Ingo carefully took hold of the bandages, making sure to apply pressure to them as he wound them around the gash in Lady Sneasler's side. This wasn't supposed to happen. Beside him, Warden Melli squeezed the sides of his waterskin so that the noble could drink. They hadn't won; Ingo had only managed to keep Maneater at bay so that Warden Melli could retrieve his noble and run. It wasn't before the terrible creature had managed to knock out half of his team that Ingo managed to slip away. It was a fight he wouldn't be able to win.
Never. Never before had Ingo run into a pokémon that could so easily take down his team. He hadn't sent his three former partners out. He… he didn't want them getting hurt. Irida and Warden Calaba were supposed to arrive in a day's time. The horrible wounds Lady Sneasler had accrued would take quite some time to heal without the aid of the special herbs that only grew in the Mirelands.
"So… I guess Maneater is back, huh?" Melli began after a while, his voice quiet. He moved around quietly within his own home, his hat abandoned near the foot rack as he ran a hand over his sweat-laden brow. "That's right. We never did kill that thing."
"...No. No we didn't. Could you pass me another roll of gauze?"
"Sure."
They worked in a comfortable silence as they patched up Lady Sneasler, Ingo having to shelter his noble in his fellow warden's tent for the time being. Rain lashed against the tent, thunder shaking the ground as a new storm filed through. Ingo knew that this peace wouldn't last; Maneater would eventually come back. It always came back.
It was an alpha Luxray that had been around since before Ingo had fallen all that time ago. A vicious beast, sought by both the Pearl Clan and the Diamond Clan for mauling numerous clanmates and cannibalizing the rest of its former pack. It was recognizable by its missing tail and by the gruesome tear under its throat.
Its last victim had been Ingo's predecessor, Warden Caius. He was a kind man, always on the move and always under the weather due to the unorthodox ways that he handled both Lady Sneasler and her broods. It was Caius who had helped put in a good word for Ingo after the two had kept a pair of Mamoswine from bulldozing the former Pearl Clan Settlement.
He'd been the only candidate to take up Warden Caius' position when the man began to fall dangerously ill during a brutal winter. It was that very winter where Maneater had risen from the dead once more to terrorize the Pearl Clan. Seventeen people died that evening. Maneater had stolen Warden Caius from his tent and kidnapped him into the blizzard.
Ingo searched for almost a week before he found what was left of his warden. Deep in the Alabaster Icelands, the former warden was entombed in a wall of ice, half-decayed and permanently frozen for his untimely demise to be showcased forevermore. It was a result of Maneater getting into a spat with Lord Avalugg. Ingo made sure to never go down that path after the incident and was practically thrusted into the position to take care of a furious and grieving Lady Sneasler after. It was his noble who had given Maneater that vicious slash across the throat the very next day.
Two pokémon found their way into the tent, the Zubat and Scorupi finding their way into the folds of Melli's tunic as they shivered. "How are we supposed to defend against that beast?" Melli whispered after a minute of silence, drawing his arms around his chest.
Ingo thought hard. "Maneater is an electric-type. We could combat it by using ground-type pokémon or…"
"Or? Out with it."
"Or, we could take refuge with Lord Electrode."
Melli immediately bristled at the idea, his eyes flashing. "You want to put my noble in danger? After what happened to Lady Sneasler?"
"We do not have the capability of overwhelming Maneater with brute strength alone. Our only option is to call upon the nobles, especially now that most pokémon are being negatively affected by the Rift and the over-aggressive alphas."
"But we do have pokémon wielders," Melli argued.
"We need strong pokémon wielders," Ingo retorted. "It is already shameful enough that I could not even defeat Maneater with my full team and that I failed Lady Sneasler as her warden," he croaked. "For Maneater to be stronger than a frenzied noble…" Ingo sighed as something took shape in his mind. "I might have an idea."
While Melli changed a few bandages on Lady Sneasler, Ingo began drafting letters to his fellow champions. Both of them had managed to defeat frenzied nobles in the past. If he could just get in touch with both of them and summon them here, they might just have a decent chance at killing Maneater, or at least, immobilizing it.
Alakazam appeared and quickly dispersed Miss Akari's letter, hesitating when Ingo produced the letter for Miss Jaku. It delicately took the scroll, staring at it and then at something Ingo couldn't see. It shook its head.
"What seems to be the matter, Alakazam?" Alakazam had located Miss Jaku in the past. Why wouldn't it work now?
