighting over how best to deal with the situation, I continued my trudge around the palisade to find Hauser.

The Lucario had tasked himself with acting as an extra layer of protection for camp. I didn't really know how this really worked, but I could only imagine Hauser using his aura abilities as a radar. Seeing how easily he whisked me into Orion's mind, I no longer doubted the old Lucario's abilities. However, the Pokémon had been elusive for the past few days and I needed to have a chat about a number of worries. The primary concern being the relevance of a certain blue cassette.

'Morning Hauser.' I greeted him after spotting the fighting-type leaning against the very start of the palisade just east of the K'field. He didn't really notice my presence until I was stood right next to him, leaning on the roughly hewn logs. Hauser's aura-like appendages shot up in alarm as he suddenly became aware of my presence.

'Oh...it's you. Hello Fenn.'

'Not expecting me?' I asked, surprised by how unalert the normally attentive jackal was. Hauser rubbed at his eyes before yawning.

'Not exactly.' He muttered, dropping the speech in my head though it appeared he was saying a similar thing out loud. 'It's not like I fell asleep on duty or anything... '

'Of course not.' I chided in good humour, 'You alright?'

The Lucario shrugged, stretching his neck before running a large paw through the greying hair between his ears.

'I'm feeling my age. Being around you youngsters tires me out.' He took a moment to scratch at the black mask-like fur covering his face, 'I'm going to be straight about this. I can tell that you're worried about something. Do I think that was a legendary? Yes. In fact, I'm almost certain of it. Is that why I'm here? Perhaps...not that I knew they would be getting involved. No. Something's amiss…'

He trailed off, mumbling in his own tongue, before turning to me. Seeing that I was already on the verge of asking something else entirely, a strange half-smile crossed his muzzle.

'I'm guessing none of that answered your question...questions?' He emphasised the plural.

'Well, partly.' I admitted, 'I don't really know what you're on about. It's been a long day...and it's only two hours since breakfast'

'Oh.' Hauser rubbed at his eyes again, picking out sleep dust with a claw, 'I see.'

'So you knew the legendaires were coming?' I asked as nonchalantly as I could, picking at some of the bark on the logs of the palisade. Hauser froze, eyeing me for a moment before puffing out a sigh.

'I'm here to help humans as a whole. That was the reason I signed up for Vetra for the first place...and was actually the reason I got kicked out all those years ago. It was a coincidence I happened to be in the right place at the right time to help out Fort Haste specifically...though I'd known about Orion for some time previously.'

Hauser sighed, crossing his front paws and leaning against the palisade besides me. We were a similar height, the fighting-type staring out across the muddy farmland rolling into the distance. Some trees hung onto their leaves still, but it only made them look brown. A sudden frost had stripped the late autumn of its colour.

'This is about him really…' Hauser mumbled, somehow able to drop even his quiet musings into my mind. 'Orion I mean. I know we shouldn't have looking into his mind...but we saw what we saw. Hmm.' The Lucario gave me a sideways look, 'You haven't been thinking about this too?'

I shot the Pokémon a particularly flat look. I think the cold expression told the Lucario everything he needed to know. Not to mention he could probably feel my very emotions with his, you know, aura stuff.

'It no makes sense. You saw how he reacted...They even mentioned him by name!' Hauser argued weakly.

There was a long pause. I refrained from jumping straight into my questions regarding Orion. Mostly because Hauser seemed content to actually talk about his own past for once.

'Why did you get kicked out of Vetra?'

The question must have been a little unexpected for the Lucario. Upon mentioning the mystical Pokémon society once thought to be fantastical, the Pokémon huffed out a sigh. Turning to study me, I refused to back down and insisted on jutting out my chin. It was a poor attempt at looking harder than I was.

Hauser contemplated ignoring the question entirely.

'I helped some humans at the expense of some Pokémon. This was many years ago, but it was the final of a number of actions that failed to match...match their ethos. Vetra had been decaying for generations. I say that so I don't feel accountable for leaving. My grandfather and father before me had both been members.'

I refrained from pointing out that the Lucario didn't exactly answer my question. Since helping to lead Fort Haste I'd learnt that everybody not only had secrets to keep, but liked to keep them. It was as if hidden snippets of their life story formed a steadfast point that defined them. Sharing such things was like losing a part of what made you, you.

'Sounds harsh.' I shrugged, 'Why do you know so much about the, uh, Legendaries...or Gods?'

'Vetra started as a holy order a very long time ago. It changed, but never lost that extremist side. Everyone has a different opinion on them...though thankfully the God's have mostly keep to themselves. Well, up until now.'

He ran his paws down his chest, as if trying to flatten out the tufty cream fur there.

'I know what you're going to ask next…'

'I could surprise you?' I told the joke blandly.

'You could. To be honest, you and most of the Hasties surprise me all the time. It's one hell of an operation you've got going here. Not to mention the determination to run it…' He petered off, humming to himself in thought.

A lone Mandibuzz screeched a call in the distance. A high-pitched cry was a stark reminder of the desolation beyond the palisade.

