The groans of pain were loud, yet heard by not a single soul outside of the dark, hard room. Tamin's father swung his fists wildly and with as much force as his body could exert, pummeling down against Tamin as hard as he could. She was backed into the edge of the room, eyes closed and paws raised to block the incoming attacks with desperation. Her paws and wrists begged to be lowered, but nevertheless she kept using them to block her more vital areas. Even in such a circumstance, she dared not strike back. Not yet.
The horror went on for longer than either could count, only ending when he took a step back and nearly collapsed from exhaustion. He breathed heavily, huffing like a minotaur through his clenched teeth. Tamin half-wondered if his white teeth would shatter given how hard he clenched them together. Through her pain, Tamin didn't necessarily see some monster to fear. She did see a monster- there wasn't the slightest doubt in her mind about that- but she also saw weakness. If he could get so worked down to the point of panting after just attacking, had so little endurance he couldn't handle a short beatdown, then what hope would he have in an even fight?
Even still, the prospect of an even fight remained so far out of each for her. She was bruised all over, even bleeding in certain spots, her arms were numbing, and her fur was obviously messed up beyond any hopes of being salvable. The silver lining to that was that Blac's paws were worse for wear as well, they were bruised and even swollen from all he had done, red could be seen behind the fur. It was almost like Tamin could feel his heartbeat just by looking at his paws. Then again, maybe that was her own heartbeat she was feeling.
The room's only door opened, the old wood creaking at it did so. Light seeped into the dimly lit room, casting away the darkness on top of Blac first, and Tamin second. For some things would bring relief and reprieve, but Tamin knew better not to associate light with hope.
A woman cinccino stepped into the box-like room. Her first footstep was crushingly hard, as if it shaked the very room they were in, and the ones after that weren't much lighter. Jewelry adorned her with a silver brooch being the main piece, and several other symmetrically aligned pieces set to compliment that. If it were for the fact that the main source of light was behind her,
they'd be blindingly glistening.
"So, you finally managed to find the bitch?" she asked Blac.
"Yes... Things went successfully, and I got her in a valley," Blac said, his huffing subsiding but not totally gone yet.
"That's good. Glad all that money you spent on mercenaries wasn't a waste of money," she said. "Now, as for you…"
The female cinccino approached Tamin, causing Blac to step aside and Tamin to brace herself once more.
"Do you have even the slightest idea what your little tantrum has caused?" she stepped forward, putting her face squarely within Tamin's personal space. "Our family name has gotten drug through the mud because of your little stunt. Do you know how many reporters we've had stopping at our house to talk to us? How many investigators we've had peering down our throats? How many people have been whispering theories on why you could have run away, calling us a terrible family?"
"I don't care about your stupid 'reputation', it deserves to get dragged down," were the words that Tamin thought, that she wanted to say so badly. But Tamin knew she'd have her head if she actually said that. "I've heard a bit about that, I didn't know the full extent of it."
"Didn't know the full extent?! Tamin, we've had to cancel every last magazine we appeared in because the only thing they want to do with us anymore is spread gossip of what happened to you! There's no more articles of what our next album is going to be, or how to build the perfect treehouse, we haven't been able to get a single photo shoot or have a single article showing how we're using our wealth to facilitate the perfect family! We've even had a few conspiracy theories that are claiming we murdered you and claimed you ran away to cover it up! I have never been more humiliated in my entire life because of you!"
"Oh shut the hell up or I'll rip out your vocal cords to do it for you. You were never the victim." "I-I am sorry, I didn't know about just how bad it was for you."
"Sorry is not going to cut it!" the cinccino swiftly raised a paw up and swung it at Tamin to slap her. Despite it being fast, Tamin had braced herself for it, since she had expected it. "You almost brought this entire family to ruin with what you've done! This was the worst experience I have ever had in my entire life! You didn't even have the decency to come back to us before the winter! People were thinking that we abandoned our child, for hell's sake! How would we have explained it if you actually did get yourself killed out there?!"
"I will seriously dissect you and make it as painful as possible," "I promise it's not going to happen again! Please!"
