Hey, not gonna say anything this time about updating more frequently, but I have my groove back.
No one in their right mind would build a manor as deep into a forest and removed from the world as the guild in question. Building it had to have required an astronomical level of work, it first must have required several swathes of forest to be cut down, then it needed stone wall to scare away any potential burgulars from away from the unguarded the house in the middle of nowhere. Somebody did all of this work then that somebody – provided they aren't the Guildmaster themselves who formed this guild to pay off the equally colossal debt he accrued in his bid to build his dream house, decided to pawn it off to an upstart scholar's guild. Perhaps they called themselves a "Scholar's Guild" to make the owner believe their very not scholar-like line of work was worthy of investment. Given what Braviary thought of guilds; he wouldn't put it past one.
The gibbous moon hung overhead, and cool wind breezed through the evergreen trees. Two pokemon walked along a tight winding path through the dense forest, the only thing leading them to their destination was the occasional tree marked off in the bright golden paint said to signify the guild.
If the fear of supposed bandits wasn't at the back of the Braviary's mind he'd be able to enjoy a brisk night jog through the woods; however, he'd begun to see all the bushes and forest nooks as dark corners full of bandits ready to rob him of everything including the clothes on his back. Maybe if Prinn had kept his beak shut about bandits on the way to Scoria town The Braviary wouldn't be so worried. There should be none to speak of, the way to the guild should be safe. Prinn's little hand lantern was like an invitation for anyone lurking around to harass the two glowing idiots all by themselves in the wilderness.
It had been Prinn's idea to drag them out to the guild at nightfall. This was supposed to be a quick walk, no more than half an hour getting there, then another half getting back in time to find a bunk at Golduck's place to crash for the evening. Prinn had lead him down the north road out of Scoria town which lead them here, and for what felt like an hour they were seeing nothing but shadows and tall trees in the distance, were hearing little other than the gravel crunching below them and the sloshing of a wine bottle. Braviary was already tired of the travel before they even made it to the forest path, but Prinn kept his head up and his beak shut.
They passed by another marked tree as Prinn came to a sudden stop. The little two pokemon could see straighten out ahead, and broadened. They couldn't particularly make out the trees running perpendicular to the road, but the trees sure didn't match the same narrow silhouettes the two had seen on the way here.
"This looks like it."
"Are you sure? For all I know there could be dozens of mysterious manors out here, and we've found the one chock-full of ghosts."
Prinn turned the lantern towards Braviary, all the old man could see of Prinn was a disgusted face afloat in the dark.
"No, there's only one mansion out here, okay?" Prinn stuttered, "A-And it's not full of ghosts, it's run by a dark-type and he's probably able to handle them, I think."
"I'm sure he could." Braviary replied before he took a swig from his bottle.
"Anyways, the gates should be up there somewhere. They'll probably see us from the window, and send someone over. Then everything will go like I said it'll go, then I'll see you get somewhere to relax in Sc-
"Tell me the plan again."
Prinn was furious. This Braviary had all of two hours to ask and he chose right now? Prinn could've drafted an entire written plan in that time! Did this old man not care about anythinng? This was his future at stake here! It could mean employment, a roof over his head, or at the very least something he could put on h is resume for another guild.
Thankfully Braviary was too busy finishing off the bottle to notice Prinn's beet-red face. He took the moment to catch his breath, and when Braviary finally finished he tossed to the forest where it hit a root somewhere with a satisfying plonk. Now there's nothing to distract him, Braviary finally looks at him, waiting.
"Okay, it should be pretty easy." Prinn takes a deep breath, "As much as I'd want a badge like yours, I'm not going to take it from you. They might ask to look at it and touch for a second, but I'm sure they'll understand taking it from you is going to be a really bad idea. You just need to be there with me and uhh...tell them how it works."
"All you want of me is to stand there lookin pretty, answering some questions, right?
"Yeup, and don't forget to put good word or two in there for me, okay?"
It's been a good bit since he outright came out and said the boy shouldn't be poking his nose into guilds. When he glared at Prinn it seemed like he was going to go on another tirade, but he turned his head back to the road then muttered.
"Sure, kid."
This late the entire night the manor was empty, not a soul in its halls, not a sound but leaves blowing in the wind. The only person awake at this dead hour was the Guildmaster, who alongside his usual duties of running the guild, was also its night watch since nobody was ever going to stay up as late as the dark-type. And if anything strange did happen overnight the whole guild will hear it at the same time at breafast.
Moonlight peeked into a small room through a crossed window and the thin line of smoke rising from a snuffed-out candle. The artificial stench of lavender covered the smell of the old parchments strewn across the room's tiny desk, across from which was a pokemon frayed out face-first on their bed, their brush-shaped tail slumped onto the ground. The Smeargle snored into the night, peacefully enjoying their romp into dreamland. Blissfully unaware of the sound of their dorm being unlocked, and the creaking which followed.