'A legendary turns up wanting us gone. Nobody really believe it happened. But if it is true, I was thinking you could help.'

I turned to catch the Lucario's eye. His face softened.

'What would you like me to do?'

'Well…' I sneezed in the cold air, 'Information more so. Up to now I didn't even think they were real...nor Vetra. No offence.'

'None taken.' He replied.

I rubbed at my nose before digging my hands back into the pockets of my coat. Our breath had begun to fog the air. Even with the sunshine, it was taking a long time for the day to warm up.

'Derrick said Orion hadn't be telling the truth of the situation…but he seemed scared? I've seen Orion upset but I've never seen him like before. It was…it was exactly like how he acted in those memories of his.' I began to explain. 'And during the Kecelon attack it was as if he'd just switched into a...a Pokémon.'

Hauser gave me a moment to gather my thoughts.

'Orion had issues. Like, we know that.' I continued, 'But what if all that did really happen? What if he was trained to take down the legendaries? He admitted himself that he was engineered to be like an Umbreon, and that the virus was actually a serum designed not to just make Pokémon stronger...but him in particular just to fight the legendaries. And now one shows us.'

All those stresses and worries that had been lingering at the back of my mind jumped to the surface. Suddenly all of those little worries that had been harrowing me jumped to the tip of my tongue. I struggled to string a sentence together.

'Everything we saw happened.' I stated at last.

'It seems so.' Hauser agreed, understanding my reference to our shared experience searching through the Umbreon-morph's memories.

'Derrick said Orion hadn't be telling the truth of the situation'

Hauser snorted, 'I have to agree with him...or whoever it was. But do you think he's able to?'

I shot the Lucario a confused look. What was that supposed to mean? There was nothing stopping the morph from sharing his feelings, except for his own stubbornness. Secrets often didn't mean much.

'He's conditioned.' The aura-user pointed out, waving a steel-tipped black spike as if he was going to start lecturing me. Often the most stoic of creatures, Hauser often avoided expressing himself beyond a wry smile or a small cough of laughter. Though, maybe it had more to do with my inability to read his body language? Pokémon were often peculiar creatures.

'I mean. He's been, uh, taught to act a certain way? It's clear that he's learnt how to get around it, yet you said yourself. He acted like a Pokémon during the Kecleon attack.'

'He's been sleeping outside our bedroom door for the past couple of nights...again.' I mumbled, using this as an excuse to moan about the fact. Groaning in frustration, I rubbed at my cheeks before working my way up to scratch at my fringe. 'But conditioned?'

'He has attachment issues. He follows you around like a...uh, a pet.'

Hauser chose the word carefully but not carefully enough.

'What's that supposed to mean!'

'He follows your around everywhere!' Hauser explained quickly, 'He literally does exactly what you ask. It's not right Fenn. He'd do anything for you...but I think that's because of how he is. From our conversations, he obviously has huge issues with this Melissa figure that was in his life. Perhaps he really is no different to a Pokémon? He's bonded to you!'

'Orion had always acted, you know, a little quirky. He's always been like that.' It was another weak argument and in truth my heart wasn't in it. Hauser could tell that there was no force behind my words as the slowly but surely all the pieces clicked together. I mean, Orion did kinda take my protection a little too seriously. And he did act a little differently around me than the others. I'd never really considered just how our relationship worked. Looking back, Hauser's rough description seemed to become more and more accurate.

That act of forcing me out of the attack may not have just been for the sake of preventing a needless death. The animalistic behavior out on the roof. The puppy dog eyes. The sleeping outside...no guarding of my room. The raw ruthlessness against the Keckelon. He really was a...he really acted like a pet.

Pulling my hands out of my pockets and I leant against the wooden wall. Staring into space, I thought that the moment of silence would help me reorder my thoughts. However, it was only a mess of worry which caught at the base of my lungs. My knees felt weak.

'No...you're right.' I mumbled through my teeth. Pulling in a deep breath, I spoke with more confidence this time, 'You're right.'

There was a pause.

The Lucario took a moment to scratch at the fur around his chest spike. It was clear from the awkward twitch of his blue tail, and the nervous tap of his feet on the embankment underfoot. After a few moments of indecision, most of which were ignored in favour of my own musings,

'I think he needs you.' Hauser stated.

I did a double take.

'Excuse me?'

'He needs you.' The Lucario tried again, 'Well...he's bonded to you. You're effectively his trainer now.'

'Orion's not a Pokémon!' I countered. If it was possible for the Pokémon to lift an eyebrow, he would have done. It was only moments later I realized how defensive I sounded.

'Are you really sure about that? The Pokedex technology identified him an Umbreon to a better percentage than most wild Pokémon. Ninety two percent if I remember right.'

I grumbled but said nothing.

The thought of Orion being subservient to me just felt plain felt wrong.

'You don't think so?' Hauser pushed.

