Chapter 25: Settling In


Wandering through Rolling Fields, properly equipped, and in a team of three, was like taking a pleasant stroll through the park to Bristle. Occasionally needing to stop and smack something upside the head with a vine, or wait for her teammates to dispatch it themselves, only served to improve the pleasant afternoon.

Spritz seemed similarly happy to stroll through the strange, twisting labyrinth of deep ditches and thick grass, with the occasional gnarled tree bursting from the walls. But Clicks was anything but. He spent most of the walk with his stubby arms crossed in front of him as his long tail twitched about.

"Woo!" Spritz let out a loud cheer as her water gun slammed a Caterpie back against the wall. The bug splattered into a stain of ink that was quickly absorbed into the wall. She leapt excitedly and faced Bristle with a big grin, like a child seeking praise. "How was that one?"

"Good. You might be overdoing it, though. Against weak apparitions, knowing to preserve energy is important," Bristle noted with a pleased hum.

As her face turned towards Clicks her expression quickly dropped. The Dedenne was covered in string shot and was hardly making an effort to shake it off- instead just letting the constant violent twitch of his tail and whiskers and ears gradually free him.

"You didn't even try to help. Even as you were getting coated in filth," Bristle commented, unimpressed.

"She had-it," he muttered with a shrug, his eyes strolling listlessly down the hall. Before Bristle could retort, they lit up, and the mouse was suddenly scurrying down one of the twisting chasms.

Bristle scowled and chased after him, Spritz following in confusion as well. Clicks had stopped not far down the path and was examining a small, shimmering object in his paws with intent curiosity.

"What do you think you're doing?" Bristle stamped her foot at him. "First rule! Stay as a team in dungeons! Never run off."

Rather than answer her, he held up the orb with starry eyes. "Escape-orb! I need-a-few of these!"

"Yes, we have one with us already," Bristle said with an eyeroll. "But if we need to escape twice, I'm sure that will be tremendously useful."

Clicks cradled the orb defensively and stared up at Bristle like she was a murderer. "No! Not for-smashing! For inventing!"

Bristle stared blankly back at him.

There was a loud smack as Spritz's tail slammed into the face of an Oddish, sending it tumbling backwards. She gave a plucky spin on her front paws and disgorged a light water gun into it, washing it away to ink.

She turned and smiled at the both of them. "Don't get too distracted now!" she tittered. "But what are you inventing?"

Clicks stared deep into the orb for a long moment before looking back up at Spritz and shrugging.

"Uncertain."

Bristle let out a long groan.

"Why are you even here? You don't want to delve, you don't want to fight. You don't even have a specific plan for this junk," she chastised.

Clicks recoiled as if he'd been slapped.

"Creation is driven-by inspiration! How-am-I supposed to know what-I'll-need when inspiration strikes?!" he squealed in protest. "I never-have what I need until the moment has-passed! "

Bristle and Spritz shared a concerned glance.

"I uhm... don't think that's how it's supposed to work," Spritz laughed gently, shaking her head at the Dedenne. "People usually invent things to like... solve a problem, or something?"

Clicks stared at her with whiskers twitching as his paws shoved the orb into his bag.

"And how-should I know what problems I-can solve without knowing what supplies I-can have? Without finding out-what they-can do?" he demanded.

"...By reading a book? Figuring out what you're doing and then getting the supplies you need?" Bristle said deadpan. "Don't you have like... a whole den full of random garbage back home?"

"Bah! A-book! Nonsense! No one can-learn the truth through a-book! You-need to-see for yourself!" he protested. He folded his arms and turned away, muttering- "And all my supplies are garbage... Old... used up... Dungeon supplies are expensive, and no one will fund me."

"I can't possibly imagine why. There's such an untapped market for vomit seeds," Bristle snarked.

"Hey, is that a quadrant boundary?" Spritz's call interrupted their spat. She nodded her head further down the path, where a familiar silvery gateway shimmered in the sunlight.

"Yes! How did you know about that?" Bristle asked with a beaming smile, her mood flipping in an instant.

Vaporeon giggled and held her head high. "I told you I've done my research!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Bristle caught Clicks starting to walk away again, and at the drop of a pin her mood swapped back.

"Where are you going? The boundary is that way," she demanded.