Two beady eyes peeked into the room. The gremlin-like creature shoved its nose inside to sniff the air, then stepped in without so much as a squeak. They traipsed across the rickety floor in a silent dance all the way to the pokemon's bed where they stood high on the tips of their toes, and raised a hand just above their head.
Their hand came down like a hammer and slapped the poor soul across his face.
There was a loud yelp followed by a thud as the pokemon scrambled out of their bed onto the cold floor. They opened their eyes and found their assailant looming over them, their tiny Guildmaster, Rattata.
As soon as he spoke, Rattata's stache bristled and he shushed him.
"You're loud enough as is. Grab something warm, and follow me. It's cold out there."
Rattata walked back to the door while Smeargle slowly got their bearings. He grabbed the only thing he had, a drab cloak which had been waterproofed with Combee wax, and a bright green band which wrapped around his hat-shaped head. The cloak was meant for rainy days while the band was the only alternative to guild-issued scarves, while neither of which helped with the cold he'd rather keep up appearances for what little it meant.
He dragged his tail out the door, and Rattata closed it behind him with a ruler he kept outside.
"Come on, I need you out there" he whispered and Smeargle reluctantly followed.
"I know you'll tell me what's up, but can you tell me why you had to wake me up like that?"
The past by several identical doors down a carpeted corridor, and took a sharp right which led into a large foyer. Two staircases curved upwards to a second-floor balcony which overlooked the huge doors leading outside. The doors, flanked by two lit candelabra were the only way in and out of the guild once they locked down for the night. Given their Guildmaster was as close to a Noctowl a rodent could get, strange occurrences didn't usually happen this late.
"Because I know if I did anything else you wouldn't think it was important, and I didn't want to wake anyone else up."
"What good did that do? I'm not a light sleeper, but I'm sure I would've heard the sound of someone falling on their face."
Rattata huffed. He skittered his way to the door where a tower of tomes stood all the way up to its mail slot and he hiked up the paper mountain to survey the outdoors.
"Any reason why you picked me?"
Without looking the Guildmaster dug into the tuft of dark fur on their chest and produced a small, white die. He tossed it behind him where it rolled along the floor until it landed on a side with three deep scratch marks.
Smeargle picked up the die, examining it more carefully. It seemed to be made of a rather old bone, so old indeed that the scratches in each side of it are a pristine white while the rest was a muddy beige. How he came by this was unknown, it's a story he'd ask about some other time. He handed it back, and crossed his arms.
"Are you done asking questions?" Rattata asked pointedly
"For now."
Rattata turns away from the mail slot, and sits himself comfortably atop his parchment perch. He stuffed his dice back into his tuft then clears his squeaky throat.
"I looked out the window a little bit under an hour ago, so it was right around the same time I woke when I saw it – the door to our stores was open. I thought I might have to take one of our guildmates' lunch away tomorrow for messing up, but the more I looked at the stores from my second floor, the more things seemed off."
He brought a tiny hand up to his chin, and scratched at his whiskers.
"Just looking into the door from above, I could see that we weren't missing a few barrels, and the garden didn't appear to be ransacked. No pokemon I know of could have jumped the fence, so it may have been a flying type, and even then I'm not too sure."
"I decided to keep an eye on it just in the event they came back to finish their job. I gave it until sundown, but if they were coming back, I'm sure they'd have done so already. You're going to help me with this."
No signs of damage, possible thievery, either they were dealing with somebody smart here or one fellow just forgot to lock the doors tonight. Given the Enigma Wine was a good source for many of the guild's funds not to mention it was used in the guild's initiations. If a group of miscreants wanted to get at the guild or make some good coin selling it, then their stores were a good place to strike.
Even in the world where Rattata is completely wrong about this, Smeargle will at least land in the Guildmaster's good graces by doing whatever it is he wants of him. Rattata took the guild's finances seriously so they didn't have to, so any possible break-in had to be treated with the same gravity as a missing guild-mate.
Smeargle nods his head in quiet agreement.
"I need you to go out there and assess the damage. If you see anything out of the ordinary, let me know. I'm trusting this job to you alone because I don't want my guild to be awake all night. I have a reputation to keep, and nobody wants to hire a guild that can't even protect itself from being robbed."
"Sure, teach."
The Rattata reached up for the dead bolt and unlocked the door.
"I need to get back to sorting through the job submissions, so I'm going to be busy." he raises his nose at the smeargle, "If anything weird happens, trust me I'll know."