Flicking hair out of my face, I tapped my fingers against the wood. Sick of staring across the farmland, I spun around to instead look across Fort Haste. The Foodhall blocked most of the view. The Keep stood in it's mottled straw bale glory over the old farm sheds. The smell of woodsmoke hung in the air from a number of fires across camp. Whistle calls marked sentry change-overs in a more accurate fashion than any clock.

I crossed my arms, staring at my mud encrusted boots

'You do realise the implications of that?' I clarified, 'Me being his, his master?'

Bile rose up in my throat at that word. If Hauser wanted to reply, he wasn't quick enough.

'You saw the memories. Orion was created to take down the fookin' legendaires! He was brainwashed into being a weapon! I...I could make him do stuff like that and he would do it willingly...or at least think through the consequences!'

My mind span in horror of even the implications of such a situation.

Hauser was silent.

However, after a few moments he gave a little nod.

'That's what he can do...but that's not who he is.' The Lucario explained slowly.

For a moment I despised the old Lucario. His age, wisdom, and calming mannerisms were everything I lacked. It wasn't jealous that simmered in my stomach but a strange injustice that this was happening. None of this should be happening. The virus, the global pandemic, the Gods even!

I kicked at the ground with my foot. 'We're in deep shite aren't we?'

'Indeed we are.'

I heaved out a sigh, finally remembering what I'd come to ask the ederly Pokémon.

'Azure? It's a flute right, to meet the legendaries?'

'Hmm, to some extent.' He furrowed his eyebrows, 'This is about the Hall of Origin again. Legend says that if you have the Azure Flute and play it correctly in the correct place, then you can access the Hall and meet the Gods. The story says that the person can ask for three wishes...though I doubt that bit is true. What is likely is people getting it confused with Jirachi.'

'The Azure flute can let you do all that?' I scoffed, 'You play a flute and you get transported to meet the Legendaries?'

Hasuer shrugged,

'I didn't write the legends. Often there is a glimmer of truth in these stories. Why? Do you think you've found it?'

'It couldn't be a...' trailed off, realising just how ridiculous that sounded.

'Go on.'

'It couldn't be a mixtape could it? Orion had a tape labelled Azure. It's full of crappy seventies music but...well…'

The Lucario chuckled, scratching at his fur.

'If you played it and nothing happened, I doubt it. Magic isn't really...well. It doesn't work like that with the Gods. It's just a legend anyhow. I don't believe a flute would have that power...or any object for that matter.'

There was a long pause.

'Well...Thanks for your help.' I rubbed at my nose, 'For everything.'

'I do what I can.'

I nodded,

'Well...I better get to it. This place doesn't run itself.'

I couldn't come up with a more fitting excuse to leave the Pokémon. With a short wave I slid down from the palisade and headed back across camp. I wasn't entirely sure what answers I was expecting from the Lucario. All I could think about was Orion and how I'd simply shoved away any reflections on what had been happening. Maybe I was just paranoid. Was I just jumping to conclusions? Huh, perhaps I was jumping away from conclusions...

With so many questions buzzing through my mind, I was tempted to push them all away again. But I couldn't do that forever. Wandering behind the back of the new Pokémon accomodation and across the rickyard, I began to see Orion in every small aspect of Fort Haste. Each building had been thought out in a ruggedly practical way. Even if it looked a shambles. There was an underlying theme that was difficult to identify unless you were looking for it. Camp was a shell, built just as much to keep things out as to lock us in.

Shaking my head, I ambled down the side of the Foodhall.

'Tosser! It's "No, I am your father!", why would he say Luke? How does that even fit!' Somebody yelled. The noise from the Foodhall grew louder as somebody called back.

'LUKE! He addressed him as LUKE!' Somebody yelled back. Not somebody, but Insley in fact. Peeking through the board of the shed and I could see she was having a shouting match with a year-leader in the kitchen.

'NO! He doesn't say that!' The teenager countered. 'This is as bad as when you said Pikachu has a black tipped tail! What idiot would say something like that. Have you never seen one?'

'Of course!' Insley scoffed, 'You're one to talk, like when you said Bernstein Beartics, It's Bernstain, you Zubat! You always get it wrong! Where the hell were you born?'

I continued wandering down the side of the Foodhall, too tired with my own thoughts to even be tempted to join in. Hearing only half of the conversation, I was surprised when somebody else chipped in.

'Maybe both are true?'

'And how the fook would that happen?' Insley spat back, followed by a large clang of a saucepan as she nearly threw it on the rayburn. 'You think we all came from different parallel universes or summin'?'

My mind just stopped when insley said that. Those two words played over and over in my head as I hurried across the yard and towards the farmhouse. Parallel universes. Hell. You could tell I needed to sleep more. How stupid was that? Legendary Pokémon and now chat of parallel universes! Caffeine in any form would have been great.

It was a quick walk back to the farmhouse. I took a short glance at the work on the palisade and now at what appeared to be the start of a new project alongside a barn wall. A number of kids were carrying long steel tubes and equally long wooden planks. Normally I would have quizzed the teenagers for what was going on. At this moment in time however, I needed a few minutes of alone time just to de-scramble my brain.

Mike was just stepping out of the farmhouse as I went to enter. Just my luck.

