Not one spot of blue could be seen in the skies above them, only an endless sprawling canvas of overcast grey. The gloom was as palpable as the humidity.
Locke, Scampi, and Hunter all marched forward under these exact conditions, sticking to the cleared roads. One foot in front of another, they tirelessly pushed forward.
"Not to be the pessimist, but we probably won't be able to get much farther before we have to set up camp," Hunter commented. "Maybe it would've been better for us to sleep at the guild before heading off?"
"I am not waiting a second longer than I need to to get Tamin back," Locke sternly responded.
"Uh-huh! That's right!" Scampi cheered on. "No laziness here!"
"More than just that. She's told me about what her parents do to her, and I can't leave her with them. For any amount of time. The things they've done, they do… are horrifying," Locke looked off, totally forlorn. He had to shake himself back to reality. "I could never forgive myself if I let her be. So this is why we're going now."
Hunter and Scampi both had a general idea of what she'd been through; she didn't need to keep it a secret after finding out she was totally safe in the guild from Umbreon. But with what Locke said and how he sounded, they could both tell that there was more to the story they didn't know. Questions arose in their minds that they didn't want the answers to.
"Alright. Do we know how far away she is?"
"I don't believe so," Locke responded. "Honestly, she might still be in a wagon… kinda hoping she is, to be honest. I think she'd be safer in one of those than back home."
"Well, a properly set up wagon could probably move across the world faster than we could. So the longer the wagon ride, the longer she'll be imprisoned with her parents," Hunter pointed out.
"True…" Locke reflected. "Let's hope she is home then, right now. As bad as that is."
"Don't worry! Worry's never done no one nothing good!" Scampi declared. "If we just work hard then she'll be good!"
"Aye… that's a good thought."
Still stern and undeterred, they kept marching forward down that road through every turn it made, eyes peeled for anything of note.
Eventually, they managed to reach a landmark: a road that went between two steep hills. There were a few times before where they saw valleys and wondered if that was the place where the kidnapping went down, only to find it didn't quite appear to be it under closer inspection. But once they stumbled upon this valley, they all instantly knew they had found it. The twin hills were far steeper than anything else in that region- even higher than they had expected- and they were equally sized. The sight caused them to momentarily pause, followed by them sprinting towards it.
They didn't want to enter the valley, as it was a known ambushing location. Logically the same men who captured Tamin wouldn't still be there, but it still felt much safer to stay away from it. It didn't matter anyways, even from a distance someone could see the telltale signs that a battle had transpired. The land was scratched up from kicks and claws, loose bits of fur were strewn about, even dried blood could be seen by the careful eye.
"This is it. This was what Dewott described," Locke stated the obvious. "The path should have broken off from the road. We should figure out where the wagon went. Are either of you good at tracking by scent?"
"Yeah, I can do that," Hunter said.
"I"m the best smellah in the guild! I can find her!" Scampi declared.
"Great to know. Let's go around the hills and find the path."
"Righty-yo," Scampi said.
They spun around the hills in a clockwise direction. The left hill didn't hold any secrets, even when they put all their noses to the ground, but the left did show promise. They didn't even need their noses to see the sights of a small army and wagon having trudged through the area hours ago. More loose fur, an innumerable amount of tiny footsteps, and lines of wagon tracks could be found where the earth was soft. Promise and hope.
The trio raised their heads up to look where the footsteps and lines led. There was no town or forest in sight, and certainly no landmarks to be seen. Only rolling hills that stretch on for seemingly forever presented themselves to them.
"Alright, let's go," Locke said, taking up the tone of a leader. He took the initiative and began walking, Hunter and Scampi coming in tow. "We'll have to keep sniffing to make sure we follow the lead, just in case they took any turns along the way."
"Right. It is getting dark though, so let's also be looking for spots to set up camp," Hunter said.
"Scampi, can you handle tracking while I keep my eyes peeled for a safe resting spot?" the shinx said. "My eyesight is really good. Plus I've been doing survival stuff for most of my life."
"You can count on me!"
"If you don't mind me asking, what's the greatest mission you've ever been on, Locke?" Hunter asked.
"I dunno, probably one mission I took in the middle of winter to get a wagon. Didn't really have much combat, but I talked a good bit and had had a lot of fun with Dewott like that, and Tamin too." Locke said. "Why you ask?"
"I just have a hunch that this is going to top that," Hunter said. "I mean, we've rescued lots of pokemon before, but it was always someone we didn't really know. This time around those, it's a comrade-in-arms we're getting, and from people who know what they're dealing with to some extent. It's something so much more personal that way, and I feel that just makes it so much more special. Do you feel me?"
"You know Hunter… I think I do know what you mean," Locke agreed.
The three continued heading off into the untold distance, walking in the final hour of sunlight before the the sun lowered itself below the horizon.
Tamin gazed out of her small, circular room window, watching the sunset.
Escaping from this window was out of the question, the window was as large as a hand-mirror, perfectly akin to the kinds you would see on the hull of a naval vessel. She could squeeze her body through tight spaces, but she couldn't cause her skull to shrink. At that moment, that pigeon hole was the only thing she had left to witness the world outside of that small room.
She'd already searched the room up and down for anything that could be of use. She found that the lock had been replaced with some masterwork quality lock. She tried searching the room for anything made of metal to use as makeshift lockpicks, only to discover they thoroughly removed all the pieces of metal she could use for that purpose. Tamin strongly considered the possibility of breaking the leg of a table and splintering the wood to fashion picks out of those wood shards, but the logistics didn't quite add up. The wood was far weaker than metal and would assuredly break in the lock if she tried them. That idea was out of the window.
Tamin went through an array of ideas with the wall, the door, the lock, the window, and all she had. There was one advantage she had with the floor and that seemed like the most promising strategy. If Tamin could only find a way to pull the wood boards out, she could take that path out. But obviously there were no hammers or crowbars, so she didn't have a clear means of doing that.
It didn't really matter anyway if she got out anyways, even if she got outside of the building she knew she wouldn't be able to get very far with all those houndroom guards.
Tamin collapsed onto her bed, knowing nothing else she could do. Even if there were actions she could do, this wasn't the time for it. Not when her parents and all the men they had hired were on high alert.
She was in a sleeping position, except her eyes were wide open and looking at the room door. She was ready to feign sleep in a moment if anything were to pop through that door. Blinking only momentarily, she just kept focused on the door.