"I can't even begin to imagine what would inspire you to do something so absolutely abhorrent! What in Arceus' name were you thinking!"
That question actually made Tamin give pause. She had a dozen vile things she wanted to do- she wanted to spit in her face even- the thing was that none of them sounded like good ideas to say. Tamin didn't want to incur their wrath and get beaten again. Then again, if she would be honest, this would be the perfect time to do it.
"I just wanted some more freedom!" Tamin decided to go with the vague. "I couldn't handle all the beating and yelling!" those words just slipped out though.
"Freedom?! To do what, to get yourself killed? To start doing drugs? To break other peoples' hearts? What could you possibly be wanting to do with that freedom!" she shouted over Tamin to the point where spittle was landing on her fur. "We've given you everything you could possibly want! And you still want more?! You're an ungrateful piece of crap!"
"Of course she doesn't take any responsibility. Burn in hell." "I swear it won't ever happen again, Amony!"
"You. Will. Call. Me. 'Mom'." she commanded.
"...Yes mother," Tamin responded.
Amony went into a belligerent flurry of incoherent insults and guilt-tripping attempts. Tamin wanted to escape into daydreaming, to imagine meticulously inflicting pain onto her, but in reality the words did sting her. It made her flashback to the worst moments of her childhood, that would make even the most hardened individuals freeze.
Eventually Amony's tirad came to an end as she ran out of breath. Not unlike when Blac had huffed from lacking breath just moments ago. Tamin took that time to take some discreet breaths of her own and restore her composure. It was short, but thinking didn't ever take much time anyways. "I'm not going to submit to you. I'm not going to be your child. I will get back at you." So long as she didn't let it reach her body language, it was alright.
Then like the flip of a switch, Amony's demeanor changed. Her hatred seemed to suddenly vanish- at a skin deep level at least. She put on a fake, toothy sweet smile.
"Well, you are back home now, sweetie. So why don't we get caught up?" she said. It didn't take an expert to see the venom in her words that was thinly veiled behind the sweetness. "I'm sure the reporters will love to know you're back."
"I will break your teeth." "Yes… we can."
"Great to hear…"
Amony looked back at Blac, and the two nodded silently. Amony took Tamin by her well-bruised arm and began walking her out of that room.
The three cinccino exited the room together. A hallway opened up to them, extending many meters down. Doors on one side, windows on the other. When Blac and Amony started walking, Tamin had to follow as well.
It was bittersweet without the sweet. The halls of her childhood, she was now walking through again, just as she had remembered. The horrible memories which haunted her had now become her reality again, and now her memories were what she needed to escape from that.
The hallway was far longer than it was wide. Halfway through and on her left, Tamin could see some framed photographs appearing on the wall. They told a wordless story in a timeline. First picture were of her two older siblings when they were just eggs, second picture were when they had just hatched, third was their first birthday together. In fact, over half of the pictures seemed to just have the older two siblings in it. It was only late into the timeline that Tamin had begun seeing herself. One photograph of when she had just been hatched, only for her to immediately be absent in the next frame as it was her younger brother being hatched. After that, it was just pictures exclusively featuring her parents, or the entire family as a group. None that were just Tamin or herself and one other.
For the group pictures with the entire family, she was able to notice one consistent aspect between them all: there was always some fake smile to be found, they all just couldn't be honest.
"Did they pick this hallway just so they could try and remind me what 'family' is according to them?" Did they think I'd just forget how they just beat me? Did they think I'd believe the photographs over my memory? I swear to Arceus…" Tamin thought to herself. "Hmm… I wonder if there are any chemicals that start a fire when put together? I know oil lights on fire real easily with sparks, but are there any liquids that combust? I have a feeling something like that has to exist. If it does, I could shove a funnel into their mouth, pour those chemicals straight down their throat, start a fire straight into their stomach and let them burn away from the inside out. That'd be satisfying.
Then again, they'd probably just throw up those chemicals. No wait, I could probably find something at a pharmacy that'd prevent them from puking. That shouldn' be a problem."
The hallway came to an end along with the line of photographs, as Tamin was still fantasizing. It stopped at a square wood door that was larger than any of them were. Blac reached for the knob and pushed it open.