'Oh, hey Fenn. I was just looking for you about our bunker idea.'

'Uh, bunker?' I queried. 'Was this something we discussed?'

Mike shrugged, 'It's in the defence plan. Really, it's because when I was cleaning up my shed I found this-' He held up a large key, '-and I thought it looked about the right size for the larder. Might be a good place to use if...if we need to?'

I studied the key,

'You mind if I try it?'

'That's why it's there.' He shrugged, passing it over. 'I better get back to it. See you later.'

Mike ambled off, leaving me staring at the back of his yellowed wax jacket. Even now I was unsure if the decision of forcing the boy in charge of the defences was a good one. But we needed everything under control and able to run smoothly if Orion continued to be...out of character.

I was glad I had yet another excuse to put off admin work for the day. With the key clutched in my hand, I headed inside and down the hallway to the Library. Although named as such, the room was in fact largely being used for storage of extra precious items that we didn't think would survive in the old poultry sheds. It always felt like stepping back in time the months it had been since the first outbreak.

I didn't really go into the library much, unless it was to get some peace and quiet. The heavy oak door at the far end was blocked by a number of cardboard boxes of old books that I had to shift before even attempting to open the thing.

Not really even contemplating what I was doing, I lifted the key and prodded it into the door.

The key slotted in the door with a soft click. Gripping onto the metal ring handle, I turned and felt the clunk of the mechanism under the wood. It was a success! Pushing the door and it swung open a tad before getting stuck on the tiled floor. I yanked harder, cursing the old hinges, before the door pulled open with a cloud of dust. I coughed, waving the air clear.

Whipping my flashlight out of my pocket, I flicked it on. The torch stuttered before illuminating a few steps down into a cellar below.

I paused at the top step, mind jumping ahead to what I might find. Most likely they're be nothing down there but an empty damp room. My heart sped up at the possibility of their being something more. Hidden valuables? Weapons? Or stored tinned food in preparation for a rainy day? None of these might have been even close to what I found, but they got my hopes up anyhow.

Taking two steps at a time, I pretty much jumped the few stairs onto the cold stone floor of the cellar. It was almost completely submerged below ground and a few degrees cooler than I was expecting. Grey stone walls were damp to the touch as I scanned around the room. It was a rectangle which must have only extended a few metres in both directions underneath what used to be the kitchen above.

'Nothing here…' I sighed, ready to turn around before I glimpsed something in the gloom.

My torch beam fell upon a wooden box.

It didn't look very old, and looked like an old chest used to store sewing materials and the like. Whatever it used to be, it didn't look like it belonged in the damp and dingy cellar. Stepping over, I bent down to try and feel the lid of the small box. It wasn;t obvious, forcing me to stick my flashlight in my mouth as I used both hands to pry up the edge. It wasn't much bigger than a biscuit tin, though as few times as deep.

My heart skipped a beat as the lid popped off and I fell onto my backside. With a grunt of annoyance, I plucked the torch out of my mouth and illuminated the inside of the container.

'What the…?'

At first I didn't know what it was. Some kind of leather belt maybe? Or perhaps a number of metal boxes wrapped in leather? It wasn't immediately obvious until I reached in and tugged out the material. It unfurled in my hand, a metallic buckle appearing from the mess and glimmering in the LED light. My eyes narrowed as I attempted to make top or tail of…

My breath caught in my throat.

It was a collar.

That realisation made the leather contraption suddenly feel much heavier than it should have done. The blocks of dulled black metal bolted onto the wrist-width material were capacitors, wired up to run exstream currents through large steel bumps protruding from the back of the collar. The buckle was so worn that the metal had begun to thin on the inside.

Orion's collar. What was it doing here of all places?

But as much as I tried to understand how such a thing even got down here, I couldn't get the memory of Hauser's voice out of my head.

He needs you

But this collar was evidence of something else entirely. If the Umbreon-morph was willing to keep the contraption than either it was through some form of madness...or that there may one day be a use for it. The object turned everything on its head. Orion may need me as a friend and a companion...but as a Trainer? Worn leather draped between my fingers proved that the latter was a very real possibility.

I straightened, brushing the dust off my sweater. Only after a long moment's consideration did I deposit the collar back in the box and close it softly. Scratching at my face, I puffed out a breath. Why did everything have to be complex?

There was nothing for it. I had to confront the man.

Orion was helping set up some scaffolding along the side of the old cattle shed. What with everything going on, he had also decided to take it upon himself to add more defences to camp. The barn had a long wall facing the side of the farmhouse, and marked the most easterly side of camp. Orion had his back to me, helping lift up a length of metal support up to the next level. Where it normally took a small handful of teenagers to handle each steel support, the Umbreon-morph appeared to carry the material effortlessly.

Pulling in a breath to steady the butterflies in my chest, I waited for Orion to lift the beam up. Only once he'd bent down to pick up the next did I interrupt his work.

'Orion.'