The sun was up again. It was nine- or maybe it was ten- Tamin couldn't be for certain. Tamin didn't know if she got a single wink of sleep that night or not, she figured she hadn't since she couldn't recall any recent nightmares.
It would only be so much longer before the door to this prison of hers was opened. Not being able to do much else, Tamin could only steel herself for the abuse that was surely to come. She consoled the wounds from the night before while that was still possible, and built mental walls to keep herself shut off from the inevitable torrent of abuse.
Tamin could hear the faint sound of the lock being undone.
The trio had been traveling for an exhaustingly long period of time. They had already finished sleeping in shifts and packed up camp, so back to walking it was. Turns were taken, but the trail of scent always remained strong. Even as the dirt turned to mud and the essence was being washed away, they could still find the traces they needed.
The rolling hills ended a while ago, instead giving into a tall oak forest. Therein, they were more alert and skulked through the underbrush. It was harder to discern the time when thick canvas of leaves blotched out the sun. Nevertheless, they persisted.
Trees, trees, and more trees. Yet despite the repeating scenery, the feeling that they were getting closer was palpable; nerve-wracking even. Then finally, it was revealed to them.
A massive treehouse hung over the land. It wasn't the one-room treehouses you'd expect a child to grow up having. It was a massive structure, easily the size of a mansion, perhaps even a fortress with its magnitude. Multiple stories, porches, balconies, hanging ornaments, pulley elevators, admonished spiral staircases and every other bell and whistle one could imagine. One couldn't get much more luxurious without waiting for technology to advance.
The three hid in the bushes, keeping enough distance to stay safe but close enough that they could get a sight of the structure's details.
"So that's where Tamin is being kept?" Scampi asked.
"Probably, but keep your voice down," Locke quietly replied. "Those houndoom that kidnapped her are probably still around here."
"Oh, I'm so, so sorry," Scampi lowered her volume as much as she could.
"It's fine, just keep it down."
"We'll need a plan to get her. So let's start brainstorming," Hunter whispered.
"Right," Locke said, not even glancing at the zorua to keep his eyes on the tree mansion. "If those houndroom gave Dewott serious trouble, then I don't want to just walk into this."
"Well, they beat Dewott with an ambush, didn't they?" Scampi asked.
"Yeah, they did," Locke said.
"So couldn't we just get back at them by ambushing them? We can go in with a surprise," Scampi said.
"Good point, actually. A surprise would give us the edge. But I still think we'll need some more tactics."
"I'd say our biggest advantage is that we don't need to wipe out every fighter there. We just need to get Tamin and go," Hunter explained.
"I'm thinking we can go around the building and look into all the windows. Figure out where Tamin is so we can focus on that," Locke said. "Scouting will be really helpful right now."
"What's worrying the most about this plan is that spiral staircase. We're hidden right now, but we're not going to be able to enter that place without going out into the open and making ourselves plainly visible. Then we have to spend time going up that whole staircase while exposed. We can't just waltz in like we could with a dungeon."
"I can climb trees. I could hop up onto the trees, go through those, and get on top of the building like that. At that point I could jump in at a weird place that'd be a surprise," Locke explained. "How about you guys?"
"Yeah I can climb trees fairly well," Hunter said.
"Umm… I really don't think I can," Scampi sheepishly said.
"... Well shoot," Locke expressed. "I guess you can come in later. Charge up after the fight had begun. Yeah, that'll do. They'll be distracted by me and him so they won't see you coming, so you can come up from behind."
"I think I can do that."
"From behind? How will Scampi know where we are in that place. It's massive."
"Uh, I think I could hear you guys," Scampi said.
Hunter nodded his head left and right. "Not going to call your plan 'bad', but we still have a massive problem: we don't know where Tamin is in that huge place. We're making a gambit in hoping that we can find her before we're overwhelmed, and that's really just luck."
"Well've you got any better plans?" Locke asked. "I mean I was planning on doing this solo, so I'm just trying to figure out how to use you two the best I can when I have ya."
"Yes," Hunter stated bluntly. "For a matter of fact I do."
"Spit it out then, smart alec."
"Simple. I disguise myself, I walk up the staircase, I search the place under cover, find Tamin, and get her out safely. If all goes well, we can get her out without a single attack needing to be made," the zorua elaborated.
"And what makes you think they won't catch you?" Locke nitpicked.
"Hey, I've managed to trick you several times before, even when you knew there was a zorua who lived in the same place as you. They don't even know it's a zorua they're dealing with," Hunter pointed out, failing to hide a smile as he spoke. "So if I was able to trick you a few times, then I'll almost certainly be able to trick them as well as I go through there when I'm just patrolling the place.
Sure, maybe they'll question me once I've got Tamin by my side. But at that point I'll be able to tell Tamin to make a break for it while I cover her. It'll make it so we only need to fight on the way out, rather than both fighting to get to her and to get her out."
"All true… but I don't really know if I can trust you with this," Locke criticized. "You've given me literally every reason in the world on why I shouldn't trust you, you've tried to make me paranoid of you. Now all of a sudden you're expecting me to trust you to get Tamin back on your own solo mission while we wait outside?"
"I can get that, and… yeah you've got a point. But we both like Tamin, and I've been good to her. So while we might not get along, can't we just put that aside for today for Tamin's sake? Believe me, I'd try to rescue her even if you weren't here."
"Yeah," Scampi said. "You guys are on the same side. We're all just trying to make sure Tamin isn't put in harm's way. I'm sure you can trust him now."
Locke turned back to Hunter and looked into his eyes. This time, they actually looked innocent. "...Alright fine," he admitted. "You can do your plan."
Hunter smiled. It wasn't the trickster grin he usually had, this smile was a wholesome one. Hunter's body language was actually quite readable when he wasn't in one of his illusions, strangely enough. "Thank you," he replied. "Alright, we can combine both of our plans together. So, I'll go in while under a disguise, Locke will go on the roof, and Scampi will hide around the forest in the ground. If things go wrong, you guys can rush in to help. Does everyone follow?"
"How will we know when 'things go wrong'?" Locke asked.
"Well…" Hunter stuck his paw into his bag. "I don't think you're quite convinced of their usefulness yet, but I made sure to not leave without one." He pulled a black-tipped flare out of his bag. "This will be hidden under my illusions as well, so they won't see it. If anything goes awry, I can pull the stripe and you'll hear the burst. You should also be able to hear where the sound came from to get a rough idea of where you need to be."