"I can't see them," Alakazam spoke using its telepathy. "Something is directly interfering with my ability to locate them. My apologies."
"Do you know what the interference is?"
"...No. I do not know."
Ingo hummed and took back the scroll, storing it in his jacket pocket. He would try again in an hour. He was still angered by the trickery she had pulled on him earlier, settling against the wall of the tent as he thought back on his options.
Miss Akari had just managed to quell Lord Ursaluna- he groaned. Akari had suffered a broken leg during the incident! She wouldn't be able to assist him at all. He made a mental note to visit Jubilife and check in on her. It had been a while since they had last spoken.
Miss Jaku was utterly unreachable at this point. A little part of him didn't want to talk to her just yet. That could wait until Alakazam would eventually locate her. If Alakazam could locate her.
Hands shaking, Ingo found his warped Xtransceiver and looked again at the modified map of the Obsidian Fieldlands. He turned off the screen and stared. To his surprise, the strange Zoroark that was keeping an eye on him lifted its head to stare back at him, blue eyes glowing.
"Don't."
Ever since Ingo had fallen and ever since the Zoroarks had consistently started to pick apart his subconscious, Ingo could usually tell when he was dreaming. Usually. This was one of those times that he was almost certain he was sleeping.
He was in a large building of sorts, bright yellow signs and posters stuck to the walls as countless figures and shapes moved past him. But despite the crowds, it was so quiet that he could hear the blood rushing through his ears. He was warm, though. Somebody was right behind him. Whoever it was, it brought Ingo comfort.
"THIS IS YOUR CONNECTION. YOUR FOCAL POINT." The voice boomed from devices hidden in the ceiling but the people around him kept moving. "YOU WILL RETURN TO YOUR PLACE WHEN YOUR QUEST IS COMPLETE. DO NOT DOUBT ME."
"I never did-"
"LOOK BEFORE YOU."
Ingo found himself being turned on his feet to stare at a dip in the terrain- he was standing on a platform. Ingo was within a station. So this was a station! And if he was in a station, then something should be arriving shortly.
One of the figures had broken off from the crowd, a fuzzy black shape moving to stand right beside him. There was no face. Only a mildly comforting blue glow as the figure took hold of his arm and gently guided him forward until they stood a good pace behind a yellow line on the platform.
Bells rang and a whistle sounded from afar. The crowd had moved closer to the platform and Ingo stared, mesmerized as a large cylindrical object barreled past him on the tracks below, eventually slowing down before coming to a huffing stop. What looked to be the doors hissed open, a new crowd of people making their way out of the cylindrical object as the people around him hurried to get on. Ingo found himself being pulled towards an empty cabin, the doors clacking shut behind him and his passenger as they took their seats on either side of the cabin. The machine- a train- began to pick up speed and the sight of the illuminated platform slowly moved away from him.
"What's going on?" Ingo turned to look at the figure beside him, slightly irritated as what he knew to be a Zoroark- Miss Jaku's strange Zoroark- gave him a side glance. It looked confused, eyes darting this way and that but it stayed firmly planted to his side.
The train eventually came to a halt but the doors to their cabin did not open. Ingo couldn't move from his seat either, listening as a new wave of passengers moved about the train. After all was quiet, slowly, the doors to his cabin hissed open. Something moved past the doors. Zoroark's fur bristled.
Miss Jaku quietly boarded the train, moving past him to take a seat at the very front of the cabin. That wasn't what made Ingo freeze initially. No. It was the unspeakable amount of blood soaked into the fabric of her tunic. It dripped from her hands and face and clothes, pooling around her stomach and throat in layers that seemed to be both dry and fresh. She didn't so much as look at him, staring out the forward-facing window that stared out onto the tracks.
Another figure boarded the train, forced to shuffle as the train began to move again. The cabin filled with the scent of smoke and burning flesh. Ingo bit back a cry of repulsion, watching as the scorched remains of a person moved past him to sit just a few seats down from him. All he could make out were a few strands of blue-black hair and the burnt remains of- Miss Akari.
"ANSWERS FOR A FUTURE QUESTION," the deity supplied. "BOTH ARE PERTINENT BUT ARE OBSCURED BY BOTH SPACE AND TIME. YOU WILL ENCOUNTER BOTH EVENTUALLY."
The train began to slow down once more. Ingo watched as Miss Jaku quickly rose from her seat and exited without a backwards glance, the only trace of her being the mess of blood scattered about the cabin.