A larger room laid on the other side. It was a proper living room, couches, coffee tables, bookshelves, and all the other bells and whistles they weren't allowed to move. In the room was two more cinccino, a female one that calmly sat on a chair with a book and a male minccino who was fully laying down on one of the sofas; arms behind his head.
Both of them heard the door open and looked. Surprise shown on both their faces once they realized who it was they were looking at. They practically leaped out of their spots to run towards her.
"Tamin?!" both of them said. "Is that you?"
"Yeah…" Tamin replied with some trepidation. "It's me."
"Where the hell have you been?" the male cinccino asked.
"I've been-"
"She was practically across the continent when we found her. Hiding in some terrible guild to get away from us. They actually put up a fight with us," Blac spoke over Tamin.
The male cinccino who asked the question raised his paw up and struck Tamin as hard as he could. Tamin could tell it wasn't nearly as hard as her dad's arms, but his muscles were certainly developing. "Well that's what you deserved!" he shouted. "Do you have any idea what it was like here after you left! Everything was your fault!"
"I was worried sick about you!" the female cinccino said.
"What?! Were you wanting to just escape getting grounded?!" he shouted.
"Stark and Vin became even more like my parents since I left. I suppose I didn't plan for them as much as I should've." "I'm sorry!" Tamin pleaded, conjuring up the most desperate voice she could, but she knew full well it wouldn't do anything.
"You should be!" Stark shouted as he raised his paw and struck at her again. No one did anything to stop him, she was left to block it herself.
"What did our parents tell you about me when I was gone?" Tamin asked.
"That you abandoned our family to rot!" Stark shouted.
"That's not true. I left because-"
"Yes it is! Quit lying!" her throw another blow with his paw, once again making Tamin have to block it.
"This is like talking to a wall, isn't it? They're just going to believe whatever my parents said instead of me," she thought.
Tamin turned back to her father. "Where is Deater?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm wondering where he is. I haven't seen him yet," Tamin explained.
"Oh, right..." Blac turned to Amony. "Would you mind finding him for me? I think he's in his room. I'd like to keep an eye on her."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm on it," she began to leave the room.
Tamin was left into that living room for a few minutes more, left with her father Blac, her older brother Stark, and older sister Vin. The trio continued scolding Tamin, hurling out any and every kind of abuse they could think of regardless of whether they were true or not, hypocritical or not, or even whether or not they could coexist with other claims they made. Tamin had to bite her tongue to avoid snapping at them, and had to hold her arms back to avoid hitting them when it would've been one on three.
Mostly she was just filled with brimming, absolute anger that began in her head and cascaded down to every corner of her body. But amidst that, she had one moment of clarity. She thought about Deater, the one she mentioned just a minute ago. It struck Tamin that she had no idea how he would be or treat her. She noticed that Stark and Vin seemed to become more like their parents, so would Deater be much of the same? They clearly kept blaming all the problems in the world on her for long after she had left, so would they have turned her younger brother against him as well?
Amidst those concerning thoughts, she heard a door rustle and creak open. She turned to look, and it was Deater emerging into the living room. Once they locked eyes, both of Tamin's worries and her anger just melted away. He was still a minccino, he was still the child she had remembered. His eyes were deep, like they held an entire book on their own. Within it, Tamin could see someone broken and tormented by all the same heinous things she had suffered through, as if it was a window into her past self. Yet even still, she could see a glimmer, a spark of hope in there as well. And as they maintained eye contact, as the dawning revelation came to him, that spark became a flame. "Tamin… you're back," he uttered.
Tamin ignored the others, gently pushed them away even. She walked up to Deater, and he did the same to her. Both of them were too stunned to speak, yet they could understand the other's feelings wordlessly.
Deater practically collapsed into Tamin, and she caught him. The two hugged one another, giving into a tender embrace. "You're back…" he simply repeated.
"Yeah… I'm sorry," for the first time, Tamin's words matched with what she thought. She knew he was mistreated as well, not spoiled like her older siblings. Just while Tamin was blamed for every single thing, Deater was ignored like he was invisible. But he wasn't invisible, Tamin was seeing him and feeling him right then. He was the only thing Tamin could think of that made her reluctant to run away.
