The soft song of the small river running in the middle of the prairie close
to the foothills of the encircling mountains was like a soothing song as
Jan worked, his eyes half closed, gathering the healing herbs he had found
nearby to the wounded wing of his pokemon. The wound was not all that
dangerous - the bird could fly and fight with it - but he had learned along
time ago to not wait to take care of those things.
Had he been able to take the time, he would have let his pokemon rest, perhaps using the powerful pain-killer that was mandrake, which was found in some small amount in the valley, but as it was he couldn't afford to stay long in one place given the fact that one of the two peacekeeper who had attacked him and his pursuers had survived. And putting Feonix out of commission for a while with a numbing painkiller wouldn't exactly be, in those circumstances, a good idea.
"You alright Feonix?" he wondered, breathing somewhat hard, the soothing glade having not yet completely washed away the stress of the last few hours, the panicked flight from the only home he had ever known, plunging him in the middle of a war.
The great bird nodded one time. That, at least was good to know. There was so much going on around them both that having one of the two weakened would have been quite the problem. He sighed, looking at the sword his adoptive father had made for him. It was simple, yet well-made, showing years of craftsmanship in both the sharpness of the blade and the fact that the creator had not wasted time with the endless decorations more likely to hinder than help found on so many other blades.
He had never wanted to be a fighter, though he certainly was, to believe all who talked to him, talented. War was repugnant, something few but him seemed to believe. There were those who saw it with fatality, and those who saw it as a chance for glory. And there were those, like him, who saw it as the greatest horror mankind had created, somethign to avoid...and if it couldn't be avoided, something to spare to as many as possible.
Which was why he had been so eager to take on the mission when offered. With some luck, there would be little fighting. With success, he would spare his homeland fighting for generations to come. He hadn't wanted to fight, but since someone had to do it, better him than another, more likely to fall.
They remained there for a moment, not moving, when noises came from a thicket on the other side of the river. With barely a thought, he brandished his pokeball, recalling Feonix as he crouched low, observing the opposite shore of the small river.
The noise, he rapidly realized, were human voices.
"Think they are still after us?" A woman, it seemed.
"More than probably. You know as well as me that they are persistent." The answer came from a boy. "And they seems to need you badly for whatever plan they have, sister."
"Probably they need me to act as their puppet." Was it disgust in the voice? It certainly seemed so.
"Probably." The other voice agreed. "They'll want to put someone the people will not rebel against in control, after all."
The figures finally emerged from the other side of the wood. They had, he realized, not been speaking that loudly ; simply, he had always have a far better hearing than most others, the one sense he used the most. One, the woman, was raven-haired, wearing a long green cloak covering what seemed like rich hunting clothes, in shade that would yet blend with the forest. The other, the man, had red-brown hair, and wore much the same sort of clothe. Both of them carried pokeballs at their belt, and the man in addition wore a long blade there.
If his hearing was sharp, apparently the sight of the woman was just as sharp. Within moments of appearing out of the woods, she had somehow located him, despite his being hidden.
"Someone is watching us." She pointed, hand flashing toward one of her pokeball. The man - her brother, by their words, though no one could possibly have known by looking at them - turned as well. His left hand drew a pokeball as well, his right resting on the hilt of his sword.
"Come out of there!" He yelled, eyes flashing.
There was no use denying his presence. If they were enemies, Feonix would put up a good fight. If they weren't, well, there was no point in making himself look like more of an enemy. He rose, Feonix's pokeball in hand, sword in the other, not drawn but easy to take within seconds.
"Who are you?" It was the woman who asked. Her voice was peaceful, yet commanding. He hesitated a moment, elected not to lie.
"Jan Anarei, of the village of Kaidan."
"Kaidan?" The man's mouth seemed to drop. "But...that's in the Territories...." He seemed stunned.
"Someone from the territories?" There was a note of interest in the woman's voice, now. "Who got past the peacekeepers..."
"He's telling the truth, too." The man, again. "I can tell that much." How he could, he didn't mention.