Clicks tilted his head at her. "Yes-but, we have not swept all-of this quadrant. We'd-be leaving behind a ton-of treasures."

"Seriously? Blast it, Dedenne, we're not here to start a horde!" Bristle groaned. "Let's go!"

"HOOPA FOUND IT!" Another voice pierced the air, spinning all three heads and shattering the tension.

Coming from the other side of the gateway, Hoopa bobbed energetically through the air, hauling a flailing Wimpod beneath him like the catch of the day. Rex and Ashen made a half-hearted effort to jog after him, both looking like they'd been trailing him for a while.

Rex locked eyes with Bristle and gave her a look that made it clear he was having about as much fun as she was.

"How's it going?" he called across as they gathered in front of the boundary.

Bristle gave him a very tired look, and then cast that glare to Clicks.

Rex just sighed. "Alright, step through and let's talk."

Both groups stepped through the boundary at once, swapping sides of it as the world around them turned liquid and melted away. That sea of earth reformed into a large pit, with them in the center, and a few narrow chasms flooded with thick grass trailing off of it.

The two parties immediately turned to face each other, Hoopa's grin piercing the souls of everyone in Bristle's group.

"When did you show up again?" she grumbled at the imp.

"Mmm. Hoopa didn't like the bird. But Hoopa wanted to come for this!" he explained with a cackle.

Rex just shrugged as Bristle's eyes polled him for a better answer. "He just showed up outside the dungeon. I get the sense this is going to be a habit. ...Is something the matter?" he asked, eyeing Clicks and his pout.

Bristle folded her arms. "He's upset we're not wandering around the quadrant collecting every random object the dungeon spits out."

"It's a total-waste of supplies!" Clicks threw his paws up in protest. "Why am-I even here if we're-not going to get-what we can?"

Rex folded his arms in turn. But his glare was on Bristle and not the Dedenne. "Why aren't you? Probably not a bad idea to get a stockpile of supplies, and it makes the rat- err, makes Clicks happy, I mean."

She hesitated. Admittedly, delving supplies were always useful. She just didn't want Clicks smashing all of them and turning them into poisons, or something equally as vile.

As she was considering, Rex's gaze shifted to Spritz's happy glow and his own expression relaxed a fair bit. Before Bristle could answer, he gestured for her to step aside with him.

"How many times do I need to tell you we're desperate?" he asked in a whisper, pulling her by the edge of the room.

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'll let him collect garbage," Bristle muttered begrudgingly as she slumped back against the dirt wall. "I just... he clearly doesn't want to be here. He just views us as suppliers. Desperate or not, how much are we expecting to get out of him?"

Rex sighed. "I don't know, but... just, watch Spritz," he instructed.

The Vaporeon was eagerly regaling her brother with a play-by-play retelling of their adventures in the first quadrant, interlaced with short, excited hops as her smile positively beamed. Her infectious excitement had put a smile even on Ashen's face as he bathed in her sunlight.

With a claw, Rex slowly directed her gaze over to Clicks instead. The Dedenne was still pouting, glancing up at the sky to track the time, and fidgeting repeatedly with his supply bag- as if to verify everything was still there.

"Know what the difference is? You're actually giving Spritz what she wants- to be here, fight apparitions, and be a delver. If the rat wants to be a kleptomaniac and horde random shit, then just... humor him a bit. Maybe he'll still suck, I dunno." Rex shrugged. "But if you can get him to actually want to be here, it might help a lot."

Before she could reply, Wimpod let out a particularly loud yelp.

He was writhing to escape Hoopa's grasp now, as a shadowy cloak had consumed the imp, leaving only his eyes and eerie grin exposed. Hoopa threw his arms forward and suddenly shot into the ground- seemingly vanishing straight into it.

Their heads all spun to the other end of the room where a pillar of the same shadows erupted around the unfortunate Oddish which had been sneaking up on them. When the blackness broke and dissipated, all that was left in its place was a cackling Hoopa, Wimpod limp in his grasp. The bug had passed out.

The five other delvers gaped at him, his mad laughter amplified by being the only sound to disrespect the awed silence.

"The more time I spend around him, the more I think he concerns me more than Faith," Rex muttered dryly.

"You'd better never forget that you invited him," Bristle growled in reply.