It felt like hours before the train finally came to a stop again. Miss Akari shuddered to her feet and to his surprise, she held out a scorched hand for him to take. He recoiled from the gesture and was just about to get up himself- to see where this premonition was taking him- before a horrible crushing sensation knocked the breath out of him. He couldn't breathe.
He collapsed to one knee, beating his fist against his chest to try to get some oxygen in but nothing worked. The pain intensified. Miss Akari was still there before him, the two having missed their apparent stop as she came to kneel before him. She whispered something in his ear and just as Ingo's vision was beginning to grow fuzzy, the dream stopped.
He woke up gasping for air. His hands were still shaking. Something moved in the shadows of the tent before a spark of flames illuminated a Skuntank eyeing him wearily.
"It's about time you woke up." Melli slowly made his way into his field of sight, eyes usually full of pity now gleaming with worry. "You've been sleeping for a whole day, old man. You must really be growing senile."
"...I suppose you could say that." Ingo carefully took a few sips from his waterskin, noting with a hint of worry that the crushing sensation in his chest was still there but much less than before. "How is Lady Sneasler?"
"She's fine. Your Pearl Clan buddies got here while you were busy dozing," Melli sneered, though with much less venom. "The old crone says she'll make a full recovery but that it will take a day. And you ought to hurry and get up. Irida says she wanted a word with you. Nothing good from what I hear."
"And what did you hear?" Ingo asked, pulling on his coat and hat.
"That a certain warden might be swapped out soon. That means you," he commented. Ingo could swear there was something else in Melli's voice, but he didn't dare dwell on it.
"I see. Thank you for telling me." He paused and gave his fellow warden a begrudging look. "And thank you for all of your help, Warden Melli. I-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know that I'm the most courteous and greatest warden in all of Hisui! There's no need to thank me, Pearl Clan peasant. Just hurry up and leave so that Lord Electrode and I can finally have some peace around here."
The weather was still terrible, the rain colder and sharper than he'd ever known it to be. The trees around Moonview Arena whipped around in the wind but to Ingo's relief, he could see a perfectly fine Lord Electrode working in the distance to siphon the lightning strikes to somewhere safer.
He moved to greet his leader as both Lady Irida and Warden Calaba appeared from the tent, the two women stopping to acknowledge him.
"Warden Ingo," Irida gave him a nod, Ingo responding with a low bow. "I see that you are well."
"Not in pieces, she means," Warden Calaba muttered, giving him a closer look. "I was almost certain we'd arrive and find you like Warden Caius. Good to see my premonition was wrong for once."
"You could've worded it a little nicer," Irida chastised the much older woman. She fixed the raincoat around her shoulders tighter and gave Ingo a begrudging look. "I'm sure Warden Melli told you, but Lady Sneasler will recover from Maneater's onslaught. She should be in tip-top shape in no less than three days."
"Three days we don't have to waste," Ingo muttered. "Have there been any other sightings of Maneater?"
"No, I'm afraid not. I've issued an order to post extra guards around all of the Pearl Clan Encampments, but I fear Maneater is still somewhere in the Highlands. You two-" she gestured at him and an approaching Melli- "are still in grave danger."
"The Coronet Highlands are the toughest places to be in Hisui, let alone live," Melli mocked her. "Maneater may be big and ferocious, but there's nothing it can do if we retreat to a place it can't follow." He shot Ingo a glance. "There are plenty of places to hide in the Highlands. Several with enough leverage to ambush passing traders. All of them are far too small for Maneater to pass through or approach."
"And this is not our first time dealing with an unruly passenger. Both Warden Melli and I have dealt with countless alphas, especially Garchomps which can burrow, mind you."
"We're well equipped to deal with the threat," Melli finished for him. "Adaman stationed only the best of the best here. I can't say the same for Warden Ingo-" he teased, eyes not directly meeting his- "we'll manage."
Irida's eyes narrowed. "That's not for you to decide." She turned to Ingo. "I cannot dictate what the Diamond Clan should do, but I will be removing you from the Highlands."
"I beg your pardon?"
Irida crossed her arms. "We have conferred with our brethren in the Obsidian Fieldlands and have agreed that it would be best to move you there. I received your letter. Warden Lian has confirmed that Lord Kleavor shows no signs of being frenzied. You will be stationed there so that Lady Sneasler has a full chance of recovery and so that we may clear the Coronet Highlands."
"Forgive me, but wouldn't that increase the chances of Maneater leaving the Highlands?"