"I see…" Locke understood. "Alright, I get the plan. Did you follow all of it, Scampi?"
"Mhm! I do," Scampi said, having to restrain herself from getting too loud.
"Okay… let's do this," Locke confirmed.
Hunter put the flare back and stood up from sitting down. He began walking closer to the treehouse. But before he could get more than two steps, he felt a paw place itself on his hip. "Wait," Locke said.
"Yeah?"
"Don't ruin my trust and backstab me or Tamin here," Locke commanded. "And if you stick to it, well… best of luck to you."
The zorua gave another wholesome smile. "You too, Locke."
With final nods of approval, the three split up. Hunter and Scampi skulked through the bushes to get closer to the tree house while Locke ran up to a low branch and leaped up onto it. Locke leapt from tree to tree, gradually getting higher and closer to the goal, while the other two went straight for the building.
As they had expected, there was the occasional houndoom on the prowl near the building. Luckily for them, they didn't seem to have their guards up very much. With one glance you could tell the houndoom were bored from waiting around for so long, and were just there to fill a quota for payment. It would take passion to vigilantly watch for such a long period of time.
Scampi and Hunter took to the bushes, getting as close as they could comfortably get while avoiding the sight of the guards. Using the guards as a reference, Hunter used his ability and wrapped himself in an illusionary disguise and took on the appearance of a houndoom himself. He carefully marched out into the open and walked towards the spiral staircase which went up into the treehouse.
Locke had a trickier time approaching the building, as leaping from tree to tree created sound. He needed to plan out every move, keep awareness of all of her surroundings, and watch where the guards were looking. He began to question himself on whether this was the correct way to go about this, but he pushed through those doubts and persisted.
It took a few minutes, and each one was more nerve-wracking than the last. But persistence would pay out when Locke made his final jump and got onto the roof of the tree house.
The roof wasn't flat, it was slanted with wall tiles installed to push rain off. Locke could easily climb up it and search the roof. He found that behind a chimney was the best hiding place, and there was a balcony he could jump down onto to have an easy way to get in.
Now, he simply had to wait for further cues, just as Scampi had to do from below. In the meantime, he both psyched himself up and planned.
"My thunderbolts can hit targets farther away than fire breath usually can, so I have a range advantage on them. I think I could handle two or three of the houndoom at once if I'm starting at a range and one if I'm fighting melee. Although I'd rather not have to fight more than that at once."
As Locke and Scampi were in position, Hunter had already gotten himself inside.
The building looked large on the outside, but seemed even larger within. Each individual hall and room wasn't as large as the ones in the guildhouse, as they didn't need to be large enough to fit an arcanine or mienshao in it. As a result, they could fit much more rooms and turns in that space, even an entire extra story to it. In sheer technicality there was less open space, but it took far longer to search.
It was anxious to pass by any other guard. Hunter didn't know their patrol patterns, and didn't want to risk trying to mimic voices to talk to them. The building's layout was baffling as well, Hunter lost track of how many rooms he counted that seemed utterly unnecessary. There were like three casual meeting rooms and two professional meeting rooms, and an entire hall of guest bedrooms.
Eventually, Hunter managed to find two cinccino, one male and one female. To his dismay, neither was Tamin. He heard them before he saw them, and could tell it wasn't her by voice alone. Even still, he went to take a closer look.
They were both adorned in expensive clothing and even more expensive jewelry. They were quite a bit older that Tamin was, so Hunter could take an educated guess that these were her parents.
"How does this sound for a story: 'Tamin was found by our recruited houndoom search groups, getting assaulted by wild pokemon and was rescued by the houndoom'," Blac suggested. "Explains the wounds she has (was some wild pokemon's fault), makes us the heroes, and we can claim the guild members failed at their duties to protect her."
"True. But are you sure you can get the houndoom to go along with your version of the story? They are mercenaries, not search parties. I'm kind of worried that one of them will slip up and tell the wrong story. Or we'll have people investigating into who they are deeper," Amoni responded.
"I"m going to cut ties with the houndoom as fast as I can, once they've served us well and I give them proper payment. So I wouldn't worry about investigators," he said. "Either way, do you have a better idea for a narrative?"
"I was thinking of explaining that the guild was abusing her, and we hired a rescue party," Amoni said. "Nice part of this is that we actually could convince the houndoom that she was getting abused, and her wounds were their fault. So if our mercenaries are ever asked, they will say what they believe to be the truth. And if this goes further, I assume we could dig up some cases of amoral guild members or times the guild failed to do their job to discredit them and make our story more plausible."
"No. That's dumb. That would never work," Blac retorted.
"And why is that?"
"Think about it for two seconds. That'd imply she left the guild while wounded and injured, when the guild probably wouldn't want to do that. It just doesn't make any sense," Blac said. "My idea is just plain better. It implies incompetence instead of malice on the guild's part. Which is absolutely the case."
"W-why don't you ever want to go along with my ideas?" Amoni argued.
"Frankly, your ideas aren't great. Mine are just straight up better than yours," the male cinccino argued back. "Not to mention the guild probably has documentation they could use against us. Best to play it safe with what we accuse them of."
"Well why on earth would the guild put up a legal fight with us for just a dumb minccino? Don't you think they would- I don't know- cut their losses after that ambush?"
"Why are you dragging your feet so hard?!"
"I'mnot dragging my feet, you are!"
"So that's what those two's voices sound like. Good to know," Hunter thought to himself.
The argument was degenerating, so Hunter knew he didn't need to stick around for any more of it. He continued walking from room to room.
It was about half-a-dozen meters further in, but it was plain as day when Hunter found it. At the end of a long hall was a door guarded by two sitting houndoom, and on the door was a silver label engraved with "TAMIN". Almost felt like a trap with how blatant and obvious it was, but Hunter knew it wasn't because from the conversation earlier, he could deduce that he was not expected. Hunter felt that reverse-psychology was overrated anyways, you can expect it to work on a singular person, but not everyone. So if a door was being well-guarded, it was safe to assume there was someone or something inside, rather than them just pretending there was while the real thing was stored somewhere less protected.
Now that Hunter had found the room, the next step was getting in. He ducked away into a side-room to break line of sight with everyone. He found himself in a small recording studio.