The man's ears perked up for an instant, swiveling above his thick blakc hair. There was a pause during which the morph appeared to debate whether or not to respond to my call. However, his shoulders dropped and he turned around to face me. His characteristic green waterproof billowed in the wind as he scratched at the stubble on his tanned neck. Large red eyes stared blankly me for a moment.

'You got a moment?' I asked, trying to ignore the tension hugging my diaphram. 'Wanna grab a tea?'

Orion's eyes narrowed before shifting up to the teenagers still working on the scaffolding.

'This is kinda important.' I explained as calmly as I could.

'Sure.' The morph mumbled before shouting up to one of the year-leaders leading the construction. He left with the promise that he'd be a few minutes. I didn't feel the need to correct the man, puffing out a cloud of frigid air. Scratching at my nose, I tried to calm the need to tap my feet. It didn't work.

'You're looking better.' I told the man once he'd dropped in besides me. He grunted, itching at his tail for a moment. Orion wasn't normally this quiet.

'Thanks.' He said at last. He ran a hand through his dark hair before zipping up his coat. Normally the Umbreon-morph didn't feel the cold, but he was wearing a thick woolen jumped under his coat. The flecked maroon colour matched his blood-red eyes.

'Is...everything ok now? Feeling better?' I asked, watching the kids bolt together the scaffolding poles with surprising skills. Boards had already been laid for the first layer and the next storey was quickly being attached along a roughly fifty foot length. Orion watched their progress with a calm expression. For a moment, I thought he was ignoring me.

'Yeah. I think so.' He rolled his shoulders momentarily, 'Just got a lot on my mind right now.'

'Me too. About the Legendaries?' I asked, hoping that Orion might initiate this conversation. Perhaps if I could steer him into talking about it, he wouldn't get too defensive from me asking.

Orion grimaced, 'Pretty much.'

Rather than asking if Orion wanted to talk about it, for which I'd get a clear no, I instead decided to proceed with my subtle probing. Motioning his to follow towards the farmhouse, I attempted a cheery tone. It couldn't have been further from the truth. Orion, with his tired eyes and world-weary expression didn't seem to notice.

'How did you know it wasn't Derrick?'

Orion watched his feet through the front gate. Nobody had really bothered to tend the front garden to the farmhouse. What had previously been a rather beautiful flower patch had decayed into a tufty lawn of sorts.

'It...it just wasn't.' The man admitted, 'It's hard to explain.'

'So you've come across the Legendaries before?' I asked quickly. Maybe a little too-quickly, for Orion shot me a sideways look before stepping into the porch before me. He kicked off his boots. Pausing at the door, I bit my tongue and failed to act on the urge to grab the man by the scruff and shake the answers out of him. Orion leant his shoulder against the doorway, his tail hanging between his legs.

A faint golden glow that turned his rings a brilliant yellow spluttered and dimmed.

'Umm, I guess you could say that…' He trailed off, 'Yes. I've come across them before.'

'How?' my voice came out smaller than I would have liked. I clenched and unclenched my hands in my pockets. It wasn't that I was nervous as such, just wary of how Orion would react. Normally he'd shrink in on himself and retreat into a small Umbreon-shaped shell. But for some reason, his body language was completely different to what I was expecting. There was a certain tension to his frame that told of something unknown.

Orion reached for the doorknob and pushed the Farmhouse door open. The noise almost covered up his reply.

'I've met them.' He paused, holding the door open for me before closing it firmly behind, 'The Gods.'

I tugged my coat off and deposited it on the stairway banister. Usually we'd meet upstairs in the meeting room, but I had the foresight to instead chat in my shared room. If I had judged the morph correctly, the comforting scents might help soothe his nerves. Not to mention my dorm had a warm fire burning inside as well.

'In here?'

'All the other rooms are taken.' I lied smoothly, though to be fair, Mike and Haley had commandeered Orion's bedroom. I'd already prepared a hot chocolate for the man and a tea for myself. Although it was his favourite, Orion still sniffed at the drink and eyes me suspiciously over the china.

'Not drugged.' I promised, 'I can take a sip if you-'

Orion took a swig whilst maintaining firm eye contact. I didn't know if it was a display of trust, or a cold stare to remind me that a drugged Orion is a nightmare to take care of. We only learnt afterwards when Jane read the small print that they were unsuitable for Pokémon. It used to be easy to forget that Orion was more Pokémon than human.

'Wanna take a seat?' I tapped my bed in the bunk under Jane's.

The Umbreon did just that, perching on the bed with the sound of his raincoat rubbing against his loose jeans. Taking another sip of his hot chocolate, I could see the morph run his tongue around his mouth as if to savour the taste. '

'So you've met the Gods?' I asked as calmly as I could, taking a seat on Bass' bed opposite.

Orion stared into his drink. His ears twitched as he thought through his reply.

'Once.'

There was a long pause.

'And…?

'They're ... not very pleasant.' Orion mumbled

'I meant-'

'I know what you meant Fenn.' Orion cut through quietly yet firmly. It wasn't his interruption that stalled me, but the fact that he'd spoken up at all. Resting his mug on a thigh, the man took a moment to look around the room. I'd taken a few minutes earlier to hide things best left unseen. Mostly dirty laundry and other things more personal to girl dorm rooms.

