Well-well-well, what have we here?
Welcome! New and old.
First things first I must bring up something very important. This is a SEQUEL!
While I do hope it can stand on its own, there is a tremendous amount of stuff in this story that was set up in the previous one, called PMD: Warped Skies. If you haven't read that story (and I'm remaking it into a nice three-story version as well but either is fine to read) then a lot of this story won't make as much neat sense.
Heck, the premise of this story carries on from one of the biggest twists of the previous story!
It can stand on its own I think, so if you are starting here then welcome-welcome!
With that out of the way, I hope you all enjoy!
It was night in Serene Village.
The playful cries of the children had settled down to a good long rest, cosied up in their beds. Audino drifted by the door to the rooms, her powerful ears sensitive to the sounds of soft breathing.
Seems that her wards had stopped chatting in their beds and been taken out by the need to sleep. She smiled and left them to the night, drifting outside of the largest building in Serene Village.
Before she could walk out of the school grounds, a beep caught her attention. Audino opened her bag and drew out a glimmering cerulean sphere and upon it was a simple message.
/Farfetch'd, Audino, Watchog, can ya come to the office, please? ~Simipour/
Heeding the call, she placed the connection orb away and began to walk up the wooden steps to the main office of the school grounds.
She knocked twice before entering. "Evening, Simipour."
Principle Simipour offered an easy-going smile. "Evening, Audino." He nodded and gestured to the desk where a bottle of water with ice floating in it sat. "Feel free to take a seat."
"What did you call us all for?" she asked, taking a glass and pouring herself some water.
Simipour grinned at her, and she rolled her eyes. "Play along, please."
He laughed. "Well, don't spoil it for the others." He winked.
She smiled as she took a sip, and yet she didn't know why they were all called here. School matters seemed like the most likely reason. Her mind pondered a few things as her gut twinged slightly in anticipation.
She had one or two ideas maybe.
As the other teachers didn't live at the school, it took a while longer before the flutter of wings along with a voice loudly grumbling caught her sensitive ears. "Seems they're here," she said.
She continued sipping as the door opened. "The vice principal doesn't need to knock," Watchog huffed, offended at his companion's remarks. He strutted in with back straight and head held high, looking suspiciously over the occupants smiling innocently at him.
"Err, hello Simipour, Miss Audino," Farfetch'd said, hopping in after him.
"What do you want this late?" Watchog demanded, there was a vaguely floral scent attached to him that implied he had been readying a bath. "If your troublemakers have made another mess you clean it yourself," he snapped, narrowing his eyes at Audino.
She just smiled innocently, ears twitching, meeting his eyes as she sipped the water until he cringed and looked away.
"Now, now," Simipour chuckled good-naturedly. "It's nothing bad, I just got a request from our newcomer in town and wanted to let you know there's a new student in tomorrow's classes."
Farfetch'd looked thrilled. "Nuzleaf has a child?"
"Seems so," Simipour replied.
Watchog sniffed again. "Did that really require us to come here? I was just about to slip into a bubble bath. You could have sent that instead of a request to come here."
Simipour shrugged. "Seemed like news better shared in person, it's not like the walk is too rough on you I'm sure."
"Of course not!"
Audino cleared her throat politely.
Farfetch'd chuckled and Watchog groaned. "How?" he asked, somewhere between a heated demand and a weak plea.
She held a cream-tipped paw out. "Pay up."
Simipour grinned as everyone began to reach into their metaphorical pockets.
"Why would you bet that Nuzleaf would have a kid?" Watchog asked. "Who would bet that? What would drive you to bet that?"
"I would, clearly," she drawled, taking her winnings. It wasn't exactly the best practice for the teachers to be betting, thus it wasn't done often and never on the kids they were teaching.
It had started as a game Simipour suggested when Watchog couldn't let Audino knowing everything go one day. She had fun suggesting outlandish bets that came true.
