[POV: Wolfe]

{Tell me, my Champion. Do you dream?}

[Every time I close my eyes.]

Why the hell does my ass hurt so much?

That was the first thought that went through Wolfe's head when he woke the next day. He groaned as he shifted himself into a sitting position, then checked underneath him to see if he had been sleeping on anything unusual. He frowned, as he didn't immediately spot anything. Then his frown deepened as he realized that he didn't remember going to his room the night before.

"What the…" he mumbled to himself. Then he sighed and shook his head. "Last thing I remember is me and Gale having that argument, then I went to the bar…" his voice trailed off again.

He raised his head towards the door at the sound of someone scratching at it, then blinked. "Uh, yes?" he called.

"Wolfe, open the door!" he heard a familiar vulpix shout, sounding mad. Well shit, he thought.

"Yeah, yeah, one second hon," he replied. Then he hopped off the bed, winced, and made his way over to the door. Then he hesitated. Now, do I really want to open this door and get yelled at? Odds are, no. I suppose I could pretend to be asleep… no, that won't work. I already responded to her earlier. He groaned internally, then opened the door.

And was immediately tackled by an angry ball of white fur. "Mercy!" he yelled.

"What the hell Wolfe!" she growled after they came to a halt, with Gale standing on top of him, glaring at him. Wolfe blinked at her again, with a slight frown. Then he grinned at her brightly.

"You know, you're awfully sexy from this perspective. We should do this more often," he told her with a wink. She blinked at him, then shook her head to clear it.

"No! Wolfe, what was that about?" she yelled.

Now it was Wolfe's turn to blink in confusion. "What was what about?" he asked.

"What do you mean what was what about?! That girl that you brought in here earlier!"

Now Wolfe was seriously confused. "What are you talking about?"

She stared at him in amazement. "She was literally in here like, two hours ago! I was locked outside this whole time! Do you have any idea how annoying it is to have 15 guys hit on you?"

Wolfe shook his head again, now completely stumped. "Er, what time is it?" he asked.

She huffed in annoyance, then swatted him with a paw. "I can't tell if you're being serious or not," she told him.

He frowned, and then stroked the back of her head gently with his paw. "The last thing that I remember was sitting at a table in the tavern area, and the next thing I'm in this room on our bed," he told her truthfully.

She growled, and then shook his paw off of her, much to his displeasure. "How the hell does that happen? Were you drinking?"

He frowned, and then shook his head. "No, didn't even have a drop. I don't drink while on duty, which I am."

She glared, then smacked him again. "Yet you'll pick up random chicks in a tavern?!" she shouted.

Wolfe blinked. Then he frowned. "Uh, run that by me again?" he asked carefully.

She growled, and then jumped off of him and padded over to a wall, where she sat down and looked at her paws sadly. "I was going to apologize to you earlier, but then I see you with some sylveon named Toxy. Then you tell me to leave," she mumbled, pawing at the ground gently.

He blinked again. Then he sighed, got to his paws, and padded over to her, before sitting down. Then he wrapped his tail around her, pulling her into him gently. He was happy that she didn't really fight it, as he was already feeling bad about the events that supposedly occurred early in the day.

"I'm sorry, Gale. I honestly don't remember any of that. I'm sorry if I hurt you, I genuinely didn't intend to. For the record, I wouldn't do that to someone if I was in my right state of mind. I would at least wait 24 hours, and never after an argument," he told her.

She huffed in annoyance, and then turned to glare at him some more. "So that's all it takes for you to forget about someone? 34 hours?"

He winced, and then frowned. "I wouldn't say forget, and it depends on the person. If I really like the person," he winked at her, "then I'd stay with them for a while. And, you could say that I really like you."

She huffed again, but then softened her gaze as she stared at him. "Fine, I suppose that I can forgive that you weren't yourself," she said softly. He smiled at her, and leaned down to kiss her cheek, until she put a paw on his muzzle, stopping him. He frowned at her questioningly.

"I'm still mad at you, so no kisses," she said, glaring at him.

He pouted at her. "What if I beg?"

"Nope."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, please?" he whined.

She glared at him. "You don't like being told no, do you?" she asked.

He shook his head, still pouting. "No, 'cause it means that my options are limited. I don't like limited options," he replied. Then he rubbed his cheek against hers. "So, did you change your mind yet?" he purred seductively.

Her gaze faltered for a moment, before she shook herself and glared again. "Fine, but this is the last time, alright?" she said.

"What about your promise last night then?" he asked cheekily. Immediately her cheeks flushed a deep crimson as she looked away.

"I… I forgot about that," she mumbled.

"Does that mean that you lied?"

She blushed even deeper, then hesitated. "I… I suppose not."