Rex shrugged. "Well, you wanted strong Pokémon. You didn't specify sane, or not-creepy-as-hell."

The two groups reformed, and Rex waved them off before departing down one of the paths with Ashen, Hoopa, and an unconscious bug in tow. Bristle turned to her own group again, with a relenting frown.

"Alright. New plan. Fine, Clicks. We're going to sweep the quadrant and horde all the 'random shit' we find. In exchange, you stop looking like I just kicked your egg. Understood?"

She hardly had to ask- Clicks' eyes lit up right away. "Yessir!"

Annoyed as she was, Bristle's scowl relaxed just a bit. Him abandoning his moping felt like progress.

"Alright, let's get moving then. One point for every dungeon item you claim!" Bristle declared. She started walking quickly, before anyone could even agree. She still didn't intend to lose these games.


Their team room was not the way Cole and Alek had left it. What had once been a mostly-open space for sleeping had become a group office, with their beds all crammed unceremoniously against the far wall. Several desks had been set up, and Amelia had already started on mimicking Simisage's collections of stacked papers. In spite of being their temporary home, the room had taken on a business atmosphere. An atmosphere carried by the tense individuals already present, their chairs arranged in a circle.

Amelia's eyes snapped to the returning duo as they entered. "Welcome back. We've had developments."

Cole snorted as he set his drink down on one of the desks and stole a chair. "You've had developments? Wanna compete?"

Alek stepped towards a chair himself before stopping and staring blankly at it, then down at his hooves. He sat on the floor.

"Well, the fox I told you about? He figured us out," Amelia said with a frown. "Scared Natalie half to death."

Natalie was lying on top of one of the desks and turned her head away bashfully. "I'm sorry... He tricked me," she muttered.

Amelia shrugged and took a sip from her mug. "Oh well. The good news is that they're not planning to burn us at the stake. Offered us help, even."

Cole's eyes brightened. "Really? I don't imagine they know a way home?"

"No," Amelia laughed, shaking her head. "That's a bit too optimistic. But they're looking. They just wanted oooone small favor in return."

Alek tensed up. "And that would be?"

"Interviews. About how we ended up here, mainly. Some questions about our world mixed in, though I get the sense those are to satiate the fox's curiosity more than anything. Natalie kind of set the script for us on this, but for the most part I don't think we have much to hide," Amelia explained.

"I already spoke with him," Geoff spoke up without removing his gaze from the desk. He was tinkering with some odd, handheld contraption seemed to resemble a mechanical badge. "Wasn't too invasive. Guy seems genuine. Bit too excitable, though."

Alek breathed a sight of relief. "Okay... That doesn't sound too bad."

"Is one thing I found curious, though. Asked me a few times about a voice. Whether we heard one. Asked you too, right Nat?" Geoff continued.

Natalie nodded affirmatively.

"Yeah, so I finally just up and asked him about that. Apparently it's fairly common for someone to greet humans. Tell them why they're here. I definitely didn't hear anything though," he said, continuing to dissect the badge.

"Me neither," Alek muttered.

There was a knowing glare between Amelia and Cole, however. Both knew better than to maintain it long enough for the accusation to enter the room's atmosphere. But both fully realized it was there.

Perhaps not a voice, but they had been left a message. An objective. Two torn pages that Amelia had refused to share.

"Well, your turn," Amelia said, stuffing a smile in front of any response to that silent accusation. "What's your big development?"

Something proud flashed behind Cole's eyes. "That fox ain't the only one who sleuthed out a human. Get this- the story we were checking out, about the fire? One of the folks who helped put it out is definitely a human."

A collective jolt shot through the room. Even the previously disinterested Geoff turn to stare at him wide-eyed.

"You're sure?" Amelia asked in surprise. "How do you know? And is it any of the ones we know about?"

Cole shook his head. "No. Guy named Rex. Real grouchy asshole. Got a bit careless and started mouthing off about our lord and savior, Jesus Christ, which tipped us off. Drilled into one of his companions a bit and they cracked like an egg. Speaking of- we all need to be careful about that ourselves," he noted, shooting a serious look around the room.

Amelia nodded, an amused grin on the edges of her mouth. "Not bad. And a wise idea."