There was some makeup on the room countertops that was in pink cases. Hunter figured this must've been owned by that female cinccino he saw earlier.
He disguised himself as that exact cinccino. He glanced at a makeup mirror in the room to make sure he got all the details right. Now reassured, he left the room and went back to where he was.
Hunter approached the two houndoom guarding the door, and saw them notice him. He raised one paw into the air and held another behind his back. "I'd like to enter to be with her, please," he mimicked the voice he had heard earlier.
To his delight, his illusion worked. The two houndoom nodded and went to the side to allow him entry. Hunter wanted to smile, but kept his face stern.
Hunter unlocked the door and gently pushed it open. The interior was dimly lit, to him it felt like the air itself had changed when he entered. At the same time, this room was the only one that felt real and reflecting reality, instead of just a crudely put together kitsch room. Inside of it, Tamin the cinccino was standing on a stool and looking out of her tiny window. Though her initial reaction wasn't one of relief, it was the opposite.
Hunter shut the door behind him and spoke. "Tamin? Could I have you for a minute?" he still mimicked the voice of Amoni, as he didn't know how well sound-proofed the door was.
"What do you need?" Tamin asked, taking a step back away from him.
"First, there's just something I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
"I'd like to whisper it into your ear."
"Why? Just say it right now," Tamin was stern.
Hunter was beginning to see that this would be a bit more complicated. He wasn't going to let a complication like this get in his way. He stepped forward to get further away from the door.
"Don't act irrational with me, it's something simple. But I really need to say this to you quietly."
Tamin let out a discreet sigh. "Alright, you can tell me if you need to."
"Don't make any loud noises, but…" Hunter stepped closer to Tamin, leaning towards her ear, "I'm actually Hunter," he whispered, dropping her voice mimicry.
The change was immediate. Tamin's eyes opened up, she quickly inhaled before her breath stopped for a moment. That name was not something Amoni could have known. "H-Hunter?" she managed to ask with blooming hope,
"Yeah," he said, still using his normal voice. "We've come to get you out of here. But you'll have to play along for things to go right."
"We?"
"Locke's on the roof and Scampi's on the ground. But if everything goes right, we don't need them," Hunter continued to whisper.
"Got it," Tamin said. "What's the full plan? There are a fair few guards here."
"We'll just try to get you straight out of here. You know the layout of this place better than I do, what's the fastest and safest route out of here?"
Tamin paused for a second and looked upwards, pensive. "There's only one staircase up here, so that will probably have the most guards around it. But there's also a few pulley elevators here too. Those should have less protection around it because you can't enter the treehouse using them, only exit it with them. If they expect me to be locked up in this room, then there definitely won't be as many guards around those."
"Great plan. What's the closest one to here?"
Tamin recounted some instructions on how to get to it, with every turn they'd make and every room they'd have to go to.
"Amazing. Let's go, I think we're on borrowed time right now."
"Wait, one second."
"What is it?"
"I think I just need to… psyche myself up a bit,"
"Okay, but make it quick."
Tamin tilted her head back and meditated. All of her life, she was at her parents' bidding. Even when running away, she felt compelled to join the guild to avoid them, not necessarily because she wanted to. Now this day, this day was the one where that all might just change. Each and everyone of her fantasies of harming her parents came back to her, with each and every detail. If made things begin to feel surreal, and then she kicked herself back to reality.
"Okay, I'm ready."
"Good," Hunter said. "Quick thing, how does your mother usually pull you around when she does?"
"Pulls me by my left wrist using her right paw."
"Thank you."
The door was opened again, and the two headed out. Hunter's illusion was not broken as he pulled Tamin along and Tamin herself had her head hung down, faking a guilty depression. The two houndoom thought nothing of it and let them go.
Hunter committed Tamin's instructed path to memory, and took it perfectly. They didn't speak a word to each other, and acted as cold to one another as they could. Every step brought them closer to the escape and to safety, becoming both more tantalizing and more nerve-wracking.
Suddenly, another cinccino entered the hallway they were in. It was Amoni in the flesh, the real one. Each and every one of her frivolous jewelry sparkling.
When eye contact was made, everyone froze. For one side, they froze out of fear. For the other- confusion.
"V-Vin?" Amoni asked. The figure she was looking possessed distinct differences from how Amoni's eldest daughter actually looked, but given the circumstances, that was the only idea she could think of.
"...Yes," Hunter replied. The voice he chose was some composition of Tamin's voice and Amoni's voice that he came up with on the spot, as he had no idea what this 'Vin' person sounded like.
"Uh- what is going on?" Amoni asked, her voice beginning to rise to a panic.
"It's a lot simpler then you'd think," Hunter nonchalantly said in his fabricated voice.
"What?!"
"Well-"
Hunter quickly called up his dark type energy and shaped it into a shadow ball. Only a half second after he began, he launched it forward. With joints stiffened in surprise and confusion, Amoni was unable to make evasive maneuvers. The attack hit her dead-on and launched her back with force, flinging her body at a wall which it made hard contact with. Her body then fell onto the floor.
"Hunter!" Tamin said.
The zorua pulled his black-stripped flare out of his pack and laid it on the floor, pointed at Amoni. "Well, things didn't go perfectly. Although when I'm on board you should always expect at least a little bit of chaos," he said, a gin coming to his mouth. "Subtlety is out of the window now. Now, we'll run and fight."
Hunter tore the stripe off, making the flare's tip eject forwards. The black smoke and the loud bang both went off in that closed environment.
That loud bang was heard throughout the whole building and those closeby.
Locke was still waiting on the rooftop, hidden behind a chimney. His doubts about the zorua had been slowly accumulating as he waited. It wasn't worry so much as annoyance, and he entertained the thought of how the ordeal would have gone if he had done it solo as he originally intended.
Just as he continued to fantasize about it, his train of thought broke when he heard the sound of an explosion emanating from below.
"Was that a flare? Yeah that was a flare. Hunter lit his flare. Of course he couldn't do it right."
The shinx wasted no time. He descended down the diagonal roof and hopped onto one of the building's outstretching balconies. He landed on his feet and looked inside through the low windows.