"How have you been all this time?" Tamin asked.
"Alive," he replied. He couldn't say much more than that. "You?"
"...Happy," Tamin whispered.
Blac grabbed onto the back of Tamin's neck and yanked her away from Deater. "That's enough of the wishy washy crap. Don't think you're getting out of the load of trouble you're in," he practically shouted straight into her face. "Amony, start getting dinner ready while I get her into her room. We can figure out what to do with her next!" he momentarily looked away from Tamin to say, before immediately turning back to her face. "And don't think you're going to be getting any of the food, little mister."
Tamin just stared into his eyes. It was exactly what she had expected, and she didn't enjoy being proven right. "I should stick razor blades in his food and hear his reaction when his throat gets slit from inside," "Yes… let's go."
Keeping his paw on the back of her neck, Blac led her out of the room through a door different then the one they had entered through. Even if it was just her and him, she wasn't in any position to effectively retaliate, not with her lingering pain, lack of throwing knives, and being severely outnumbered in a place which was not her domain. As a result, she was obligated to obey.
The entire house was burned into her memory, so she only looked for the things that were different. She checked every piece of furniture separately, but actually couldn't find anything of significant note that was off. This didn't really surprise her, they could always pay for people to clean it up for them, and God forbid any visitors see the house as anything less than spotless and perfect by some strange mathematical proof an interior designer made up sometime.
It wasn't long into the walk where Tamin found out that there were more pokemon in this building besides just her family. A few houndoom walked through the place, blatantly patrolling it. She was able to identify that they were the same ones that were sent to capture her a few hours ago. Each of them were uniform, indistinguishable from one another save for minor height and weight differences. That was until she saw one in the center of a hallway that was moving more casually. It wore some metal armor over some parts of its body and had a sort of badge as well. Its disposition was different, it was independent whereas the other ones were well-disciplined.
Blac approached this houndoom directly, still forcing Tamin to come with her. The two locked eyes formally.
"Hello there, mr. Yokovich. I see my men have managed to successfully locate and return your child," the suited houndoom said.
"Yes Rook. Your men did well, and certainly operated within their pay grade as they did so," Blac said, matching the formality. "You should know that she had some companions who fought on her behalf, and were able to wound and injury your men in the ordeal. I don't believe there were any casualties, but as we travelled back, some stayed back to tend to the hurt. You should know about that."
"Ah don't worry, I knew about that. I actually expected that with them," the houndoom apparently named Rook said. "I'll be the first to admit that my boys aren't exactly perfect fighters. When you've got forty, the numbers got things handled anyways. Besides, I need to look strong in comparison to them, heh."
"That's good. I did look over our contract, and I did see that medical and supply cost were not something I had to pay for," Blac said.
"Yeah don't worry about that, we'll be fine. Pleasure doing business with you."
"I will have you and you crew around to guard our manor for the next few days and nights, however. I don't know what my daughter will try or what other cohorts she has, so I will still require your assistance. It isn't permanent, though."
"Continue paying your bills and my men and I will gladly continue to serve you."
"Even if someone else pays you more?"
"Are there people who could potentially pay more than you?" Rook asked.
For once, Blac was stunned. Both out of the audacity of that question, and not knowing how to respond. "No. I do not believe there is."
"Ah, shame then. We'll continue working for you until you're satisfied then."
"And might I ask how that is a shame?"
"The reason I am wearing what I am is because of bidding wars," Rook said as he adopted a wider stance. "You would not believe how much profit I can get from those alone. It feels like you're using a counterfeit machine with how it just keeps going back and forth producing more cha-ching."
"I will keep that noted… just hold your positions, that is all I ask."
"Of course, Mr. Yokovich."
The two walked away from one another, with Blac continuing to push Tamin along with him.
It was only a few more rooms to go at that point. They passed by a few identical short tables with drawers, one of which had a leftover, large tonic glass on the table. Tamin remembered it was his favorite drink, and could see clear as day that that never changed. She could only imagine that he'd gotten sponsored by that drink at that point. Tamin could also imagine what it'd be like to slam his head into the corner of that table and the horrendous black eye that would surely create.