"Why are you here?" The woman questioned him again. He could have run, but something, deep inside, some sense of instinct, commanded him not to. She seemed at least not to be an ally of the peacekeeper.
"To take on the challenge." He replied bluntly, refusing to hide the truth after going this far. "And try to keep the Core and the Territories from obliterating each other."
"In other words, you are trying to make things better so that the war affect as few as possible..." The woman nodded slowly, her eyes flashing with - could it be understanding? "I think we have a few goals in common, Jan Anarei.
"Ah, dear sister, before you go further, I would like to teach Jan here a lesson. He should not spy on people like this." The young man turned on him. He had an odd twinkle in his eyes. "What do you say to it Jan? How about a pokemon battle, one on one ? If you win, my sister and I will help you, putting aside what we were planning, and if I win, you will help us as your highest priority instead of taking the challenge."
Jan hesitated for a moment. Of course, if he lost, it would create quite a waste of time, but then again, the fact was the woman had stated she had goals similar to his. And if he won, the help of the two of them would prove invaluable.
"That seems alright to me." He nodded, reaching for Feonix's pokeball. _________________________________
"Tomas is here, you say?" Turning toward the guard bowing before him, Juusan Kurimuzon thoughtfully pushed back his cloak. "I wonder why. He was on border patrol duty...if something happened that he consider too important for a psychic to handle, then you have better let him in now."
"Yes, sir!" The man turned away from his lord and officer, moving to the door, opening it to make way for the helmeted, cloaked Tomas Nalraan.
"Lord Kurimuzon." He bowed, acknowledging the title of Lord that was conferred on Juusan by his rank as a member of the three champions of the Ganean.
"Tomas. What is happening, that you had to come here?" He cut through the usual politeness. Tomas was his most promising officer, and somewhat of, though not really, a friend. He was still one of the handful who had seen him without his helmet, who knew what he truly looked like.
"Someone broke through from the territories. It was a lone pokemon with a man on it, with four pursuing him. The pokemon seemed to be a Fearow." The first new shook him. That someone had made it in the core from the realms...that was a menace.
"And?"
"The other fours were pidgeot. I ordered my wingman to ward off the fearow, while I took on the pidgeot. I destroyed all four, but when I turned back, it was only to see the Fearow flying away."
Juusan nodded, trying to adjust to the events.
"This doesn't sounds too good." He finally stated. Even a single man coming from the Territories into the core could cause tremendous destruction. "What is your assessment?"
"The chase was not a setup. Those pidgeots flyers really wanted the fearow killed. And the pidgeots fliers were Blizzard rebels."
"So, whoever got in is an enemy of the Blizzard rebels..." He nodded. Things were getting quite interesting. The man who had gotten in was certainly not a member of his own organization - else why not go directly to his people? - but he apparently was not with Blizzard.
"Sir!" The guard broke in again before he could think more about the new arrival. "We have a Xatu reporting from the Black Mountain Outpost! You need to see this at once."
"If you say so. But do remember that you do not order me, I order you."
"Yes sir!" He called out of his pokeball an Alakazam, whose eyes immediately glowed a bright blue as it crafted before them the image the Xatu saw as it flew over the outpost.
Or rather, what was left of it.
"What could have happened there?" Tomas pondered.
"Blizzard, or perhaps someone else, who got in, and decided to do some fighting." Stroking his chin, Juusan peered at the image again. "Tomas, take the best squadron you can find, and go there with them. I want you to investigate. There may not be much we can do about your fearow, but this one, we have to do somethign about. Even though I hate the idea that he could kill one of our men and get away with it."
"But the other two champions would skin you alive if you gave grater priority to the life lost than to the material damage at an outpost which happened to be empty of troops." Tomas nodded once. "Very well, I will do so."
Both men turned away and left, leaving him alone to his reflections.
_____________________________
"Feonix!" Jan called out the great bird, releasing him from the pokeball.
"Noctowl!" His opponent did the same, releasing the owl-like bird. The two pokemon's eyes met in an icy duel of stares.
"Ready?" The young man - Jan realized he had not even yet asked his name - turned toward him.
"Ready." Jan nodded back, turning to look at the two creatures.