She turned around and picked up a small rod. It was something unique, between a pen and a quill, that functioned similarly enough to either. She dipped it lightly in ink and began idly writing out the alphabet once more. She'd been blessed with hands, but they were still just a bit off. Not to mention how long she'd written by typing. She was still relearning to write with them, and her handwriting was scratchy.

There was a short period of silence before Alek broke it. "So, uhm... what are we going to do about that? We should try and talk to them, right?"

Amelia kept writing another moment. To anyone unfamiliar with her it would seem she'd ignored him entirely. But they waited patiently as she thought.

"Mmm, I don't know about that," she finally hummed casually. "Seems like a wasted opportunity."

Everyone eyed her curiously. "Wasted... opportunity?" Cole finally asked, his face curled in confusion. "I don't understand."

"Mmm." She turned in her chair and looked up at the Delibird. "I'm assuming you had the sense not to let him know that we know, right Cole?"

Cole nodded. "Yeah. I kind of figured you'd have a... strange take on this," he said hesitantly, waiting to see where she was going.

Amelia looked back with a smug expression. "Strange? You mean practical. Look at it this way: From what the fox has told us, Pokémon revere humans, to a degree. We're creatures of legend to them. The Jade Crest learned our secret, and now we're being offered favors. Telling more people might open new doors for us."

She turned back to her writing, still smiling without meeting any of their eyes. "But there's also risks associated. The more you spread a secret, the sooner it stops being a secret. And we have no idea what making our secret public means for us. On top of that, if we want to learn how to get home, we need to increase our station. Get more people listening to us- and more people talking to us in turn."

Even facing away from them all, they could sense her expression becoming more and more pleased as she pieced together her scheme.

"So. Why not tell everyone his secret?" she asked nonchalantly. "If everything we've heard is true, good things will come to him, and we'll get a ton of attention for being the ones to break the story. We can question him about what he knows afterwards, without having to expose ourselves in turn. And if something bad happens..." Her pen suddenly cut sharply across the page. "Then we're not the mice that wandered into the trap."

There was a cold silence following her proposal. In spite of the sunlight still streaming in, the room suddenly felt two shades darker as everyone stared at Amelia in disbelief.

"A-Amelia..." Alek finally whimpered. "He's in this just like us. That's- that's using him as a decoy."

"A canary in the coal mines," Geoff agreed, burying himself further in his dismantling to hide his distaste.

Natalie seemed deeply uncomfortable with it, but the only indication she gave of that was staring anxiously up at Amelia.

But Amelia was ignoring most of them, her eyes locked on Cole and awaiting his opinion.

Cole stared back at her unamused. Her cold practicality was nothing new to him, but it still seemed particularly shameless here.

"Alek is right, Amelia," he said challengingly. "This is someone going through the exact same nightmare as us. Are we really going to just throw them to the wolves?"

The smugness in her facade vanished, her eyes widening in surprise as something innocent took its place.

"Throw them to the wolves? Heavens, no! By everything we've been told, this is doing them a favor. People will cast them as some human savior and their own position will be raised. The only way that's not true is if we've been lied to. And in that case, well..." Her expression went flat. "It's them, or it's us. It's not our fault we were deceived."

The eyes of the room shot back to Cole, like a tennis ball bouncing between courts. Amelia's attention returned to her scribing.

Cole's brow furrowed. "That's a fallacy, Amelia. If we're worried there's some unforeseen trap, we have the option for neither of us to trigger it. We don't spoil his secret, and we don't spoil ours."

The eyes bounced again.

"A fair point," she agreed, nodding lightly as her pen strokes became faster flicks. "But you of all people should know how long secrets last. Even if we fully trust the Crest to keep ours, I don't know how you expect to otherwise get a, quote- 'grouchy asshole'- to tell us his secrets, without exposing our own. And do we trust him to protect that secret? Especially given he told his current companion who, quote- 'cracked like an egg'?"

Cole's neck tensed a bit at that. "Come on, there has to be a way to do this without throwing him under the bus?"

She sighed and shook her head as she kept writing. "There's risk in anything, Cole. Especially when we're in a weird position like this. More than likely, this works out fine for him. All we're doing is shoving that risk off of ourselves. It sucks for him, but the other option is it sucking for us."

He wanted to keep protesting, but words were failing him now. And as he glanced around, he saw the defeat in everyone's eyes that beaconed their resignation to Amelia's will. He let out a heavy sigh and the tension in the room faded with it.