Locke had a rough idea of where the flare had been activated, just not a precise one. While surely every single guard had heard the bang and gone into action, they wouldn't know about Locke's presence and he could still catch them by surprise. For a moment he considered how satisfying it would be to take a little bit of extra time and leave Hunter to fight on his own. It was a fun thought for the shinx, fun until he realized that Tamin was very likely with him. So it was best if he acted quickly.
He tried to open the balcony's door, only to find it locked. He didn't let this slow him down, he took a step back and discharged a thunderbolt through the glass windows. They broke with the shattering of glass and crackling of electricity giving a satisfying combination of noises. Locke leaped through the now clear space.
Once inside, it felt like a dungeon like any other to him. He noticed two guards in the immediate room, both were momentarily stunned by the surprise and by all that was going on. Locke thought of them as no different than the enemies he'd normally face.
Locke called up electricity and shot another thunderbolt to hit one of the guards. It tried to dodge, but Locke had predicted which direction he'd try to dodge in and accounted for it in his aim. The hit was decisive.
The other guard charged towards Locke, no doubt seeing the shinx as an easy target for being smaller. Locke ran forward as well. As they got closer, Locke shifted into a leap, but not directly towards the pokemon. He jumped towards the wall as the houndoom tried to claw him down, but missed as he had mistakenly assumed Locke would jump straight towards him.
As the claw swung downwards, Locke landed on the wall, and supplanted all four of his feet against it. He pressed all four legs down to jump off and strike from the other direction. The guard couldn't move fast enough to guard from this new direction, so Locke connected his attack by opening his jaw fully and biting deep into its neck. Locke applied so much strength to the attack that it was more than just skin and muscles that got damaged.
Just as it fell to the ground, the first houndoom who had been struck by the bolt had begun getting back up. So Locke jumped up and came down on him with claws out, swiftly slashing him with masterful precision.
He didn't finish them off, just ensured they were hurt enough to not pursue him further. Once they were adequately harmed, Locke dashed further into the building.
Locke could sense his cover was blown and more would be coming his way, but he didn't let that deter him. He would get to Tamin. It was not a matter of 'if', it was a matter of 'when'. His mind was absolutely dead set on it.
He'd expect more to come in his way, but the next he encountered was different. It was a houndoom all the same, but he wore jagged yet symmetrical armor which mixed red into his natural black and white pallet. Locke got a look at his eyes, and they told of years of experience.
The shinx figured he'd use a similar takedown method for this one as he did with the previous houndoom: opening with a thunderbolt, jumping towards the wall to throw them off, and springing off of that to attack from an unusual direction. But both of them made eye contact at once, and in that split second there was a momentary standoff. Like a wild west standoff, only one that began the moment they saw each other instead of at any signal. To his surprise, Locke would not be the one to win that standoff.
As Locke still went forward and began gathering electricity, a thin tendril of flame shot towards his head dead on with terrifying speed. Forced to recalculate, Locke brought his back left leg further forward and to the side than he'd normally do in his sprints. He kicked against the ground with full left strength to give himself sideways momentum to fling himself to the right. The flames shaved off a few strands of his fur, narrowly missing Locke's flesh as he dodged. The shinx was flung to the wall, his momentum coming to a dead halt.
"Cute dress, who made it for you?" the houndoom Rook commented.
The words obviously directed at Locke's harness didn't get to him. "Where's Tamin?" Locke asked.
"Who?" he didn't even try to make it sound like a legitimate question. He smiled as he asked that and didn't tilt his head in the least. He was toying around.
Locke saw that words wouldn't get through. Whether by malice, stubbornness, the promise of payment or some combination thereof, this houndoom would remain in his path. If Locke were to run, there'd be no guarantee this houndroom wouldn't be able to get away, and that would probably just end with him getting stuck between two enemies. The only real option was obvious: Locke would have to fight.
"I'll give you one thing for being brave, and it seems you managed to deal with a few of my men. Not bad, let's see how good you actually are."
Flames gathered in Rook's mouth as he prepared another attack.
Tamin continued to run through the building with Hunter. She actually took the lead as she navigated both of them.
They went down a hallway, where a group of three guards came in front of them. Both of them halted their run.
"You keep running and get to safety, I'll deal with these guys," Hunter said without hesitation.
"Are you sure?" Tamin asked.
"Yes, I am absolutely sure. Now go," he remained calm and composed.
Not arguing further, Tamin dashed down an exit to the side as Hunter stood his ground. She had now broken from the route she originally suggested, but she could still navigate the place.
She slinked into a side room. It was a small office with files neatly ordered into cabinets and drawers. Tamin gave the room a once over to search for anything that would be of use. Among the pens and other utensils, there was a box cutter which laid on a sleek black counter. Tamin grabbed it, and pressed the switch on it forward to extend the box cutter's blade. It was sharp and pristine.
"Not a proper knife, but it'll certainly do," Tamin thought as she admired the blade.
Tamin put the blade back down, and ran out of the room while keeping one finger on the switch. She continued to run down the hall, in the opposite direction that she had left Hunter at.
Tamin expected to see some more guards next. She mentally pictured herself dodging the attacks of some houndoom and leaping into the air to either hit their heads or neck with spiraling tail attacks- or better yet- sever their flesh with the box cutter. She rehearsed the mental image over and over again, she was almost looking forward to seeing the blood in real life. What she actually saw next wasn't quite that.
As Tamin entered into a parlor-like room, a male cinccino stood there. Black suit with symmetrical folds, iron stance, thick eyebrows, it was her father Blac. He seemed to have been running through the house himself, but stopped when he saw Tamin approaching. His eyes shot with fiery hatred as though they were tiny portals to hell itself. Tamin actually entertained the idea that they were, given 'eyes are the window to the soul' and all.
Tamin stopped herself, knowing a confrontation was milliseconds away. She gave the room a once over, seeing that there was a bottle of tonic placed on a decorative coffee table beside her.
"TAMIN!" he shouted with every drop of anger that could be infused into those two syllables.
Tamin was not phased. Not this time.
"Hello, Blac," Tamin said. Calling him by his name instead of 'dad' or 'father', it was such a simple thing, but it was everything for her.
"WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING?!" he continued to shout.
"Aww, what's the problem? Not even going to try and hide your anger this time?" Tamin said. "You have guests over right now, don't you?"
"THE HOUSE IS GETTING DESTROYED!"
"Good!" Tamin retorted. "You deserve so much worse to happen to you! You wretched abomination!"