'I…was created to beat the Gods. You know that...That's what I am. I'm just a weapon...a tool to take down the Gods and bring a man back from the dead. We all have pasts and mine...mine is a little more involved than most people.'

'Because of the virus?'

'Because of the virus.' Orion agreed quietly. He took a sip of his drink, the steam making his nose twitch. 'All this is because of me. One way or another.'

I adjusted myself on the bed, trying not to spread dirt on the covers.

'But it's not your fault that the virus broke out!'

'No. But I wasn't good enough. I was created and trained to beat the Gods. If I was stronger they would have needed to...to enhance me. That's all I am. A tool...and one that made the problem worse. I wasn't enough.'

Orion held a steady tone. There was no emotion to his voice, no life. He droned on because if he was to share such emotion, I doubted he would have held it together. With a strange detachment, Orion spoke of himself with the same passion as somebody waiting for a bus. Sipping at his drink gently, his eyes floated from me, to the fire, and back again.

I rubbed at my chin.

'But you're more than that. Look what you've done for Fort Haste!' My attempt to be uplifting bounced off the man. Orion shrugged, not commenting.

In the silence I took a gulp of hot tea and decided on a new direction to lead the conversation.

However, I didn't need to.

Orion huffed, before clearing his throat.

'The Gods control the balance of the universe...but there are rules to follow. They maintain an equilibrium and restore peace if something was to upset the system. But my existence broke that. I was engineered to destroy that balance. That's why they want me. I broke the balance.'

'If the Gods are supposed to keep the balance, they why the hell did the virus break out? There's no natural order to that!'

Orion let out a small sigh,

'Because it was supposed to be let out. It was meant to happen...so I guess they made it happen again.'

What!? I didn't understand. Shooting Orion a quizzical look failed as the morph was trying to avoid my eyes. He was staring into the fire, legs up on my bed beside him. His golden ringed tail twitched on the covers.

'The viral enhancement for you wasn't contagious or anything though? What do you mean this is happening again? '

Orion had always been slightly older than everyone else at camp, but now he looked it. Staring into space, there was a strange timelessness to the lines on his face. The puckered wound across his cheek distorted a small frown. Although young in every other way, his red eyes held a weary expression suggesting that he'd seen a lot more than he was letting on.

'The virus happened once before but I...I fixed it. I was designed to fight the Gods but...but they sold the virus and it got out somehow? I don't know. But it happened and everybody died. I knew it was my fault and…'

He swirled his drink around his mug

'I don't know how to say this…but I needed to try. All my life I'd been trained for a single purpose and I wanted to know if I could do it. I entered the Hall of Origin to try and put things right. But I'd be lying if that was the main reason.'

'What? You entered the Hall of Origin? How? You...you brought somebody back from the dead?'

For a long time Orion didn't say anything. His eyes had glazed over somewhat as he stared into the fire. I waited patiently for the explanation I hoped was coming.

'I brought everybody back from the dead. The virus had...you know. I returned the world to how it was before, found a home, and thought that evert-'

'YOU DID WHAT?' I spat out a mouthful of tea back into my mug.

Orion didn't even flinch, though he had the manners to at least look a little sheepish.

'Let me get this straight. You went into the Hall of Origin and just reset the fookin' universe before there was even a virus? How the hell do you even do that?'

'By beating the Gods.'

'That easy eh?' I tried to joke, but it came out more like a reprimand, 'And it just resets...like, poof, everything fixed?!' I flung my hands into the air. Fighting back a groan, I ended up by scrubbing at my face with my palms. Orion puffed out a sigh. His ears had drooped as he watched me with large red eyes. For a moment his lip quivered.

He tilted his head to the side.

'That's the power of the Hall of Origin. It's a passing place bree..between-'

'Yeah I get all that. But you beat the legendaries? How?'

Orion tilted his head.

'By battling theon.'

'You're trying to tell me that your challenged a God and won? Which one?'

There was a long pause. Orion blinked more than was necessary, eyeing failing to lose that distance stare.

'Her.' mumbled, apparently embarrassed at even admitting the fact. 'Arceus.'

I pulled in a breath. That couldn't be true? Not only was Arceus, the mother of the legendaries and supposedly the whole universe...but Orion had beaten it in combat? Was such a thing even possible? The Umbreon-morph's downcast stare proved that even if it didn't happen, Orion felt remorse at what had occurred. Beating the legendaries? He couldn't be serious...could he?'

'It's what eon was trained to do.' Orion stated in a small voice. 'What I was umm created to do.'

'O…'

I went to speak but stopped myself, looking over the rim of my mug to the man in front of me. He seemed to be studying the glowing ring encircling his tail.

'I'd rather not talk about it.' He stated at last, 'It's not...eon…' The man stuttered, showing me a wide-eyed stare. It wasn't the look of an Umbreon looking for help, but for forgiveness. I realised that Orion had been trying to avoid this conversation so as not to face his own past.