"Then...Noctowl! Hypnosis!"
"Feonix! Dodge it, then Ember!"
The eyes of the Noctowl blazed with golden light, rays coming from them seemingly, flashing within a second toward the fire bird, but that one second was one second too much. The Feonix dove under the incoming rays, rearing its head as soon as it was out of range, firing small orb of flame at the great owl. The owl roared in pain, but, clawing at the sky, managed still to dodge nearly half of them. The pokemon stared at each other, not waiting for the next order before striking again. Their beaks met in a clash as they flew by each other, both trying to peck at the other. Neither would be defeated by such a move, but they could certainly be weakened if it was done right.
"Ember again!"
"Mind reader!" The two orders were yelled out both at once as the pokemon turned back to stare at each other again.
There were no visible signs of the attack of the Noctowl, other than its seeming passivity as burning orbs crashed into it, like a thousand small meteors flashing upward out of Feonix's mouth. Its wound didn't seem to hinder the bird very much, dispelling Jan's fears on the subject.
The Noctowl, however, was beginning to show strong signs of fatigue as the pokemon flew by each other again. The streams of fire had taken their toll.
"Another ember!"
"Hypnosis!" Their orders fused out one more time. There was little strategy and no thought beyond his constant use of ember, other than that Feonix had so far shown no other attacks that would be of use at the moment, given that he had to win the fight now.
The golden light clashed with the orbs of fire. Feonix tried to dodge them ,could do so as its eyes slowly seemed to blank out, called into sleep by the hypnosis attack...
But a second too late. Just as the Feonix spiraled down, so did the Noctowl, finally taken down by the repeated embers.
Both beams of red energy flashed, recalling the pokemon.
"It seems you win." The young man observed.
"It seems so. But, since you two are going to work with me, apparently...what are your names?" He questioned instead.
"I am Cecil, of house Aeron." The man responded, smiling at what Jan assumed had to be his stunned face, at least if his own face reflected his emotions as it should. They were members of the Houses? But then, why claim that they were on his side?
"And I am Anya, also of house Aeron." The woman at his side added her answer. "More specifically." She grinned at his still-stunned face, "the duchess of Imlad Aeron, and as such the head of House Aeron."
Had he been able to take the time, he would have let his pokemon rest, perhaps using the powerful pain-killer that was mandrake, which was found in some small amount in the valley, but as it was he couldn't afford to stay long in one place given the fact that one of the two peacekeeper who had attacked him and his pursuers had survived. And putting Feonix out of commission for a while with a numbing painkiller wouldn't exactly be, in those circumstances, a good idea.
"You alright Feonix?" he wondered, breathing somewhat hard, the soothing glade having not yet completely washed away the stress of the last few hours, the panicked flight from the only home he had ever known, plunging him in the middle of a war.
The great bird nodded one time. That, at least was good to know. There was so much going on around them both that having one of the two weakened would have been quite the problem. He sighed, looking at the sword his adoptive father had made for him. It was simple, yet well-made, showing years of craftsmanship in both the sharpness of the blade and the fact that the creator had not wasted time with the endless decorations more likely to hinder than help found on so many other blades.
He had never wanted to be a fighter, though he certainly was, to believe all who talked to him, talented. War was repugnant, something few but him seemed to believe. There were those who saw it with fatality, and those who saw it as a chance for glory. And there were those, like him, who saw it as the greatest horror mankind had created, somethign to avoid...and if it couldn't be avoided, something to spare to as many as possible.
Which was why he had been so eager to take on the mission when offered. With some luck, there would be little fighting. With success, he would spare his homeland fighting for generations to come. He hadn't wanted to fight, but since someone had to do it, better him than another, more likely to fall.
They remained there for a moment, not moving, when noises came from a thicket on the other side of the river. With barely a thought, he brandished his pokeball, recalling Feonix as he crouched low, observing the opposite shore of the small river.
The noise, he rapidly realized, were human voices.
"Think they are still after us?" A woman, it seemed.
"More than probably. You know as well as me that they are persistent." The answer came from a boy. "And they seems to need you badly for whatever plan they have, sister."