Smeargle gives the little master a bow, and he bows back before scurrying down his tower of books. His little feet clatter against the stone floor then plopped their ways up a tiny series of steps built into the winding staircases. Smeargle shuffles the tower to the side with his foot,, opens the door and steps out into the night.
Above the clouds, a half-moon looms overhead. A gentle, constant breeze brushes through the pokemon's chestnut fur and the air carries with it the smell of the surrounding pines. Unfortunately for the normal-type, he doesn't quite have the uncanny eyesight of the guild master, but he does have a few tricks up his own. He grabs his tail which has been died a dark green from all the times he's been elected to do paintings, and gives it a good shake. Nothing happens so he tries again. There's a spark as suddenly the paint-drenched tip of his tail glows an intense yellow.
He wields the impromptu torch in his hand, briefly shining it across the manor's courtyard. It's nearly pitch black outside, he can see past the hedges and make out the outlines of the iron fencing, but anything beyond his Tail Glow may as well be invisible. Smeargle goes down the two steps before the manor's doors then makes a bee-line through the grass to the gardens west of the guild.
It's just about when he rounds a corner when he hears a clattering sound. He shines it ahead only to see the garden's vibrant yellow and white tulips, then behind him where he sees nothing but a dirt path which eventually leads to the gates.
Another rattle. It sounds like chains. It didn't occur to him he was completely alone out here when the thought of catching someone in the act crossed his mind. The second he finds anything off he can report it then clock out for the night, why wouldn't he want to catch a culprit? Smeargle turns himself around as he heads straight to the guild's iron gates. The closer he gets, the more those chains rattle and rattle until they suddenly stop when approaches.. He raises up his shining tail to look beyond the iron gates to see a dishevelled flying type with his wing fumbling at a padlock.
For what seems like a good, long minute the pokemon glare without the other making a move, getting a good long look at eachother before they make so much as a peep. It was hard to tell the flying-type behind the bars was a braviary, the fellow looked like a wreck. He had a very distinct hat, and a patterned poncho which is draped down his left half. Scars run up the left side of his body then almost to his face which is looking straight at him with what could either be malice or guilt.
"Well this isn't how I'd picture meeting y'all." the feathered fellow spoke, "What's your name?"
"Smeargle."
Smeargle's non-answer was the nicest way of saying they weren't exactly up to chat right now. Braviary catches on as steps away from the gate.
"Okay, Smeargle."
"You don't look like any pokemon I know. I'm going to guess your name's Braviary, and we'll leave it at that for a bit. What are you doing here?"
"I was on my way to visit your guild until this here door" as he gestures to the gate, "got in way of my visit. I'm sorry if it's at this ghastly hour, but I was told I should be here as directly as I can."
"By who?"
"Little fellow, Prinn."
Now that was a name which rang a bell. Prinn was someone who has been trying to apply here for a while, the guild master just hasnn't decided whether or not his skillset was all that worth it, or so Rattata says. Prinn really made himself known around the guild just by being so darned persistent.
"I'm familiar, he's a Prinplup right? The one who's been wanting to get into the guild? You can go back there and tell him he'll have to wait until tomorrow, because now's really not a good time to knock on our doors."
Braviary tilted his head, "Why's that?"
"Other than the fact it's nearing midnight..." he now remembers the guild had a reputation to keep, that he probably shouldn't tell the vagrant about how easily they got broken into tonight. Smeargle suddenly has an idea. "Did Prinn follow you here?"
The obvious answer was to say of course he did, the not-so-obvious answer was to say no, he didn't have Prinn currently peeping from a bush about ten yards down the path. He'd never rat out anyone if it would endanger them. Especially not some dumb kid with stars in his eyes who has a hankering for graduating top of his class in some school-guild. Braviary fell quiet for a brief moment as he weighed his two options, clenching his beak in a show of obvious contemplation. It became less about endangering the boy's chances in the guild, rather whether or not he wanted to bother them all with the return of a frequent blue pest.
Dammit all, one of them will pay him either way.
"Hey Smeargle." Braviary pipes up, "Wouldn't it be pretty embarrassing to have sent a well-meaning stranger to go speak to a guild for you, and not even bother to show up? I reckon it'd be heck of alot more awkward if it turns out I did follow them but never showed my face? Sounds like a pretty stupid move to me, can't imagine any fellow I know doing something like that."
A shrub of oran berries shakes and breathes an exaggerated sigh as Prinn emerges from its leaves, flippers folded, bearing a look which would kill a person if it came from a pokemon twice his size. He puffs up his cheeks, and crosses his arms. When he realizes neither of the pokemon would take him seriously looking like a mad torchic, he slumps over, a dejected little prinplup.