'But Orion? You entered the Hall of Origin!'

'I know.' he huffed. The man took a swig of his hot chocolate. 'You don't believe me do you?'

'Uh...I…'

I wasn't prepared for the icy stare from the man. The accusation hit home as I struggled to avoid the question without outrightly lying. Pushing my fringe out of my face, I rubbed at my nose before admitting defeat.

'It'd difficult. A few days ago and I didn't even believe the legendaries existed. And now you're saying that you beat a God? Why would you even do such a thing?'

'Ww...why?' Orion chewed on the word. The question left a sour expression on his face, ears twitching as if even contemplating the answer was painful. I waited patiently. Scared to push the man any further, he seemed to grind over his own thoughts with his eyes intently fixed on the fire. The puckering of his cheek from the stitched wound gave the man as sinister look as he spoke.

'I had to. It was what I was designed to do...my purpose.'

There was a hopelessness to his words which scoured out my insides. His shoulders sank as he continued, 'I couldn't not do it.'

'You had a choice?'

'I...it's hard to explain. It's what I was...I just had to? To see if it was all true?' Orion was pleading with me now, crimson eyes as wide as saucers. His tail drooped as he mewed for comfort, hands gripping the duvet under his knees tightly.

'Orion. What did you do? What can you do?' I rephrased the question, struggling to even consider the myriad of things that the man was implying. The morph shrank under my gaze.

'I don't know. The Hall means you can change things. I didn't know what I was doing but it was all my fault! The virus, everything. I just wanted…I just wanted for everything to be right again. I couldn't not-'

'Calm...calm down.' I cut through the man's blabbering with a coo. He bobbed his head, staring at the floor. I adjusted myself on the bed and tried again. 'What happened?'

Orion shuddered, speaking to the floor, 'I changed it so it didn't happen.'

'You...you can do that?'

Orion nodded glumly,

'The Hall...it's a meeting place between realities. I was...it can...ummm.' He broke into a whine, clearly not happy with what he wanted to say. The man's eyes alternated between the floor and my face, darting away when our eyes met. 'I used umbr to change the past. I beat the Gods and used the hall to...to make it so it never eon happened. I shouldn't have! I didn't listen! I d...didn't bring him back.' Orion sobbed, tears dotting his eyes

It took a few moments to make sense of who he was.

'You were created to bring her husband back from the dead weren't you?' I mouthed, the realisation starting to dawn. How had I not noticed this before? Orion had been engineered and used for most of his life. Even been brainwashed into thinking he had to face the legendaries. So when the end of the world came and the virus first broke out, he'd attempted that feat because that's all he'd ever known. But worst of all, he thought he'd failed. Instead of bringing back a single man...he'd brought back the whole of humanity? It wasn't entirely clear.

Orion didn't say anything for a long time.

Only after a calm silence had descended upon the room did he heaved out a sigh.

'I...I was.' He rubbed at his face with his hands, golden rings flaring for a moment. 'But I...I thought I could just change the past and...and now the Gods are after me. I thought this would fix everything but it just made it worse! They made a new virus somehow, they did all of this and now they want to...to destroy Fort Haste too.'

'The-'

'Yes!' Orion hissed, 'They maintain order and balance and eon broke it. This is thembreon trying to return things to what they were before.' He cradled his tail in his hands, rocking back and forth on the bed. It was clear this conversation was stressing him out, simply by how often he was reverting to his Pokémon tongue.

'But if you fixed it why did they put it back? Surely that's making things worse? What right does anybody have to mess with history like that?'

I wasn't referring to Orion, more thinking out loud at why the Legendaries would be getting involved. In fairy stories they'd always been the good Pokémon that stopped bad things from happening, righting wrongs and the like. But they were willing to restart a viral outbreak decimating the world population just because it was supposed to happen? Scratching at my nose, I tried to ignore Orion's large puppy dog eyes.

'I thought um..umbre was doing theon right thing.' He mumbled

For the life of me I didn't know how to respond. How could I? Orion had just admitted that he'd somehow managed to simply rewrite the whole of history by defeating the creator of the universe! Not only that, but he was a blubbering mess opposite, curling up in my blankets, and I was too afraid to push him any further for answers. I didn't know what to ask! We'd been confused by Orion's memories conflicting in such a way, but now it began to make sense. Orion seemed to have two pasts because maybe he did...along with the rest of the universe?

'If you stopped a virus Orion, and set things right, maybe that was the right thing to do?' I admitted softly, 'But I don't think anybody has the right to just...change history like that.'

Orion whined.

'It's ok...it's not like you knew what you were doing. That woman forced this onto you, it's not like you had a choice. Uh, Mel-'

Without warning, Orion dropped into a dark growl. His lips curled back as his face deepened into a snarl. Golden light burst from his rings for an instant.

'Don't.' He spat.

I tried to keep as calm as I could, though inside I had nearly jumped out of my skin. Orion could be really, really frightening without meaning to. In the dim front bedroom, his glowing rings were in competition with the winter sunlight.

