It feels like night is already upon them, the sky is becoming so thick with snow it engulfs the setting sun. The Rapidash, having been put to his limit, is finally given a moment to rest as they reach the cover of evergreen trees out of sight from anyone watching the valley.
As soon as they're safe Rapidash settles down, Lucario begins taking inventory and Masters goes about starting a flame. It takes ten minutes of sitting there watching Masters dry out brambles for him to get something going. The moment the fire lights, Rapidash breathes a sigh of relief, and puts his damp pink mane right next to the tiny flame.
Masters, sitting opposite of Lucario and his new steed, nods at them.
"What do we have?" He asks.
"Two Blast Seeds, One Stun, Two Luminous orbs, a mostly used bottle of Aspear and some Oran for if we get in a bind." Lucario stows the pack away. "Same as earlier, are we going to try and get to town?"
Masters nods. There is nowhere else better to go now, they had blown a hole into the home of the one group which could've sheltered them. They need to get to safety - to Lapis Town. The Typhlosion looks to Rapidash with worry.
"Do you need anything?
"Not at this moment." The Rapidash grins. "Her followers prepared me a fine meal before they imprisoned me, I can still feel the Pecha in my stomach somehow."
"What, did she invite you for dinner then stab you in the back?" Lucario glances over at Masters. "You don't think all hospitality and 'coolness' was just to trap us, right?"
"I wouldn't say so." The Typhlosion sighs. "I need to ask you a few things, if that's fine with you."
"If it is fine with my Sire, then it would be my pleasure to answer."
It is the second time he has been called Sire by this stranger. He freed him for a ride, he did not free him so he can be forced to play along with this game of knights or whatever. Lucario looks over to Masters, who is staring at him with this dead serious gaze, and to Rapidash who waits with staunch attention. Lucario has no say in this.
"Yes, yes, you can talk to him!" Lucario answers. "You don't need my permission to talk to Masters, he's my partner in crime, he's cool! And don't call me Sire. I have a name, it's Lucario. Tell us yours while you're at it."
Rapidash seems unfazed by this new order, blinking then slowly his long face back at the Typhlosion. He clears his throat.
"My name is Sir Whiskey, former explorer of the Torchbearers. Your charge has released me from my imprisonment, for this I owe him my life. Until he releases me from my duties, I shall henceforth call him Sire Lucario and serve him to my last breath."
Torchbearers? Sir Whiskey? Who named this knight after a kind of drink? Regardless of having a knight under his command, he does not feel like the big honcho pinkie insists he is. It is not quite the ego boost it is supposed to be when the only thing he feels is confusion. Better to let Masters ask the questions than for Lucario to make this any more awkward.
"My name is Masters, Sire Lucario is a partner of mine." Masters grins like a smug little hatchling at Lucario. "I see you are in possession of a guild badge. Am I right to assume these torchbearers you mentioned are a guild of sorts?"
"Indeed they are, each of them are servants to the Light - the one who bears the flame of my world." Using the horn on his head, he points at the badge in his hair. "My arrival here was my resignation. I gave up one world for another brimming with opportunity, and now I serve only Sire Lucario."
"Another world?" Lucario interrupts, scratching his head. "So did you just appear here? What's going on?"
"I would regale you with my tails if I could, my lord, but when I resigned I also resigned my memory. I cannot name the Torchbearer, or even one of my many journeys. It would seem the act of coming here in of itself seemed to have washed my mind clean, my memories losing themselves to the waves of a vast and terrible sea." The Knight sighs. "I only remember floating up to the frigid shores of your land's northern reaches. Shortly after I discovered the glacier and its servants. When I foolishly shared my story to who I thought were my saviors, they had me put into an icy prison."
There is a deep pause. Masters shuts his eyes, and loses himself in a moment of deep contemplation. He speaks carefully.
"How did you survive the Sea? Are you talking about bodies of water in general, or are you talking about The Sea Sea? Both are different things in this world."
"T'was a body of water. When I arrived into this world I had fallen into it, had my memories scrambled, then awoke on the cold shores. If it were this mysterious sea you speak of I could not tell you the difference, friend of my Sire."
Masters puts his hands together.
"So either you're suffering from some trauma, or you're a beached one." Masters concludes. "I have a close friend who monitors the Sea of Time, he explores it, and travels it every week. He'd know more about it than any of us ever will. If we make it back to the shores of Calico Town, I could ask him about your amnesia."
"You would have my thanks, Masters." The fire illuminates Whiskey's hopeful smile. "My primary concern is carrying yee to safety. Where may'st I take thee? Do you possess a map?"
Lucario reaches into the bag strapped to his back, pulling out the paper. The map feels soft in his hands, the dampness of the glacier frontier has already eaten at the paper. Looking at the surrounding pines, comparing them to the route they took, they're about two or so squares from Lapis Town. They are closer than he thought.
"Yeah, see the little trees here?" Lucario holds up the map to the horse. "We're here, in Jade Forest. We haven't entered a dungeon, and hopefully we won't find ourselves with your help. We came from here, the Glacier."
Rapidash, measuring the distances with his eyes, hums quietly.