"You said you'd follow the plan." Prinn laments.
"I did follow the plan, I introduced myself first just like you said I would. I ain't responsible for sudden changes in it, a pokemon's gotta learn to adapt." Braviary isn't going to get into this, not now. He clears his throat, and grins at Smeargle. "Now that we're both here and willing to talk, do you have anything you'd like to say to both of us before we make our leave?"
"Wait right here."
Smeargle turns around and hurriedly walks to whence they came. The two watch the pokemon's glowing tail travel down the dirt path into a huge set of doors, then return minutes later as he comes dashing back to the gates. He returns and immediately opens the gate with a big silver key.
"It's just that easy" Braviary chuckles, "Thanks mister Smeargle."
"It's Leon." Smeargle answers.
The moment they step past the gate, he quickly locks it shut. With nowhere to really pocket the key, he stuffs it in his head band to free up his hands.
"Don't think this is an invitation to our guild," he points his tail towards Prinn, "you especially. I'm really not supposed to let anyone through here, but I got a job for both of you if you wanna help take a load off my shoulders."
"What kinda job?" Prinn pipes up, "I can do calligraphy, I can make some maps for you, I know my way around-"
"Nothing like that."
"Oh..."
"We've just had a break in, we don't really know when but given nobody had reported it I'd have to say it either happened right after our nightly briefing, or sometime right before the guild master got up. They targeted our stores of Enigma Wine, Prinn can tell you just how important that is."
"Yeup" Prinn answers with a smile, "And you're the only people who make that stuff around here, right? Guild secrets."
"Correct." he refuses to look Prinn's way, "Luckily for us, we got a pretty solid lock-up schedule here. It's the stores first, Library second, then an hour after both we shut down the whole guild for the night. Either they messed up, or they didn't account our guild master being a perfectionist nut because he found out really quick something was fishy."
"And how do you suggest he knew?" Braviary pries.
"He has a pretty good view of the storehouse, heck the whole guild from his office. Sure he has to use a stool to get to the windows, but I have no doubt he watches us close shop from up there. He probably knew things weren't right the moment he looked outside after getting up." Leon shrugs. "Or maybe he has a sixth sense for these things, I don't know. I can trust he's not going to start pointing fingers at his own guild until he's sure it's one of us who let this happen."
"What if it just so happens it was one of y'all's mistakes which allowed someone to snatch up your wine? What's your Guildmaster gonna do then?"
"Depending on how he's feeling, he can either cut you out from the guild, slash your pay, or he'll just not feed you lunches for a day or two and have you eat old bread." the thought makes Leon shudder, "I never actually saw him get angry before, he just usually tells pokemon what their punishments are then gets really quiet with said pokemon in particular."
Braviary huffs, and brushes his poncho off.
"Sounds like the same guild song and dance I've heard a dozen times before. I'm going to wager a good guess by saying the reason y'all are so afraid of him is because this guild's the only roof you have over your head, or you're afraid to lose all your friends from here, or that there's no other jobs for miles around which supports your speciality."
Stunned by this, Leon replies with a stammer. "For a chunk of us? You're right, but our Guildmaster values our reputation too much to let his guild-mates suffer on his watch. I'm sure it's one of the reasons why the vetting process here is so strict."
Sure it is, Braviary affirms himself in his head. A smile spreads across his beak, it's short lived as he steers back to talking business.
"This job, right." he folds his wing across his chest, "How much we getting paid?"
"I said nothing about paying you myself. We'd have to talk it through with the Guildmaster, but given how much Prinn comes here begging for us to let him in, a chance for some semi-official work for the guild's probably enough pay in of itself."
"I'm not interested in getting in good graces with your guild here. How do you reckon coin sounds, maybe a bottle or two of your guild's brew?"
"The thought of you trying to join us hadn't crossed my mind. It seems like you're already part of something." he gestures to the diamond-shaped brass badge keeping the bird's poncho together, "I haven't seen anything close to that badge in particular. Basic guild knowledge tells me your guild's bound to be pretty big to have badges like those, or you're some big honchkrow somewhere real far from here. It'd be dumb of me to even try offering you a place here."
"I don't mean to judge you based on your appearances, but you have a certain look about you that tells me you can do with a good bed and some decent food. That's not nearly as hard to get the guild master to doll out. And hey, he might even pay you both as a bonus. I can't promise that."
Between hoping the kid wasn't lying about how much he'd been saving to get in here, and doing one odd job for the guarantee of a roof over his head for just this night, he'd go with the latter. The kid just might get a spot in the guild because of him. Just work this one night and he'll never have to come here again.
"Aight, up and at it. I'm in."
"C-Count me in too!" As though they didn't already know Prinn's answer.