"I don't like this," he muttered.

"You don't have to," Amelia said with a shrug. "It's an ugly business, Cole. But unless you have a better idea, it's what we've got."

He sighed again. "I'll try to think of something."

She smiled again as she worked, something more genuine this time. "Lighten up a bit. Things are the best they've been in a while now. Everything is still... strange, and we're still trapped here. But at least we're regaining some normalcy. And making some headway."

The rest of the room didn't seem to feel the same though, as a silent unease was shared between them. They quietly began returning to their own tasks.

"That reminds me, I'd actually wanted to talk to you about something else. Alone," he said firmly. That earned another set of alarmed looks, but he didn't care. This wasn't a secret he was happy to be keeping anyways.

There was the tiniest hint of annoyance on Amelia's face for a fraction of a moment, time enough for Cole and Cole alone to register it, before it flitted back to a disarming smile. She set her pen down and stood up from her desk.

"Sure. But you're paying for lunch in that case," she said with a wink.

The two departed the room and set out down the spiral. It wasn't until they'd crossed through the lobby, out the courtyard, and out into the city proper that Amelia dropped her friendly facade.

"The pages, I assume?" she asked, her vexation lost within the usual energetic scenes occurring down each street.

Cole nodded. "Why are you still keeping them a secret? That fox knows all about this stuff. He can help us. Hell, you haven't even told the rest of our group about them yet."

Amelia's face curled up a bit. "Oh, don't worry. I fully intend to use Lore to his fullest. I'm still just deciding how to approach this. There's a reason this task was handed to us, and I don't intend to share until I know why."

Cole suddenly stopped walking, forcing Amelia to halt in the street as well. She shot a frustrated glance around at the sudden looks, but most eyes quickly darted to more interesting sights.

"Amelia, this is insane," Cole hissed with a deep scowl. "This is serious. It isn't some kind of game to aggressively micromanage every bit of information for an extra ounce of control."

Her face tightened, and she grabbed his wing, yanking him to keep walking. "No, it isn't," she growled. "Which is why we have to be extra careful. If we make any missteps, they could be irreversible. Does it occur to you that there's a reason this information wasn't given to the Jade Crest in the first place?"

Cole's eyes widened. "What are you implying?"

Amelia just shrugged. "That the Jade Crest are secretly evil? Maybe they just don't want this seal to be found? Perhaps this whole thing is a trap for us? I could sell you whatever story I wanted. But the truth is: I have no idea. And I don't like that," she said with a snarl. "Which is why I have to figure this out before we take any bold moves."

They continued walking for a minute, Cole quiet as he considered. Finally, he let out a begrudging sigh. If only because he knew he'd never change her mind.

"Fine. But at least tell the rest of the crew. They know something is up, and it's not fair to leave them in the dark like this."

Amelia seemed annoyed for a moment, but her expression relented. "Fine. I'd just wanted to think on it first, but it seems safe enough."

Cole shook his head with another exasperated sigh.

"Ah, we're here," Amelia noted with sudden pleasure as they strolled up upon a rustic café-front. It felt familiar, with the set of small wooden tables laid out front, where Pokémon enjoyed light meals and colorful drinks. "Lunch is on you, remember."

He sighed harder. Absolutely hopeless.


Things had settled into a tenuous stability for the fledgling guild, over the next few days. Ashen had- very carefully- burnt the rose bush to the ground, the fence had been torn down, and a series of beds had been placed around the foyer, turning it into a makeshift housing quarters. Rex couldn't help but think that the open space made their arrangements feel like a sleepover or a camp. But he and Ashen had kept ownership of the extra room, and none of the residents of the communal quarters seemed to mind.

Each morning, Bristle would rouse the recruits for a few short hours of training in the fields- exercises Rex did his best temper with reason- before taking simple, nearby jobs in the afternoon. In his eyes, things were going... okay. Spritz was still starry-eyed, Clicks was complacent as long as they hoarded items, and Ashen was... well, Ashen never seemed to want much.

The remaining two recruits were the trouble.

Rex had dropped down on all fours, as low as he could get, and was camped a good three feet away from the wall, facing a deep crevice digging under it. The rest of the guild recruits had risen for the morning and were watching the new ritual from a distance.