That was it. All actual words and reasoning from Blac left him just like that. He charged forward while screaming bloody murder at the top of his lungs, comparable to a toddler on a tantrum. Tamin cracked her neck in preparation.
Tamin grabbed onto the tonic bottle with one paw and dashed forward. She spun her body around to gather circular force while both cinccino neared each other. In a single moment, Tamin swung the bottle with her body, shoulder and elbow all at once, maximizing its speed.
The attack was two-fold. First was the deadly speed of the bottle multiplied by the weight of all liquid inside, slamming hard against Blac's skull. After that, the glass broke on contact to send hundreds of fragmented shards across the room, each sharp enough to sever skin. For Tamin, it felt like the scene happened in slow motion. She could see every splinter of glass, every drop of tonic, and splatter of blood course through the air, all following the same arc she created with her attack, like a prismatic rain shower that Tamin herself created.
The moment didn't last for eternity. Tamin followed it up by stabbing the box cutter into Blac's shoulder, then violently tearing it out. He attempted to raise a paw to block his face, but Tamin grabbed it with her arm which once held the bottle. As fast as lightning, Tamin brought the box cutter down and slashed at one of Blac's legs, getting past the skin and deep into the muscles.
With his balance now quite literally severed, she knew it would only be a second more before he hit the ground. Tamin grabbed onto the fur atop his head, then used that grip to swing his head towards the wooden floor. She channeled every ounce of hatred and contempt into that swing, almost tearing her own muscles to do so. Once his face made contact with the ground, the sound of bones breaking could be heard even through all the screams, and the floor itself could be felt shaking.
As she looked downwards, Tamin noticed a glare in the corner of her eye. It was from the remaining glass which was left from her initial swing, each reflecting light like a jewel. She noticed some of the remaining shards were larger than she'd expected, and their sharp points still showed.
Tamin picked up Blac by his neck and head, then slammed it down onto the glass. The only thing he was able to do was shut his eyelids to prevent his retinas from being cut. After Tamin slammed his head down on the glass, she lifted his head up to slam it down again, and once more after that.
A pool of blood expanded on the floor, flooding into the cracks between boards. Tamin took a step back to take a good look at what she had just done.
"My gosh was that satisfying!" Tamin said, smile as wide as a banquet table and holding her fingers in front of her mouth. "You just went straight down, didn't ya? And look at you! Bleeding into a slobbering mess on the floor!"
Tamin stepped back forward and placed her foot on his back. "Aww, what's the problem now? Can't take what you dish out? Does justice not taste too good for you? Because it's sure wonderful for me! Seeing you in pain is absolutely euphoric!"
She worked to flip his body over to force him to look upwards. Just as she had expected and hoped, his face was an absolute. His nose was broken with blood pouring out, asymmetrical cuts dotted it everywhere, each pouring out red. It was horrific, but in Tamin's eyes, that's what made it gorgeous. With one look she knew this would be a sanguine memory by both definitions of the word. The damage wasn't even the best part, the best part was that Tamin noticed him blink and his eyes move. He was still conscious yet.
"Not screaming anymore? Yeah, pain to the neck can do that to you. Screaming like that will just cause your pain to increase. That's a lesson I learned a while ago- three years ago, I think. Thanks to you, of course. That might've been the first time I seriously thought about anatomy in my life. Finally, a time where I can actually enjoy reminiscing!" Tamin continued to taunt, caressing the edge of the box cutter with one finger. "Let me tell you, it's a shame that this had to happen now, I don't have time to be thorough as I've really got to run. But while I'm in the moment, I'd better enjoy this."
Tamin brought the blade closer to him again. But before she could make another incision, Tamin heard a gasp come from across the room.
Turning her head, she saw Deater the minccino standing in a doorway. His feet were frozen in place, and the only movement in his body was shaking in fear. His face was the worst of all. His eyes were full open but his pupils were entirely dilated, and his mouth was locked open too. It looked like an infinite hallway containing terror the whole way down. Tamin hadn't seen anything like it before, she couldn't even imagine it. In his eyes, Tamin could faintly see her reflection: her standing over a mutilated body with a crude knife that dripped with blood. Tamin didn't even see herself in it, Tamin saw her mother instead.
"D-Deater," Tamin tried to say.
He didn't respond rationally. Deater turned and ran away as fast as he could, screaming in fear.
"Wait!" Tamin called out, reaching out a paw even. But he was gone in a second.
She froze in place, slowly lowering her paw. To imagine what things had looked like from Deater's perspective was a different kind of horror, one that she couldn't run from.
As she was frozen, another houndoom guard stumbled into the room. The sight was both unnerving and confusing, but it didn't cause him to lock up for long. The houndoom charged towards her at full speed.
He got halfway through the room before Tamin became aware of it, turning her head to look at it. Her heart sunk at that sight, Tamin was caught while flat-footed and in a terrible position. With how fast the houndoom was going and how close it was, the window of time in which she could have dodged was likely gone already. Her mind immediately went to the worse case scenario and she pictured herself being snatched up in its mouth and crushed between its teeth. She had her box cutter and clenched it tight, hoping she might be able to get herself out of that grapple by stabbing him, but she doubted it.
Just then, in the midst of the second which seemed eternal, the houndoom was hit by a brown blur. Its momentum was redirected and the houndoom was thrown against the wall. Once things slowed down, Tamin could recognize the brown blur as being Scampi.
The rockruff spent a few seconds longer using various moves to pound down the houndoom while it was pinned against the edge of the room. Her individual attacks weren't all that strong, but Scampi knocked him out through persistence and overexertion. Once it stayed put, it turned its head to look at Tamin.
"Tamin!" Scampi declared. She was a bit panicked, but her cheerfulness could be heard, even now.
"Scampi!" she smiled, this time was more wholesome.
"Who is that cinccino?" she asked, referring to Blac.
"Um, that doesn't matter right now. Let's just get out of here!" Tamin said.
"Got it! Here, follow me."
"I know a better way out, come with me."
"Alrighty!"
Tamin sprinted away, still making her way towards the same pulley elevator. Scampi followed her as they both ran on all-fours.
Locke's fur and harness were singed and he bled from one leg. Rook the Houndoom continued an onslaught of Fury Swipes, forcing Locke to keep moving. He charged up electricity as he dodged, preparing a thunderbolt to retaliate. But with each evade, his muscles grew more tired, and he became just a tad slower. Right before Locke could discharge a thunderbolt, Rook performed a vicious slash which connected. It opened a ghastly wound on the shinx, forced him back by a full meter, and made his thunderbolt misfire onto a wall.