"Probably they need me to act as their puppet." Was it disgust in the voice? It certainly seemed so.
"Probably." The other voice agreed. "They'll want to put someone the people will not rebel against in control, after all."
The figures finally emerged from the other side of the wood. They had, he realized, not been speaking that loudly ; simply, he had always have a far better hearing than most others, the one sense he used the most. One, the woman, was raven-haired, wearing a long green cloak covering what seemed like rich hunting clothes, in shade that would yet blend with the forest. The other, the man, had red-brown hair, and wore much the same sort of clothe. Both of them carried pokeballs at their belt, and the man in addition wore a long blade there.
If his hearing was sharp, apparently the sight of the woman was just as sharp. Within moments of appearing out of the woods, she had somehow located him, despite his being hidden.
"Someone is watching us." She pointed, hand flashing toward one of her pokeball. The man - her brother, by their words, though no one could possibly have known by looking at them - turned as well. His left hand drew a pokeball as well, his right resting on the hilt of his sword.
"Come out of there!" He yelled, eyes flashing.
There was no use denying his presence. If they were enemies, Feonix would put up a good fight. If they weren't, well, there was no point in making himself look like more of an enemy. He rose, Feonix's pokeball in hand, sword in the other, not drawn but easy to take within seconds.
"Who are you?" It was the woman who asked. Her voice was peaceful, yet commanding. He hesitated a moment, elected not to lie.
"Jan Anarei, of the village of Kaidan."
"Kaidan?" The man's mouth seemed to drop. "But...that's in the Territories...." He seemed stunned.
"Someone from the territories?" There was a note of interest in the woman's voice, now. "Who got past the peacekeepers..."
"He's telling the truth, too." The man, again. "I can tell that much." How he could, he didn't mention.
"Why are you here?" The woman questioned him again. He could have run, but something, deep inside, some sense of instinct, commanded him not to. She seemed at least not to be an ally of the peacekeeper.
"To take on the challenge." He replied bluntly, refusing to hide the truth after going this far. "And try to keep the Core and the Territories from obliterating each other."
"In other words, you are trying to make things better so that the war affect as few as possible..." The woman nodded slowly, her eyes flashing with - could it be understanding? "I think we have a few goals in common, Jan Anarei.
"Ah, dear sister, before you go further, I would like to teach Jan here a lesson. He should not spy on people like this." The young man turned on him. He had an odd twinkle in his eyes. "What do you say to it Jan? How about a pokemon battle, one on one ? If you win, my sister and I will help you, putting aside what we were planning, and if I win, you will help us as your highest priority instead of taking the challenge."
Jan hesitated for a moment. Of course, if he lost, it would create quite a waste of time, but then again, the fact was the woman had stated she had goals similar to his. And if he won, the help of the two of them would prove invaluable.
"That seems alright to me." He nodded, reaching for Feonix's pokeball. _________________________________
"Tomas is here, you say?" Turning toward the guard bowing before him, Juusan Kurimuzon thoughtfully pushed back his cloak. "I wonder why. He was on border patrol duty...if something happened that he consider too important for a psychic to handle, then you have better let him in now."
"Yes, sir!" The man turned away from his lord and officer, moving to the door, opening it to make way for the helmeted, cloaked Tomas Nalraan.
"Lord Kurimuzon." He bowed, acknowledging the title of Lord that was conferred on Juusan by his rank as a member of the three champions of the Ganean.
"Tomas. What is happening, that you had to come here?" He cut through the usual politeness. Tomas was his most promising officer, and somewhat of, though not really, a friend. He was still one of the handful who had seen him without his helmet, who knew what he truly looked like.
"Someone broke through from the territories. It was a lone pokemon with a man on it, with four pursuing him. The pokemon seemed to be a Fearow." The first new shook him. That someone had made it in the core from the realms...that was a menace.
"And?"
"The other fours were pidgeot. I ordered my wingman to ward off the fearow, while I took on the pidgeot. I destroyed all four, but when I turned back, it was only to see the Fearow flying away."