"Hey... Wimpod. Come on, time to go," he called down into the crack cautiously.

After a quiet moment, two quivering yellow eyes and a pair of antennae popped out of the crevice. Slowly, Wimpod followed them, eyes flitting across the crowd leerily.

"Good morning... " he muttered.

There was a collective sigh of relief through the room. This was the easiest it had been so far to get him up and moving in the morning- in large part owing to the transition away from Bristle yelling at him. But very little of that progress had translated to the rest of the day. He'd still dip in and out of training sessions without much contribution, and he still had to be literally dragged through dungeons.

"Good morning Wimpod!" Hoopa shouted, waving vigorously. Wimpod winced and tried to dart straight back into his den, before Rex pinned his tail down.

Three separate sets of eyes glared fury into Hoopa. Bristle in particular seemed to be scrutinizing the imp intently. Moreso than usual.

She directed the rest of the recruits. "Alright, you guys should know the basic drills by now. Go out to the field and get started. I want to talk to Rex and Ashen, and we'll join you in a bit."

A few heads turned at the blatant secrecy, but no one would protest it. After a loud and disorganized departure, the trio were alone in the makeshift dormitory. But even then, Bristle still tugged them into her room for added privacy.

Rex leaned himself against a stack of crates, noting for the first time how barren and basic the room was. Bristle had never bothered to populate it beyond unpleasing supply crates and her bed. He made a mental note to make her fix that later.

Bristle took his lead and hopped up to sit on one of those crates, while Ashen parked himself on the floor. There was an awkward, expectant silence for a moment before she started. It had been a few mornings since her house had last been a quiet, peaceful place.

"So, uh, I've been wondering about something lately. And I er- I'm not sure if I'm crazy," she said hesitantly.

"You are," Rex quickly seized the opportunity. "But what's the question?"

Bristle's glare was brief before she turned her eyes down to her own buds. Short vines began to tug at a few of the petals in a fidget.

"Hoopa. There's something... weird about him, right?" she asked.

Rex snorted. "Besides being crazy, no one knowing what he is, having escaped a hell dimension, and casually defying the laws of physics? No, other than that he's perfectly normal."

"Right, all of that," she muttered, still plucking small petals nervously from her own flowers. "Well, I was thinking... doesn't he kind of fit the profile for Strife? He's weird and crazy, and he can teleport around. Haven't seen him go invisible yet, but he is a ghost."

Ashen's face furled uncomfortably at the suggestion, his eyes locking onto the window as he contemplated. "He doesn't talk the same way... and Strife teleported me into a dungeon. Hoopa said he can't do that," he answered hesitantly.

Rex just began chuckling, casting Bristle an approving smile. "I was wondering how long it would take you to notice that."

Her nervousness dissipated to anger as her arms curled up. "Wait, you already thought of this? And you said nothing, after inviting him to join?"

"Yep!" he said with a cheery grin. He hopped down from the crate and shoved the lid open, beginning to shift through it. "And to your point, Ash, he could have totally lied about not being able to do that."

Ashen drew back and tilted his head a bit at 'Ash'.

Bristle had hopped up as well and was glaring over Rex's shoulder as he rifled through her belongings. "Can I help you?" she growled. "You can ask if you need something."

"No worries- I know where it is," he reassured her.

It took several seconds for her to react. "-Hey! Have you gone through my stuff before?!"

He didn't answer, opting instead to emerge from the crate with a rolled-up piece of parchment.

"Two reasons I haven't said anything," he finally answered, sitting down on the floor beside the supplies. "The first is that this is wild speculation at the moment."

"Maybe it is. But if he were Strife, we're harboring a dangerous criminal. I'd rather not take the chance," Bristle retorted.

Rex looked up at her as he unfurled the parchment across the floor. "You ever heard the expression 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer?'" he asked.

Bristle froze, her face locking in confusion as she visibly attempted to process it. "...No," she finally answered in a guarded tone.

"It means people are more dangerous when they're out of your sight. If he was Strife, we can't do anything about that without proof. And until we can get some, he's a lot less dangerous when we know where he is and what he's doing," he explained.

She considered this briefly before scoffing. "And it also makes it so much easier for him to slash us in the back."