He chuckled, then kissed her cheek as he originally intended. "I'll take that as you saying that you don't, in fact, regret our little romp last night?" he purred.

She blushed again, and then shook herself. "No, I don't regret that one bit. I… I just was a little upset about my armor coming off…" her voice trailed off, and she looked away.

Wolfe sighed, and started to rub her with his tail gently. "Gale, I understand completely if it's something you don't want to talk about. But, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'll be there to listen, alright? I know that something's happened to you. I have my suspicions as well, but, if you don't want to talk about it, then I won't pressure you to. But, I am just telling you now, if I find out that my suspicions are accurate, I'm not just going to do nothing," he told her firmly.

She stared at him, and for once, he couldn't read her. Interesting, he thought, as she looked away. He decided to change the subject.

"What's Bill been doing this whole time?" he asked.

She shook herself again. Then she stared at their connecting wall quizzically. "You know, I'm not sure. Haven't seen or heard from him all day, so I'd imagine he's still in his room," she replied.

Wolfe frowned at the wall as well. "Interesting," he said softly.

Then he shook himself. "Well, regardless, I think that we should at least check on him. Just to make sure he's still breathing, ya know," he said with a chuckle. Then he unwrapped his tail from around her, and padded towards the door, feeling slightly more cheerful this time around.

Once he was outside of Bill's door, he stiffened as a certain smell reached his nose. He started to growl subconsciously. "Gale, can you do me a favor and wait in our room?" he asked carefully.

She frowned. "Why?"

"Just do it, please. I have a bad feeling about what's inside of his room," he told her.

She blinked at him, then nodded mutely, before padding back inside of their room and gently closing the door behind her. Wolfe nodded once decisively, and then used psychic to turn the handle on Bill's door. It didn't budge. Locked, he thought darkly.

He then used his psychic to pick the lock, and gently pushed it open, expecting the worst once it was open.

And the worst was what he got.

The only thing that remained of the perverted pikachu was some bones, scattered about the room with blood everywhere. Wolfe grimaced, and then ducked as something flew over his head, and impacted the wall behind him with a slight thump. Glancing back, he noticed that it appeared to be the skull of a familiar pokemon.

Wolfe rolled out of the way to avoid another thrown bone and concentrated, before turning into his human form with a dark flash. Then he drew his daggers and faced his aggressor.

He wasn't exactly surprised when he saw that it was none other than Crux, who was staring at him with a large grin.

"Why, hello Lunch! Crux has to admit, he was slightly surprised when he saw you come back to life yesterday. Made Crux feel rather inadequate. How can Crux please his God if Lunch doesn't die? Crux also found the events you and your sister partook of last night to be very interesting as well. It made little Snack very happy, and Crux enjoys eating happy meals," the scyther said.

Wolfe groaned, and then shook his head. Then Crux continued, saying, "Oh, and now Crux knows why demon was so protective of weak vulpix. Siblings! Crux actually hates siblings, used to have a few himself, that he did. But, Crux got hungry one night, and with so many foods around, how could Crux resist? Crux never considered doing that with them though." He put one of his blades against his chin thoughtfully

"Now that he thinks about it, Crux feels like there might be something immoral about mating a sibling," he said decisively.

Wolfe blinked at him, stunned. "Alright, you have me stumped here. You're saying that doing what we did last night is immoral, yet you ate your entire family?"

Crux blinked at him. "So? Crux made sure to kill them first, so he didn't eat them alive. Family is important to Crux, and deserves special allowances," he replied.

Wolfe sweat dropped at him. "But you just said that you hated your siblings?" he questioned confusedly.

"So? Crux can hate things, doesn't make them any less important."

What. The. Fuck.

Wolfe shook his head again. "Alright, well, moral lessons aside, I think it's time that we finished what we started yesterday."

Crux frowned at him. "While Crux would normally be all for a fight, it isn't exactly fair when his opponent is un-killable. Crux has been around for many years himself, yet he can still be killed, most likely. Hasn't happened yet, so Crux really doesn't know. But, without weak vulpix here, Crux knows he doesn't stand a chance. So, Crux will leave now."

Wolfe growled in the back of his throat, and got into his offensive stance, with his left blade held in a reverse grip, and the other held forward. "I don't think that you have a choice. I don't take to kindly to someone insulting a comrade," he said darkly.

Crux kept frowning at him. Then he sighed, and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, if fight he must, fight Crux will," he said cheerfully. Then he charged at Wolfe with a blade held out in front of him to impale the warrior.

Wolfe grinned, and then lunged forward, dodging the scyther's blade as he tackled it to the ground. He immediately started thrusting his right dagger into the bug's torso rapidly, causing as much damage to it as he could, feeling an immense wave of satisfaction as it started to howl in agony. Then he leaped off of it after sensing an attack from one of its blades.