"That's what I want. That's what myself and the Galaxy Team want. I've already sent word to Commander Kamado as well and he's agreed to send a troop of scouts to both settlements and to the Heartwood to protect Warden Lian in case Maneater shows up. It's the safest place for you to be; the Highlands won't crumble without you."
"But-"
"No buts. It's an order."
As if on cue, a mingled group of Galaxy Team Scouts and Pearl Clan clanmates appeared from just over the ridge, some carrying maps and others carrying rations. A man, shorter than Ingo but definitely stockier, quickly hurried over, a Lucario and a Garchomp trailing after him. The man came to a stuttering halt, his brow thick with salt.
"Sorry for the delay, Lady Irida! There were flares of alpha pokémon along the trail. That, and a landslide."
Irida turned to face Ingo. "I apologize for the short notice," she began, waving the two of them toward a more private area within the clearing. "Warden Ingo. I wanted to bring this topic up with you sooner than later but I fear that with all of these events conspiring against us, now seems the most likely time to set things into action." She gestured to the man. "This is Ammot. He's our most prominent candidate to take over for you as the Warden for Lady Sneasler."
Ammot rubbed the back of his head. "It's nice to meet you, Warden Ingo. We've never really ran into each other during your sparse visits to the Icelands- that's where I'm from. I promise to take good care of Lady Sneasler and her future broods."
"I… see." Ingo pulled his hat forward. He knew that his time in Hisui might eventually come to an end but he'd never really thought about who would take his place once he was gone. About how the Pearl Clan would take the news that he was leaving. Quickly. Easily. He cleared his throat. "It is… a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He bowed to Ammot, ignoring the way his stomach twisted itself in knots.
"We're not going to snatch the position from you just yet," Irida promised him. "Think of it as being more like teaching a successor up until Almighty Sinnoh takes you back home. We don't want to… we don't want to cause more grief for Lady Sneasler. I want to believe that it might take long enough for a new heir to take the current Lady's position once Ammot takes your own. I don't think Lady Sneasler would take too kindly to getting yet another warden after-" she paused, the words dying out in her throat.
Ingo knew why she had faltered. His Lady had already lost Warden Caius during her reign. To lose him and then be given another warden right after might cause her to- well- Ingo would rather not think about that. He was already having issues coming to terms with the fact that he would be leaving Lady Sneasler behind. That I would be leaving her with a stranger.
The Galaxy Team Scouts grouped up around him, one of them guiding him onto the back of a Staraptor. They were going to take both him and Ammot to Jubilife where he was going to both train Ammot as his successor and prepare the scouts in the ways of battling to be ready for Maneater.
As he waited for his group to take off, a letter appeared right before him, the paper smeared with mud and the faintest hints of blood. He caught it in his hands and untied the frazzled twine that held the letter together. A large fang fell into the palm of his hand.
Ingo,
I hope this letter finds its way into your hands. This is the fifth time I've tried to send this damn thing and it keeps getting rejected. I'm trying my best to word this carefully in a way that you'll understand my intentions even without knowing what the hell I'm actually doing. Azelf mentioned to me that the further you progress, the less I'll have to censor my words because you'll already know what I'm talking about. Same thing for Akari. Please let this letter get through (and thank the gods, I don't have to use stamps).
Do NOT return to the Chamberclaw Cliffs. If you're reading this letter, that means that Jester was successful in getting you out of there on time. Time has completely stopped there and if you go back, you might run into… something unpleasant. Azelf didn't mention what. I will do my best to tell you and Akari when it will happen in the future since I'm more attuned to these rifts. That's another thing. I'm not sure what Akari is in charge of, but I've been told that you were leashed to Mespirit. TLDR, you're space and I'm time. I have no idea what your half entails, though.
I'm working on collecting 'things'. I can't write what they are; Azelf won't let me. But these things are important to the flow of time. You've actually seen them before but you probably don't remember. They're scattered all around Hisui just like your Old Verses. Whenever I collect one, time will stop temporarily until I do my thing. Again, the actual wording has been redacted by Azelf.
And I want you to hold onto this item. Azelf said that it was much safer with you than with me but they didn't say why because why would they? I've gone ahead and attached it to this letter. PLEASE do not lose it. And don't stow it with Akari either. As a matter of fact, keep this item hidden. Don't tell anybody about it. That's an order from Azelf. And from me.
See you soon (hopefully),
Jaku
P.S.: Don't tell anybody about this letter or I'll strangle you. Akari doesn't count.