"I can take you to Lapis Town by midnight. I'm not acquainted with carrying two at a time. Both of you combined are heavy." Whiskey gives Lucario a worried look. "No offense to thee. Carrying heavy fellows is what my back muscles are for, but don't trust me to sprint like that again till we've had a long sleep each."
"No, you need a bit of rest." Masters interrupts Lucario. "I was thinking we can start walking, and when you feel better, you can have us ride on you."
"Ah, how courteous of you! Running through this forest would run the danger of me tripping up a root, but once we're in the clear, I'd gladly let thee ride on my back to this Lapis Town." Whiskey turns back to Lucario, bowing his head. "Is this your wish as well, Sire?"
"Yeah, yeah. And stop calling me Sire. My name is Lucario, I don't want to repeat myself." Lucario growls, patting off the clumps of snow. "Are you two good to go?"
"I can move when thy wish, S-S-s...Lucario."
Poor Whiskey sounds like he is fighting decades of condition just to speak without using the dreadful S-Word.
Masters on the other hand, the fire-type of their lot, looks prime and ready to go. The cold has not halted him one bit, these ice-cold surroundings probably feel like more to him than a light breeze. Lucario extends his hand to Masters, and he takes it, using Luario's shoulder to hoist himself on his feet. Lucario's steed rises, and he leads the way.
Except Masters isn't following. He's lugging behind, frozen faced. Lucario sees a frightened look he has only seen once before. And just like before, a pained expression quickly replaces it as he grabs his forehead, eyes shutting.
Masters kicks snow onto the bonfire, picking up pace. As the trio marches through the pines he can see little signs from Masters: his eyes move constantly, he grabs his arm as if it were in pain. He is not hiding it, he is obviously distressed, but if getting him to open up about his past took a good hundred coins worth of drinks then Lucario does not stand a chance.
If he is so worried he will obviously say something, but he is not. The Typhlosion keeps his mouth agape, smoke billowing outwards, muttering incomprehensible words to himself whilst keeping his arms to himself like he is freezing. Lucario is not willing to stop them in his tracks to listen to him. He will ask him one simple question, if he does not answer, they move on.
"Did I do something wrong, 'M?"
The Typhlosion shoves his hands behind his back, holding them out of sight like a child caught red handed in the act of stealing cookies. Masters struggles to smile.
"You've done nothing wrong." Masters glances aside, somehow managing to sweat. "Please, keep on walking. The pines simply worry me, I keep thinking there's a feral lurking behind every corner, and I'm convinced we're about to hit a dungeon by accident. I know such thoughts are malarky, so I'm trying to keep them to myself. It's anxiety, Luc. I'm not trying to worry you."
Lucario simply rolls his eyes, then keeps on walking.
"Whatever you say, 'M." Saying this sparks an Idea in Lucario's head. "You're not trying to hide anything from us, are you?"
"No." Masters says flatly.
"Oh, just wondering. You know the last time you looked like this it was when me and you were in Calico Town and you did this thing with Minstrel. What happened? Did you suddenly get your nerves in a twist? If it's my fault, then go ahead and blame me if it makes you happy."
"It's not your fault."
By this point, the Rapidash flopping alongside them turns his head back at Masters. The combined stares of two pokemon wear down the Typhlosion's defenses and he shudders, looking down at the pitch-white earth as he drags his feet through the snow.
"Who's fault is it, then?" Lucario asks. "If you're gonna go on a stint of self-hatred, I don't have time to hear it. Go talk to a psychic or something if it's a head related problem you're having."
"It's not."
"Then what is it, 'M?"
A hot, fiery breath expels from Masters, melting the snowy earth into steam. He lifts a massive burden off his shoulders with a single sigh.
"It's my sixth sense, it activates on touch. If I touch an object, pasts and futures come splicing through my mind. It activates upon touching someone I trust deeply - that's why I don't let anyone explore alongside me." Masters glances between the both, holding his hand like it were scarred by Lucario's fingers. "You two are the exception, because I need you both if I'm ever going to get my hand on those gears. I don't know why it happened this time out of all times, just from here on, be careful when you touch me."
He knows the reason for all of this, the answer's right there - blatantly obvious for only him to see. Lucario looks away, and palms his forehead, continuing on whether Masters follows or not."
"It's because you trust me, I know. That's why you needed Minstrel, to activate it." Lucario groans. "It didn't work in the heat of running away, so if it's not going to work in a fight we'll be fine. It's not going to be a problem right?"
"No. It won't be. As I said, it needs two things: someone I trust, and something for me to touch." Masters opens up his palm, revealing a small piece of charred bark, barely big enough to not be labelled a splinter. He was probably drying it off to make it into a fire starter. "When I held your hand, I saw us travelling through these woods. We crossed a river and you and Whiskey were attacked by something we couldn't see."
Masters holds out a hand, stopping them from commenting for the second or two he needs to get himself together.
"I don't know if this is my future, or one of our futures, or just my worries bubbling up. I can't tell the difference!" The Typhlosion sends the bark careening into the trees in frustration. "And now that I've told you you're probably gonna just ask about it all the time, the Scream makes me sick…"
Both victims of this future stop in place. When gallant and unflinching are his two usual emotions, it's hard not to notice Whiskey looking a tad distraught by these whispers of the future. Lucario is more worried about this slowing them down.