Locke barely managed to land on his feet and stay put as he was casted across the room. Even with his hardened pain resistance, he could tell his wounds were fast accumulating and he was growing weaker. Rook on the other hand was still hearty. He had some scratches from Locke's claws, but they barely bled anything. A few spots had also been hit by electricity, but those were even fainter.
In desperation, Locke reached into his bag and pulled out an oran berry. But as he held it, Rook rushed forward and knocked Locke back, him dropping the berry in the process. Locke was sent flying again, this time kicked into a table that collapsed on him. The shinx's grunts were faint.
Rook picked up the oran berry that Locke dropped with a smug face. "Well shinx, I'll give ya credit, you put up more of a fight then I was expecting. But you really shouldn't have expected to beat me," he bit down on the berry to heal his meager wounds. "In a way, I'm actually glad my men are as strong as they are, it makes people underestimate me when it comes time for them to actually fight me. Also makes me look even stronger in comparison, heh.
Some say I shouldn't be giving my opponents any confidence- and sure- maybe making them overconfident isn't a good think to bank on. But let me tell you, it makes bringing them down so much more satisfying."
Rook turned around and began walking off. Just walking, he was in no hurry, and the screams he had heard were not changing that. He took one step, then another, then another. It was then, after that third step, that he heard something.
"Don't. You. Go. Anywhere."
Rook rolled his eyes as he turned to see what it was. Locke pushed the wood off of him. In spite of all his injuries, in spite of all his pain, in spite of blood dripping from his mouth, Locke stood up and stepped forward as a faint blue aura surrounded him.
Rook actually raised his eyebrows in interest. Not all of his enemies showed such willpower. He wasn't scared by any means, but his curiosity was piqued. He stayed put and watched to see where this was going.
"I don't even know if you know who Tamin is or not, but she has done so much to me, and I've made my promises to her. I will not let you keep her here, I will not let you touch her. And I do not care what I'll have to do for this."
He spoke slowly and walked slower with a faint blue glow accompanying. Yet his pace was steady, and he kept getting closer. Locke reserved what little stamina and electricity he had left, knowing he'd have to save it for this last-ditch effort, if he even had enough left to do that in the first place.
With every step he made, the blue glow that emanated from him grew just a bit brighter. It was dim and barely noticeable at first, but gradually it became bright like a lantern. It was clear enough that Locke himself could notice something was off about it.
With every step he made, a strange sensation in his body grew stronger. It was more than just adrenaline and motivation, it was some other sensation that Locke hadn't felt before and couldn't quite describe eiter.
The blue glow might've been explainable by his species' bioluminescence at first, but it didn't remain that way for long. The aura not only turned brighter, but also more opaque.
As it all became potent, Locke stopped in place. He raised his paw and looked at it. In real time he watched the blue envelop him entirely. As that happened, Locke no longer felt the pain he had previously. He felt each and every part of himself grow larger. His torso grew longer, his tail even moreso. He felt an extended branch of fur arise from the back of his head and spread around it, overtaking all of his head except his face, creating a triangular shake on his forehead between his eyes. As his body expanded, the fabric off his harness was stretched until it broke off.
The process took a few seconds, but finished virtually instantly. All of the blue energy casted itself off, leaving a show of sparkles all around. What stood in his place was no longer a shinx; Locke now stood as a luxio.
Opening his eyes again, Locke could immediately understand what had happened. In addition to becoming a new species, Locke could feel that some of his wounds were healed and he had more electricity in his biological reserves. It wasn't a full restore, but it was a valuable second wind.
"Now you've got me interested," Rook said.
Locke didn't waste time responding verbally. He immediately went for a charge forward, swiping downwards with a claw that he infused with electricity. Rook managed to dodge this, but had to move significantly more than he previously did. Locke immediately made another attack, this one did hit against the houndoom's neck and create a nasty gash.
Rook's mind danced around on what his options were. Now that Locke was large enough to grapple him, he didn't want to stay in melee combat with him. He quickly built up fire in his mouth and unleashed it. Locked dodged backwards to get away from it, discharging a thunderbolt as he did so which overrode the flames and hit Rook. This time, it managed to deal meaningful damage.
There was now a distance between them in the hallway of about two meters. Locke didn't make any actions. He remained in his battle stance and vigilant, but Locke didn't charge forward or prepare another move. Rook used this opportunity to begin preparing another fire move, but as he did so, he began coughing, which undid what he prepared. Then that coughing turned to hacking. Then Locke smiled.
"You know, I cannot count how many times I've tried to heal myself in a mystery dungeon, only for a wild pokemon to take my oran berry from me and eat it themselves. Like really, it happens all to often, and is stupid annoying," Locke began talking. "I suppose it makes sense. It's a pretty obvious move to want to both deny your opponent from healing, and get healed yourself. They just dive straight for that oran berry when they see it.
Couldn't find a way to stop it, so instead, I just started carrying around some poisoned oran berries to deal with it."
"You what?! You-" Rook tried to speak, but was cut off as he began coughing once again.
"What's wrong big boy, thought only a dark-type could pull off a dirty trick?" Locke spoke with venom in his voice. "Just a little trick I figured out myself. You've got to make your own poison with plants as venom just ends up being bitter. Doubt it's in any books.
Wasn't confident you'd fall for it, I mean you are supposed to be the 'big and tough' mercenary guy and I've only tried it on dungeon pokemon so far. But I guess when you're in the heat of the battle, instincts have a tendency to take over. Believe me, I know that all too well."
It wasn't just coughing and hacking, Rook could feel all organs grow sicker by the second. The poison was eating him away, he'd faint before too long. He had to do something, and fast.
Since fire no longer worked, he ran forward and tried his luck again with fury swipes. This time it was inaccurate and slow, so much so that Locke could avoid without worry. After a few attacks, he ducked down to let Rook swing above him. At that position, Locke sprang up and grabbed the houndoom by the chest, getting both arms around him. Locke then used his newfound strength to slam him down.
"Shouldn't of let yourself get grappled, mate," Locke said.
The luxio began pumping his electricity straight into the houndoom's body. He made attempts to break out of the grapple, but with his muscles being shocked and paralyzed, that was nigh impossible to do.