Juusan nodded, trying to adjust to the events.
"This doesn't sounds too good." He finally stated. Even a single man coming from the Territories into the core could cause tremendous destruction. "What is your assessment?"
"The chase was not a setup. Those pidgeots flyers really wanted the fearow killed. And the pidgeots fliers were Blizzard rebels."
"So, whoever got in is an enemy of the Blizzard rebels..." He nodded. Things were getting quite interesting. The man who had gotten in was certainly not a member of his own organization - else why not go directly to his people? - but he apparently was not with Blizzard.
"Sir!" The guard broke in again before he could think more about the new arrival. "We have a Xatu reporting from the Black Mountain Outpost! You need to see this at once."
"If you say so. But do remember that you do not order me, I order you."
"Yes sir!" He called out of his pokeball an Alakazam, whose eyes immediately glowed a bright blue as it crafted before them the image the Xatu saw as it flew over the outpost.
Or rather, what was left of it.
"What could have happened there?" Tomas pondered.
"Blizzard, or perhaps someone else, who got in, and decided to do some fighting." Stroking his chin, Juusan peered at the image again. "Tomas, take the best squadron you can find, and go there with them. I want you to investigate. There may not be much we can do about your fearow, but this one, we have to do somethign about. Even though I hate the idea that he could kill one of our men and get away with it."
"But the other two champions would skin you alive if you gave grater priority to the life lost than to the material damage at an outpost which happened to be empty of troops." Tomas nodded once. "Very well, I will do so."
Both men turned away and left, leaving him alone to his reflections.
_____________________________
"Feonix!" Jan called out the great bird, releasing him from the pokeball.
"Noctowl!" His opponent did the same, releasing the owl-like bird. The two pokemon's eyes met in an icy duel of stares.
"Ready?" The young man - Jan realized he had not even yet asked his name - turned toward him.
"Ready." Jan nodded back, turning to look at the two creatures.
"Then...Noctowl! Hypnosis!"
"Feonix! Dodge it, then Ember!"
The eyes of the Noctowl blazed with golden light, rays coming from them seemingly, flashing within a second toward the fire bird, but that one second was one second too much. The Feonix dove under the incoming rays, rearing its head as soon as it was out of range, firing small orb of flame at the great owl. The owl roared in pain, but, clawing at the sky, managed still to dodge nearly half of them. The pokemon stared at each other, not waiting for the next order before striking again. Their beaks met in a clash as they flew by each other, both trying to peck at the other. Neither would be defeated by such a move, but they could certainly be weakened if it was done right.
"Ember again!"
"Mind reader!" The two orders were yelled out both at once as the pokemon turned back to stare at each other again.
There were no visible signs of the attack of the Noctowl, other than its seeming passivity as burning orbs crashed into it, like a thousand small meteors flashing upward out of Feonix's mouth. Its wound didn't seem to hinder the bird very much, dispelling Jan's fears on the subject.
The Noctowl, however, was beginning to show strong signs of fatigue as the pokemon flew by each other again. The streams of fire had taken their toll.
"Another ember!"
"Hypnosis!" Their orders fused out one more time. There was little strategy and no thought beyond his constant use of ember, other than that Feonix had so far shown no other attacks that would be of use at the moment, given that he had to win the fight now.
The golden light clashed with the orbs of fire. Feonix tried to dodge them ,could do so as its eyes slowly seemed to blank out, called into sleep by the hypnosis attack...
But a second too late. Just as the Feonix spiraled down, so did the Noctowl, finally taken down by the repeated embers.
Both beams of red energy flashed, recalling the pokemon.
"It seems you win." The young man observed.
"It seems so. But, since you two are going to work with me, apparently...what are your names?" He questioned instead.
"I am Cecil, of house Aeron." The man responded, smiling at what Jan assumed had to be his stunned face, at least if his own face reflected his emotions as it should. They were members of the Houses? But then, why claim that they were on his side?
"And I am Anya, also of house Aeron." The woman at his side added her answer. "More specifically." She grinned at his still-stunned face, "the duchess of Imlad Aeron, and as such the head of House Aeron."