"How do you know everything?" Farfetch'd asked cheerfully handing over her winnings, who knows how many times he'd repeated that question?
"I have the children spy on everyone," she replied casually, causing Watchog to splutter.
"You-you-what?"
"She's kidding," Simipour replied.
"I think I would believe her admittance of guilt over your excuses!"
Simipour shrugged, never losing that easy-going smile.
"I'd believe it," Watchog said darkly, staring at Audino as she took great care in counting out every coin nice and slowly. "With those troublemakers."
"They're fiiiine," she replied lightly. "You're just a bit of a hard ass, but that's okay. They love you too."
"I am not a teacher to be loved!"
"Neither am I," she replied, stashing it away. "Now, if that's everything?" she asked, turning to Simipour. He nodded.
"What have you got to do?" Farfetch'd asked as it was clear from her bag that Audino was going somewhere.
"Doing my patrol," she said.
Watchog didn't have a smarmy comment for that one, he approved of the paranoia. It was one of the things they agreed on and he occasionally joined her when the nerves were too great for him to sleep.
"Well, I am going back to my bubble bath," he said. "I shall join you on your walk, Audino."
"Sure. Night Sims, night Stickbird."
"G'night."
"Goodnight, Miss Audino."
Farfetch'd flew back now that he didn't have to entertain Watchog's complaining, and the pair of Normal-types went at a faster-than-leisurely stroll. As they walked, she pulled out her connection orb and sent a message to Simipour.
/Would you stick around by the rooms until I'm back please, I'll owe you one ~Audino/
"How did you know?" Watchog asked, a little more seriously now that it was just the two of them.
"I'm magic," she replied.
"Be serious!"
She shrugged in a 'what can you do' manner. "It's a secret."
He sighed. If there was anything everyone knew better than Audino Knew Everything, it was Your Secrets Are Safe With Audino.
He knew there was no winning that battle then.
"Where are going on patrol?" he asked instead, as they neared the town square.
"Out around Lush Forest," she answered.
"You've been going there a lot," he pointed out.
"And I still missed the kid," she thought to herself, saying instead, "It's a nice place. You should visit sometime." She smiled at him. "Gotta keep an eye out for that trio of beheeyem," she thought.
It didn't seem problematic enough to warn him about, at least not without asking for questions that would be harder to handwave.
Watchog stared at the lavender audino, fur a far cry from the pink her species was normally known for.
"You have a nice bath, Watchog," Soothe the audino said.
He watched her closely for any sign of facetiousness before nodding. "I shall. I posit you will have a productive night of paranoia, Audino."
She tilted her head to him and he hurried off. Before she departed proper, she turned her head to look back to the school. Simipour would be there, and she trusted him.
She drew out her connection orb again and began to send out a lot of messages as her ears remained sharp for any sounds around her.
To the council: /Simipour has alerted me that Nuzleaf has a kid now. Buckle up, gang. It's starting ~ Soothe/
To Spire: /Looks like Scout was right that the plot beats are hard to shift, Nuzleaf has the human, could you start making your way back? ~ Soothe/
And then she set it down to draw a different, yet very similar, orb out of her bag. Where the connection orb was a subtle cerulean, this one was a vibrant azure.
She activated it and waited, still walking swiftly out of town. Where the other orb could transmit short messages in text form, this one soon warmed with a warmer voice bubbling out from it.
"Uh… knock-knock?"
Unlike the mass-produced orbs, this one still allowed her to speak and a relieved smile crossed her face. "Heh, who's there?"
"Axe."
She raised an eyebrow. "Axe who?"
"Not Axew, Timber!"
A grin crossed her face and she laughed. "Good one. It's nice to hear from you, Timber."
"I reckon my day's already better. What's up, Soothe Bell?"
Her grin shifted from easy-going to purposeful. "Oh, where to begin…?"
Happy birthday! For me, I mean. I'm posting this on my birthday, haha. As my own sort of present.
It's been a few years since Warped Skies.
And some things have changed~