Rex shrugged. "Maybe. But if that was Strife's goal, he could have done it a long time ago. He's after something more convoluted than that."

Ashen straightened up, even as his ears went flat. "He, uh... he didn't want to hurt anyone. At least, not physically," he muttered, pawing at the dirt anxiously. "I don't really know if everything he said was true, but... I think that was."

Bristle glared at the Flareon for half a second before catching herself and dropping that glower to a doubtful glance. "I'm not sure how much I want to trust in the words of a deranged criminal." She paused. "What's the other reason?"

Rex had finished flattening out the parchment, revealing a large map of Trespis. He looked up at Bristle and grinned. "Hey Bristle, how's that coin pouch doing?"

Bristle flinched- jarred by the sudden change of topic- and bounced the light pouch with a vine. "...Not well," she confessed. "We're not bringing in enough money to feed this many people for long. Much less get anyone else, or get a proper guild hall set up."

Rex nodded. "Yeah, I figured as much with how stingy you've been. This is us," he said, pointing to Tranquil Knoll. "And this... is Sapsion. And the Jade Crest." He moved that claw not too far to the west.

"You see the problem? The cool guild with a ton of teams, equipment, and infrastructure is like... three days away. We can only service a tiny area to begin with, and any important- and thus well-paying- jobs are getting gobbled by them. You've chosen the worst location imaginable to set up."

Bristle's shoulders and expression sank a bit. "So what are you suggesting? That we just... move?"

Rex laughed. "Well, we could move ourselves closer to the places that need support. Or, we could move them closer to us," he said with a grin.

The room was awkwardly silent for a few moments.

"What?" Bristle finally asked, staring at him like he was a moron.

"He's talking about Hoopa," Ashen answered for him. "We can use his rings to go to far away places, faster than the Jade Crest can."

Bristle's eyes lit up. "Oh! I- err..." She let her momentary embarrassment at missing that pass. "That- that could work. That could work very well!"

"Yeah. That's why I said it," Rex chuckled. "Strife or not- you can use him. At least for now. Establish a reputation, build us up. Maybe work on some kind of alternate transportation, for if things go south."

Rex could still sense her hesitation, but there was something starry-eyed in Bristle's expression now as she silently thought on it. The realization seemed to have sparked a newfound hope in her.

"Alright. Let's do it," she resolved with a firm nod. Several vines escaped her flowers and began to reach across the page, pointing to different cities on the map all at once. "Here. Here. Up north, here. These are all towns with really long response times from the Crest. There's the Glimmerwood Guild on the western end of Trespis too, but just based on location they shouldn't be much faster."

It warmed Rex's heart a bit to see Bristle suddenly fired up to plan things. If only as a reminder that the person he'd allied himself with wasn't the complete moron she often played.

Still, he started to furl the map back up. "We can figure out the details later," he said. "For now, we have people waiting on us."

Bristle seemed a bit disappointed but let him close it. "Speaking of that... Any brilliant ideas for them? Spritz is promising, but the rest..." She shook her head frustratedly.

Bristle glanced at Ashen. "I can tell you're trying your best, but you're not quite getting it."- Ashen didn't deny her judgement, nodding along solemnly- "Clicks just keeps getting frustrated and doing worse. Wimpod is useless. And Hoopa barely listens to a word I say. ...Why are you looking at me like that?"

Rex kept his unamused glare on her for another several seconds before answering. "Why are you asking me? You literally had a professional offer you help with no-visible-strings attached."

She stiffened up a bit as she picked up the map and returned it to its place. "Well. Err- I suppose, but..."

Rex gave her a chance to finish the sentence and then cut in. "-But you don't want to, and can't come up with any good reason for it that doesn't sound like stupid pride and vanity?"

Bristle immediately puffed to fire back, her mouth opened, and- no words came out. She deflated like a balloon as a long sigh let the air out of her.

"Alright. I'll ask him for help," she muttered.

Rex nodded approvingly and patted her on the back. "Let's swing by on the way. C'mon, Ash!"


Talonflame's roost was only a small diversion from their path, owing to the size of the town. The bird sat atop the towering, crooked pole, glaring down at them almost expectantly for most of their approach. But even as they arrived at the base of it, he didn't speak up. He just kept watching.