They turned down the corner, and at the far end of this new hallway Tamin could see the door to her old room. As one would suspect, they walked towards it.
Her eyes were focused on the sets of equally spaced windows to her left. She could actually spot the exact window that she had originally made her daring escape from, forcing it to get unlocked so she could climb down the tree stem directly below it. This time around, Tamin could tell that all the locks had been replaced with far more intricate ones that had a full key lock and were crafted out of steel. It would be humorous if the situation wasn't so horrific.
They reached the door. Coldly as always, Blac opened up the door and forcefully pushed Tamin inside. Once she fell in, the door was slammed shut behind her, and a small clicking sound could be heard. She got up and turned around to look at it, but didn't touch the knob, because she knew it was locked on the outside.
The room was exactly as she left all those months ago. It had become investigated as a crime scene, and hadn't been tampered with because of that. This was the room she had to see at the end of every single day when she was growing up, and now this is where she was again.
Tamin walked over to the double-mattress bed. Without even the strength to get up on it, she fell onto the side of it and just tried to collect herself. Sorrow, hatred, remorse, one could list of a hundred different synonyms of those three words and it probably still wouldn't adequately describe what Tamin was feeling. She clenched the bed sheets hard, she swore to herself that she would not cry, and it took every bit of her strength to not do that.
Dewott carried Mawile on the road back to the guildhouse as his leg dripped blood, Nidorina stepped beside him, wounded as well. They trudged back to the guildhouse, with the feeling of defeat being strong within them, the only thing that was strong within them in that moment, in fact.
They eventually made it back to the building, leaving some drops of blood in town along the way. It was Audino that first saw the team, she inadvertently yelled once she got a good look at how Mawile was. The attention of Espeon and many others.
Mawile was taken off to the infirmary whilst Dewott and Nidorina were taken to the office to be asked about what happened. Having to describe the story brought them down to near hysterics, but once Sylveon came to calm them down, they could get the proper story. Tamin was gone now, taken away on a wagon traveling eastward and escorted by a full band of tough mercenaries. The details were chilling to hear.
Espeon knew he had to break the news to others. It was disheartening, but that was also the exact reason why he had to tell others about it. He decided telling it to people one-on-one was the best way to do it. And if he was doing that, he'd best start with the ones that were closest to Tamin. It was obvious who he'd chose for that.
Locke didn't know why he was being called to the office this time. He assumed it was for something he had done, but couldn't think of anything that could possibly be. He then considered if it was possibly good news at that, he even had some hope when he came in. That hope made it more painful to dash.
If not for the medication he was on, Locke would have assuredly broken down. Sylveon offered to help keep him calm, but Espeon said he thought it was better for him to deal with his emotions in a natural way. It didn't seem to fully register in his mind what had happened, he ended up needing to ask the same questions two or three times for it all to fully click. The first stage of grief was on clear display.
Locke asked if he could leave the room, which got swiftly granted by Espeon. The shinx went back to his own room and locked the door. For the next twenty or so minutes, he could occasionally be heard yelling to himself.
It was hard enough for him to hear about how Tamin was almost murdered by Olivia, while he was still dealing with what happened with Crystal no less. But this? It was simply too much for him. With uncanny clarity he could remember the day he'd met her in a forest mystery dungeon, and could remember when he first learned about her parents with similar clarity. The missions, the discussions, the highs and the lows. After all they had been through, he just couldn't accept that she was taken back by her unquestionably abusive parents.
He couldn't accept it at all.
Thirty minutes later, some activity could be heard in the guild's supply and equipment room. It was a rather strange hour for someone to be in there, it was too late to be a diurnal guild member to be gearing up for a mission and certainly too late for a nocturnal one to be doing just that as well. Froslass and Sebastien were the ones to hear and investigate.
The shinx had a backpack loaded up with all sorts of healing supplies, energy drinks, and offensive items like burn seeds, but no flare. A canteen filled to the brim with distilled water was also present. Locke was in the midst of wrapping tough bandages around his forelegs as a form of makeshift armor.