'It's important Orion! She collared you and forced you to do all of this. If you were free then why...why did you even try? I saw how they treated you. Orion, you need to listen to me. What they did was wrong! Evil even.'

'You think I don't umbree that? If eon had a choice, if I'd known any breetter, I would have...have stayed?'

The man scrubbed at his face with his hands. For a moment he simply sat there, deflated, with his eyes tightly closed. Moisture clung to his cheeks. I felt the urge to lean forward and pull him into a tight hug. I initially balked at the possibility, before a small whine from the man broke my heart in two. I jumped between beds, sitting down next to the morph and wrapping an arm around his shoulder. Orion stifled a whine, leaning into me as his tail shifted to land on my knee.

'She was my...my...I trusted her! She was all I had.'

'It's ok.' I comforted him, stroking at his fluffy hair in an effort to calm the man. 'But if you're powerful enough to defeat a God, why didn't you just escape?'

'I'm a weapon.' Orion sniffed, shuffling closer into a hug.

For a while we just stayed like that. Me sat there with Orion cuddled up in my arms sniffing now and then as he contemplated how he got there. I was no longer trying to force more question upon the man now I'd started to realise just what depth I was probing into his past now.

'I'm a weapon.' He repeated, mumbling the words now. 'I'm a…'

'What do you mean?' I quireed as gently as I could.

The morph tensed suddenly, ears perking up as if only then becoming aware of what he was doing.

'I don't have a choice. It's what I am. When she...she controlled me. I didn't have a choice.'

'Orion!' I barked at the man. I was all I could do not to command the man to pull himself together. He was muttering like a madman, starting to lapse into something more reminiscent of a deranged madman than anything human. However, before I could contemplate the results of my actions, the man stopped. He looked down on the floor, quickly apologising.

I hadn't meant to be so...so forceful.

'It's ok...I didn't mean…' I tried to explain, beginning to feel embarrassed both about cuddling Orion and treating him like a...a Pokémon. With Orion effectively curled up on my lap, I was running my hands through his fur like I was soothing the Umbreon he resembled. I stopped, had twitching above the morph's ears. The sudden end the petting didn't go unnoticed as Orion turned to look up to me with saucer-like crimson eyes.

Oh shite. Hauser was right

'I...I can't do this.' My voice shook, 'Orion. You need to...to look after yourself. I can't be there for you all the time.' It was then that I remembered the collar, 'I found your...uh, collar by the way.'

Orion just nodded.

'That does-'

'You may need it.' The morph interrupted suddenly. A long shiver ran down his spine. With his eyes shifting awkwardly from side to side, he finally developed the courage to gaze into my face. His lips trembled, 'If they're coming, the Gods...I may have to...you might have to…'

He took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders.

'I can't be anyone else than who I am.'

There was a hard line behind his words. Orion was not speaking of the person he was, but the Pokémon he had trained to be. Their wasn't sorrow in his broken expression, nor any form of self-loathing. It was pity of all things. Orion knew about the weapon he was...but couldn't face the burden he was.

Orion had bonded to me. He was, in effect, my…my pet Umbreon. As much as I detested admitting it...I felt responsible for the man. We'd grown as close as it was possible, what with Orion being an eccentric morph. But now I knew what such a bond truly meant.

Here I was, sat opposite what was most likely the most powerful Pokémon-man-umbreon in existence, whining on my bed, with his very own shock collar in the basement below our feet.

'I'm a weapon.' Orion repeated.

'I know.' I pulled him closer, resting my chin on his head, 'But I can't do that to you.'

I couldn't. Even in his tear-stricken state, the man was suggesting the impossible. With the legendaries literally threatening to destroy the whole camp...Orion was suggesting something even more horrifying. That I use him as the animal he was trained to be. With the potential to beat the legendaries themselves, Orion was offering to do that again.

'I can't do it on my own.'

'Wha...why not?'

Orion was warm at my side, pressing against me not in a way that was uncomfortable.

'Because I was trained that way. I can't...I can't do this on my own. I was too dangerous unless I was collared, controlled. Mee….' The last syllable was pulled out into a growl. Even just thinking back to his last trainer (if that word was truly applicable) relit a burning hatred in the man.

'I understand.' I murmured reassuringly. 'But I won't do that to you.'

'You may have to.' Orion's voice was muffled as I pressed his face into my shoulder. Anything to hide how much he had been snarling. 'Promise me...promise you will. I can't let them. Not to us.'

For a while we simply sat there on my bed.

A low rumble vibrated through my chest. It took a moment to work out the source. However, Orion's golden ring's were glowing in

'Uh...Are you purring?'

Orion stopped as suddenly as he'd began.

'B-bree, not!'

---

XXX

---

[3:08] Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star (1980)

In my mind and in my car

We can't rewind we've gone too far

---

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. This story is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any events, location, and/or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. The views expressed by the characters and/or the narratives do not necessarily reflect the author's views. This fiction is rated T and may be unsuitable for young audiences. 'Fort Haste' is a fictional concept that is owned and regulated by ZenColour. Viewer discretion is advised