Bristle made eye contact for a few seconds, silently commanding him to speak first. But the old bird was someone she'd never win that contest with, and she flinched.

"Talonflame!" she called up. "We wanted to speak with you."

He just kept staring.

Bristle frowned. And then scowled. And then her shoulders drooped. "Cindren. Please."

At his name his predatorial gaze relaxed. He hopped from his perch and glided all the way down to a log along the edge of the path.

"Good morning, Bristle," he greeted her as he settled down. He shifted a bit and nodded to the others in acknowledgement. "Helioptile Rex. Flareon." His eyes went right back to Bristle.

"I imagine you know why we're here?" she asked, stiffening up a bit and crossing her arms behind her formally.

"I might. But ambiguity is a killer. Ask questions- or make requests- directly," he ordered.

"I- we wanted to ask for your help," she admitted with a sigh. "We could use a wing with getting the new recruits off the ground, and this is your area of expertise."

Cindren shuffled on his perch and leaned in closer to inspect her with his intent gaze. Bristle recoiled with a scowl, which only prompted him to lean in further.

After an uncomfortable moment, which Rex watched with intent amusement, the Talonflame withdrew, seeming to have found what he was looking for.

"You want me to train them?" Cindren grunted.

"...Yes. Please." Her face was scrunched up like it was difficult, but Bristle gave a slight bow.

Cindren leaned back fully. "Hmph. No."

Bristle's brief humility shattered as a snarl took her face and she stamped her foot. "Seriously? You literally offered to help a few days ago! Did you actually just set this up to embarrass me?" she snapped.

Cindren snorted, expelling soot from his beak. "That wouldn't have required much work on my part. No. I offered to help you, Bristle. Were I willing to take on trainees myself once again, I would still be back at the crest."

The bird straightened his back and stretched his wings. When they settled back at his side again, he was radiating a regal aura. That cold avian glare had become commanding, to a degree that made even Rex shudder.

"If you want my help, I will take only one trainee. You," he declared, boring that command directly into Bristle's face.

Bristle took a nervous step back, stumbling into Ashen. "Me? I'm the last person here who needs training. I'm the only one who already has any," she protested. She wasn't daring to get testy with Cindren when he was like this

Cindren shook his head. His tone was firm, but not hostile. "You're trained for a role you're no longer filling. If you knew how to fill your new role, you wouldn't be here, asking me to fill it for you." His eyes shifted off listlessly a moment. "Though I'm sure you could use some work on the field, too."

Ashen gently pushed Bristle off of him and back onto her feet as she gaped at the Talonflame, desperately searching for a retort. But the longer she gaped at him, the clearer it seemed to become that he was right. Rex smiled at Cindren approvingly, and finally gave her another pat on the back.

"So, what are you offering? To teach her how to train them?" Rex asked with a toothy grin.

Cindren turned to him slowly, breaking his laser focus on Bristle for the first time.

"Something to that effect, yes. I might consider it... one final challenge. And an assurance that my experience passes on." He shrugged, finally letting that powerful aura break as he returned to his nonchalant apathy.

Bristle shook herself from her stupor. "Why? If this was about your... legacy, or whatever, you would have found someone else at the Crest. So why do you want me in particular?" she asked accusingly.

Cindren's eyes lit up with amusement. "Well. You're more clever than I took you for," he said with a raspy chuckle. His head turned skyward and for a moment the old bird's iron facade melted away as he stared pensively at the clouds.

"If I answered that right now, you wouldn't understand what it truly meant," he muttered regretfully. "And that would be a blasted shame. The most I can say, is that it's a bit of petty spite."

He shook his head and looked back down at her, that momentary softness gone as he glared at her challengingly.

"If you want that answer, you'll have to earn it. When you've come far enough to realize how pitiful it is, I'll tell you." He stretched out a wing. "Do we have a deal?"

Bristle looked deeply unamused by the non-answer. She opened her mouth before catching Rex out of the corner of her eyes- arms crossed and glaring at her with a clear message. She let out a heavy sigh and reached a flower out towards him for an awkward shake.

Cindren's eyes brightened at the sealed deal, and his beak clicked in what almost seemed like a smile.

"Mark my words. In a few months time, your strange recruits will be an admirable force. And you? A half-respectable leader," he promised.

Rex snorted. "You have your work cut out for you."