He smiled triumphantly as it placed the flat of its blade against its wounds, trying to grab it much like a human would. Crux stared at his chest on horror, before raising his head to look at Wolfe. Then he began to glare at him fiercely, as he struggled to his feet. Then his wings took him into the air, wobbling slightly.

"You'll pay for that," he growled.

Wolfe smirked, then gave him the single finger salute. "Try and make me," he taunted.

Crux howled, and then charged him again, any strategy thrown out the window in his anger. Wolfe simply smiled at this. He loved when fights turned in his favor like such. He enjoyed dominating, after all. So, he casually sidestepped out of the way of the enraged scyther's clumsy charge, slicing left dagger at it as it flew past.

He nodded in satisfaction as Crux howled in agony again, followed by him collapsing on the ground as his wings were cut off. Wolfe turned his head to stare at the scyther with contempt.

"Don't insult those under my protection," he ordered emotionlessly.

With that, Wolfe walked towards the squirming pokemon slowly and cautiously. Then he froze, and nodded once. Then he ducked as he sensed Crux's blade swipe at his neck from behind him. Mid motion, he twisted his body around, and put all of his momentum into his fist as he punched the scyther, sending the now wingless pokemon flying into a wall, where he collapsed, with his back to the wall.

Wolfe smirked. "I learned from last time, Crux. Seemed to be an advanced form of Double Team, almost creating an exact clone. But, your little shadow there wasn't breathing. Something to keep in mind," he informed politely. Crux raised his bloodshot eyes to stare at Wolfe.

Then he chittered angrily, before pushing off of the wall behind him with a surprising amount of force, launching himself towards Wolfe through the air, almost as if he still had wings. Wolfe's eyes widened, as he leaped to the side to avoid the green missile, throwing is right dagger at it in the process.

He saw it impact, though Crux didn't even seem to flinch as he began leaping through the door and down the hall. Wolfe stared after him as he laid on his back, shocked. How the hell…

He laid there for a while, and then shook himself and got to his feet, before walking towards the door cautiously, and staring down the hall. He didn't see any signs of the scyther, and shrugged. Then he made his way back towards his and Gale's room.

Once inside, he was greeted to the sight of a vulpix pacing around the room, mumbling to herself anxiously. As soon as she spotted him, she bolted towards him before coming to a halt right in front of him.

"What happened? Is Bill alive? I heard screaming even through these walls, who was it? Why are you in your human form?" she asked him rapidly.

Wolfe cleared his throat, and then nodded. Then he closed his eyes and turned into his umbreon form, and then shook his head to clear.

"Crux made a visit, no, Crux, and I was fighting Crux," he answered matter of factly.

She blinked at him, then shook herself. "Alright, Bill's dead. Good on that. Crux visited him, do we know when?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't know when, but I'd guess sometime last night."

She blinked. "Why was he screaming? Did you kill him?"

He shook his head again. "No, just took off his wings and stabbed him a few times. He should bounce back, unfortunately."

Gale glared at him, looking annoyed. "Why did you let him get away? If his wings were off, then he can't be very mobile now can he?"

Wolfe grinned at her. "Have I ever told you how arousing it is to see you upset? You just look so very cute!"

She glared at him. Then she smacked him. "Bad umbreon. Stop dodging the damn question!"

He chuckled at her, and then started to twine his body around hers, causing her to feel very conflicted. Then he began to speak again, saying, "Any chance on a follow up on last night?" he purred seductively.

She looked at him, seemingly overwhelmed. "Stop! Answer my question please?!" she wailed.

He laughed, and then sat back down in his previous position, smiling at her brightly.

"For a flying insect, he sure has some strong legs on him. He started hopping around the entire place, and ended up leaving the building," he finally answered.

She glared at him. "Why didn't you try and stop him?"

Wolfe shook his head in amusement. "I did. Point in fact I only have one dagger for the moment. The other is buried in our green flightless friend in a place that will both pain him, and be difficult to remove without him losing an arm. And, no matter where my daggers are located, I will always be able to find them provided that I am holding the other. A bit of a personal touch, if you will," he said with a wink.

She glared at him, then huffed again. "Stop that," she ordered. He frowned at her.

"Stop what? Being so attractive? Because I'm sorry hon, not going to happen," he told her with another wink.

She glared at him, then groaned loudly. "Ugh, you're so impossible!" she exclaimed.

He chuckled at her. "I know. That just means that you need to love me some tonight," he said suggestively. Then he laughed as she blushed, and laughed even harder when she smacked him with a paw.

"Stop it! Geeze, for someone who recently lost a friend, you're awfully cheerful," she complained.

He frowned at her. "I lost a friend?" he asked.

She frowned back at him. "Bill."