With both poison and electricity coursing through his veins, it was only a matter of time before Rook's consciousness faded away. In this circumstance, that matter of time was nine seconds.
With steam rising from Rooks fur, Locke let go and stood up. He'd finally won.
Locke looked up once more. This time, he saw more pokemon nearby. But they weren't more guards. This time, it was Tamin and Scampi who had arrived. He absolutely beamed.
"Tamin! You're safe!" he proclaimed.
"Yeah, I am. And nice to see you've evolved as well," Tamin said. "Sorry, I'd love to have a reunion, but can we get out of here first? I don't think we're safe yet,"
"Makes sense, let's go."
"Okay, follow me!"
Scampi tried to get a word in, but lost the opportunity when both Tamin and Locke began running off.
The pulley wasn't much farther away now, Tamin could taste freedom, and it tasted sweet. She sprinted down a hallway where it was only two more turns to reach the pulley elevator and get out.
But as they made one turn, they saw two cinccino blocking the way forward. One was her mother Amoni. Behind her, Tamin saw Stark. Amoni was still hurt from what happened either, but still stood.
Tamin stood up from running and stopped in the hallway. Not because she feared the two of them, more because she was wanting to humor them. Locke stopped behind her, as did Scampi.
"Where do you think you're going?" Amoni asked in a cold, cold voice.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Tamin sarcastically asked as she pointed the box cutter towards Amoni.
"You belong to this family. I'm not going to let you leave again after all the work we put into getting you back," she was unfazed by the blade pointed at her.
Locke got into a combat position, but Tamin gently pushed him back. This was personal, Tamin didn't want him doing it. She began working forward, cutter in hand, to get up to the two of them. Amoni held her ground and continued ranting on, but the words had become just dribble to her.
As Tamin stepped forward, she noticed something in her peripheral vision. The figure behind Amoni stepped to the side and he turned one of his paws forward. Out of the paw came a dark mist. Tamin stopped as she saw that, but kept a straight face.
The one behind Amoni stepped to be directly behind her, and slowly got closer as the dark mist continued coming out, and Amoni continued talking on and on. Tamin, Locke, and Scami all watched as Amoni was swiftly grabbed, had a paw shoved in front of her mouth to shut her up, and the figure unleashed a Dark Pulse at point-blank range. The sound she produced would've caused hearing damage if her mouth was not covered.
The illusions were dropped, revealing his form as a scarved zorua instead of the cinccino he appeared to be. Rather than slamming Amoni down, Hunter lowered her down gently. He walked around her body just so he could turn around and look her straight in the eyes.
"Fool you once, shame on me. Fool you twice, and you need to step up your game," Hunter said to Amoni.
She used the last of her strength to just lift her head upwards. Once he said that, Amoni's head fell down in defeat.
Hunter turned around once more to face the other three guild members. "Hey Tamin! Also hey there Locke! Either you got taller or my depth perception suddenly got messed up for no particular reason!"
"Oh, you just only now realized how small you are. So I look way taller than you in comparison," Locke replied.
"But Tamin and Scampi look to be smaller than you now."
"I never said your depth perception didn't get messed up."
"We're all together again!" Scampi declared.
"Yeah," confirmed Tamin. "Just give me one second, then we can leave. Watch over me."
Tamin approached Amoni as she was still floored. Her untrained body was fragile against the dark pulse that Hunter had unleashed, so she still hadn't recovered. The best Amoni could do was lift her head upwards and attempt to get up.
"The only thing I regret was not giving you everything you deserved. Though I am ecstatic for what I was able to do to you," Tamin said to her while she was still floored and in too much pain to move. "My wish is that I will never see your face again in my life, and that you will get the rest of what's been coming to you in due time."
After that moment, Tamin turned her head away from Amoni, with that being the last time she would ever see her in the flesh again. "Alright, let's hit this place at last."
All four of them nodded in agreement.
Tamin showed them to the room with the pulley elevator, which was just behind one more door. The operation controls were intuitive. They all got onto a flat wooden platform and were slowly taken down to ground level.
A few guards remained on the ground and tried to intervene, but with the team all together, they were easily dispatched. Locke, Hunter, and Scampi took Tamin back from the direction they had come in.
When Tamin left, her heart pumped strong with adrenaline coursing through each and every vein. Her smile was wide, her mind danced as she vividly remembered how her father and mother looked when she was injured.
But as the situation calmed down, Tamin's adrenaline faded away. As her adrenaline faded, so did her smile. Without the hype of the battle, Tamin remembered when she had seen Deater. She remembered his horrified look and how he ran off screaming. The only thing she could compare it to was the times she herself was terrified.
With that, her train of thought began going back to all the abuse she had suffered in the house. It was more than just facing pain and yelling. It was being scared on a day-to-day basis. It was being gaslit constantly. It was being denied a normal childhood. It was having to live life without love. When she was inside of the house and in immediate danger, she could focus on the present and have her guard up to stay alive. Yet ironically, now that she was safe, her guard lowered and all the repressed memories from her horrid past came flooding back to her. The screams echoed in mind yet.
Her paw raised to her head and she stared in horror. Her speed of walking began slowing until it stopped entirely.
"Man, that rescue turned out really good, didn't it, Tamin?" Locke said as he turned to look back at the cinccino. "...Tamin?"
Slowly but surely, she began to get overwhelmed by the memories coming back to her. It was leaking outwards too, as anyone onlooking could tell that something was deeply wrong.
"Tamin! Are you okay?!" Scampi shouted to her.
"...Guys…" Tamin raised her head, showing watery eyes. "Would you be mad at me if I cried?"
"...No, Tamin," Locke said after being momentarily stunned by such a seemingly bizarre question. "We wouldn't be at all."
Tamin seemed to pause for one second, both wanting to smile and to frown at the same time. She then collapsed onto the ground as if her weight just tripled. Her tear ducts opened up wide and she bawled into the dirt ground. She held no restraint.
Locke, Scampi, and Hunter all rushed over to her and surrounded her. They all placed paws on her and did their best to console her as she was still frantic. As she cried, swiveled, and breathed irregularly, they only kept trying to reassure her.
It was a painful, long, yet cathartic minute. Eventually, the tears dried up and Tamin composed herself. "Thank you guys," she said. "Thank you so much."
End of chapter 38.