"What are you doing?" Froslass asked, being one of the first to notice him.
"I'm going to get Tamin back," he uttered with absolute stern conviction. He didn't even so much as turn his head to look at them, he was wholly focused on the bandages.
"Are you sure about that? They overwhelmed Dewott, Mawile, and Nidorina too, did you hear?" Sebastien said.
"Yes."
"I think you should wait until Espeon says it's clear. I'm sure he's preparing arrangements for an full rescue team right now."
"I'm not leaving her with her parents, I know what they've done to her," Locke insisted. "I've been through tough fights before, I've had bones broken before. I'm going to do this."
"I'll help you."
Hearing that did inspire Locke to turn his head to see who it was, as did the others.
Scampi the rockruff stood boldly, ready to take on the world and unafraid of standing out. "Tamin was my friend too," she said. "I'm not going to let her go this easily either. I'm coming as well."
Locke smiled with the corner of his mouth. "Thank you," he expressed. "Grab a backpack and start filling it up. Don't go in unprepared. Also don't touch my own oran berries"
"Aight!"
Scampi walked towards Locke and heeded to his advise, getting her own resources prepared as the shinx finished wrapping his forearm in protection. Froslass and Sebastien could tell they weren't going to change their minds, so they went off with plans to tell Espeon of what was going on.
Locke let out a sigh to ease himself just a little. "Thank you so much for joining me, Scampi," he said. "I swear I will pay you back when this is all over."
"It'ssssss no problem!" she said, managing to be cheery in even times like these. "You weren't the only one friends with that 'ccino, ya know? I started talking with her since like barely after she joined this place! We know so much about each other and have done tons of tons of stuff together! I ain't letting her go! Not without a 'goodbye' at least."
Locke couldn't help but smile as her enthusiasm, as naive as it might have been. "Thank you," he repeated. "Anyways, we're probably going to have to do some sneaking around while we're there, I don't see us getting far if we charge in head first. Will you be able to do that?"
"I can always try my best!"
That answer was not as reassuring as she intended for it to be. "I know you're a rock type, any way you can make your steps more quiet? Rocks are kinda loud when hitting against hard stuff."
"I have some special shoes that muffle my feet. My parents gave it to me when I just joined here."
"Okay get those, we'll need them," the shinx commanded.
"Can do!" She declared.
"That's really good…" Locke looked away to gather his thoughts. "I'm a lot more confident with two people now, but this will still be a big challenge…" he thought out loud.
"Have room on your team for an uncommon ally? Or is three too much of a crowd for you?" another voice said.
Locke recognized who it was by voice alone, but still needed to turn his head to make sure of it. Hunter the zorua had just stepped into the room and entirely within their line of sight. No illusions, no tricks up his sleeve, just him in the flesh.
His mere presence was enough to tick Locke off, but he was curious what he had planned. He hadn't forgotten a single thing that he had done, so his confidence shifted to skepticism. What have you come here for?" Locke asked with sternness returned.
Hunter gave a deep sigh before he properly responded.
"Look, I know our pasts haven't been the best by any stretch of the imagination, and I have given you all the reason in the world to be cautious with me," Hunter said. "But I know about what Tamin is going through, and I want to get her back just like you do. I really like her, I don't want to see her gone. I… I love her.
So, could you find it in yourself to just let us put our differences aside for just one day? It's for Tamin's sake…"
Locke hadn't expected this sort of response from Hunter., he never expected words anything close to these to come out of his mouth. While he could never discern lies like Tamin could, he could still tell that there was an unmistakable sincerity within Hunter's voice. It gave him pause, a moment to think about what words to answer the desperate zorua with. After a moment, a smile appeared on Locke's face as he knew what the perfect response was.
"Alright, you can come along, on one condition." Locke said to Hunter.
"And what would that be?" Hunter inquired.
Locke's smile grew a crack wider as he turned to Scampi.
"Scampi, would you do me a favor and help me find a collar that fits on Hunter, as well as a leash that attaches to it?"
"...Alright, I'll admit, that's fair…" Hunter said.
End of chapter 37.