"'M, I'm asking this because the last time you said you had one of these visions it was hundred percent right, down to the location and the Murkrows attacking us." Lucario's eyes narrow. "What happened in your vision, what is the name of this thing of yours - this sense?"
"Whiskey had gotten attacked, I don't know where or when, because it was just too hard to see anything. We were still around the trees and something hit our friend's back leg." Masters motions at the pony. "It could've been anything. I have no way of knowing. When I saw that gear it could've been at any time in the past or future, we were lucky it was the latter."
"Can you even control this thing?" Lucario asks.
"No, I can't. It works when it wants to, it doesn't when it doesn't. The only thing I can do to keep it from activating is to keep people at a distance."
"Am I never supposed to touch you?"
"You can, Luc. Just-"
A loud snort from their steed gathers their attention. Whiskey, seeming to notice something in the surrounding pines, shushes them. There is a palpable sensation of dread.
The glow of Whiskey's mane only goes so far, there is nothing Lucario can see in the woods. Everything else beyond the first few trees becomes lost in this sea of white, and dusk, having finally settled overhead, begins to clad the land in early darkness. Whatever had caused Whiskey to shush them, it couldn't be sensed.
Lucario sniffs the air, the winds whip his nostrils in retalliation. He doesn't smell anything other than the constant stench of brimstone coming from his compatriot. All seems peaceful until he hears this little ticking.
The badge clipped to Whiskey's hair is rattling in place. The huge pink diamond, previously assumed to be a mere ornament by Lucario, starts to clatter against the brass wings like a creature trying to escape its cage. It shakes with such ferocity it is impossible to ignore. And if there is something out there, he can not have it screaming their position away.
Lucario moves slowly, plowing through a foot of snow with every step. He reaches for the badge, and plucks it out of his glowing hair. He holds it out in his palm, trying to make sense of this object, watching it swivel around in the palm of his hand until it finally stops - pointing in the relative direction of something far in the distance.
He focuses his eyes, trying to spot what might be lurking in the distant fog. Everyone looks the way, trying their best to see through the white nothingness. Whatever is out there isn't keen on being seen.
But it has no qualms on being heard.
CRACK-CRACK!
His reflexes take hold. Lucario grabs whiskey, throwing them to the ground as two bolts of pressurized water narrowly miss them - one hits the pine tree behind them, exploding it into a hail of splinters. The tree falls to the earth, kicking up an ice-cold cloud. Panic quickly arises.
"He's followed us! We gotta get out here!"
Lucario forces the Rapidash onto his hooves. Shutting his eyes, he tries to peer into the snowy fog to no avail. One additional shot flies in the distance. Something cold and painful hits his chest. The air leaves his lungs.
Before he collapses, the Rapidash chomps on his scruff, dragging him along as Masters scurries onto the creature's back. Whiskey breaks into a gallop, dragging Lucario along. Masters saves him from becoming a smear on the ground, lifting Lucario up by his almost lifeless body.
"Who followed us?" Masters holds him by one hand, whilst spitting a glob of fire into the other. "You got hit badly!"
"Louisa." Lucario spits out, his body lying slump across the Rapidash. "H-He's a guy I ran into before when I found the first gear. I ran into him when you were buying stuff in town, he's looking for gears like the rest of us! He shoots these things from a distance! Just stay in the trees, make sure he can't see us!"
A fourth bolt is heard from faraway, then hits in front of them, throwing up ice cold snow into the Rapidash's eyes. Whiskey lets out a yelp.
"I can't see." He screams, going too fast to move. "I can't-"
Masters, the only person not incapacitated, slaps rapidash on their righthand side. "Right!" He shouts, and the blind horse veers off, narrowly missing a tree which was waiting to take them down. "Left!" He commands again, steering their ride back onto course.
Before he can announce another command, they hear a fifth shot narrowly miss, turning some pine trees into dust. The log falls behind them, brewing up a second massive cloud of snow. This seemingly gives them the cover they need for Lucario to collect himself, finally getting upright on their trusty steed.
"I'll explain when we're not about to get shot down! I don't know how he found us!"
Lucario whirs up an Aura Sphere, keeping his eyes closed, and his aura senses tuned. He can't seem to catch a glimpse of Louisa. The trees are thinning out, there's a clearing up ahead. Everyone is about to be exposed, including their lizard friend. When he sees them he is gonna let his Aura Sphere rip.
He is practically counting each gallop beneath him. Lucario stares into the trees, and from the blur of verdant auras - a noble blue soul can be seen bolting between the pillars of light. It's too far for him to risk throwing.
One, two, he hears whiskey take a deep breath.
Three, four, Master's aura flares with violet flame. He puts one fire into his lantern just in the nick of time, preparing another Infernal Parade for when they break the treeline.
Five.
They leave the forest, exiting onto a lake of ice. The bright blue aura leaves the treeline, two water bullets shoot simultaneously, and Lucario - having made eye contact, lets the Aura Sphere go.