Wolfe's expression cleared. "Oh, that guy! Almost forgot about him. No, we weren't friends. He was just a perverted pikachu that wanted to mount my sexy sister," he said, winking at her.

She snorted. "Alright, when you say it like that, it sounds way too creepy," she told him, giggling. He frowned.

"I suppose it does, doesn't it? Oh well, it's not like I actually think that way. Point in fact, I don't even have any living sisters. Or relatives. So, incest isn't exactly going to be a problem," he replied.

She shook her head, still giggling. "Alright, can we get off of this incredibly awkward conversation now?" she asked hopefully.

Wolfe nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I kind of regret not locking that door. Then we probably wouldn't even be having this conversation in the first place."

She frowned at him. "That's all that you regret?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, more or less. Why, was there something else I should regret?"

She huffed in annoyance, and then shook herself. "No, I suppose not. Curious as to how you ended up doing stuff with that Toxy chick," she muttered.

He shrugged again. "I'm curious to meet this Toxy chick in the first place. Though that doesn't really explain why my ass hurt so much when I woke up…" his voice trailed off.

She blinked at him. "I'm sorry, did you say that your ass hurt?" she asked in disbelief.

He nodded, looking thoughtful. "It sort of reminds me of the first time I received, though I'm not entirely sure how that would happen…" his voice trailed off again.

"Ribbons?" Gale asked.

He blinked. Then he shrugged. "Well, I suppose so. Kind of kinky, but I don't mind a little kinky," he said suggestively, winking at her once more. She groaned and face pawed.

"Wolfe, you're impossible. Now, can we go chase after this murderer? I mean, he did kill quite a few people in his time," she stated.

He nodded in agreement, and then closed his eyes and concentrated, turning into his human form again. Then he rolled his shoulders and headed out into the hall with Gale following. As they walked to the tavern entrance, Gale couldn't resist to ask another question.

"Why are you in human form again?" she asked.

"So I can speak to the humans and hopefully get some answers," he answered, as he pulled the hood of his cloak over his head.

"Wolfe? One more thing. How did you get your cloak and daggers back after yesterday? You didn't stop to pick them up."

"All of my items appear on or with me at will as I shift, unless I choose for them not to, such as now with my right dagger. It's an interesting and useful trick, as otherwise I would be walking around nude a lot."

"Oh."

[POV: Gale]

As she followed Wolfe into the tavern section of the building, Gale cast her thoughts back on what she had learned. First, Crux made a visit to Bill. Second, Bill had been killed. And third, Wolfe had wounded Crux to the point where he could be easily tracked. Also, supposedly they could use Wolfe's dagger to find him even faster.

Interesting, she mused as they walked through the door.

Then she had to come to a halt to avoid running into Wolfe, who had stopped upon entering the eating area. As Gale peeked out from around him, she didn't have to take too long to see why.

The entire place was trashed, with tables and chairs strewn everywhere, as well as shattered mugs, cups and plates. And then there was the fact that there was a fair number of bodies lying around.

Upon closer inspection, she saw that there were close to twenty corpses in the tavern, filling the air with the smell of blood and death. She crinkled her nose in disgust. I suppose this is the life of a soldier in an army, now isn't it?

Wolfe briskly turned to his right and walked over to the bar, where he saw the innkeeper curled on the floor, seemingly sobbing.

"Sir," Wolfe called, and Gale was surprised at the change in his demeanor. He didn't sound nearly as fun or flirty when he spoke like that. Gale jumped onto the bar so she could see the innkeeper better, as well as getting a better look at the carnage that was once a peaceful tavern. It made her feel slightly sad to see.

The man didn't immediately answer Wolfe, causing the hooded man to shake his head, before casually leaping over the bar to kneel down next to him and place his gauntleted hand on top of his shoulder and shake him gently.

"Sir, I need you to snap out of it. Tell me what happened here," Wolfe ordered, causing the man below him to flinch, and cower even further into his hands. Wolfe sighed and shook his head.

"Not going to get an answer out of him, at least not now," he murmured, seemingly to himself. Then he rose to his full height, and looked towards Gale. She just frowned at him sadly.

"I'm guessing that Crux might have been responsible for this," she said softly.

Wolfe shook his hooded head. "No, it would take more than a scyther to do this. I'm not sure if you noticed or not, but a fair number of the bodies lying about have burn marks on them. I don't know about you, but I've never heard of a scyther that knows Ember or Flamethrower. No, this was more than Crux. It looks as though there were four pokemon responsible for this, two of them being fire types, at least. Which means, that our job just got slightly more complicated," he told her.

Her eyes widened as she took in his words, and then turned to look back at the tavern's remains. Indeed, she saw that around half of the bodies did have severe burns on them. She also noticed that a couple had sharp shards of ice sticking out of their bodies as well, which made her flinch slightly, as she looked down in shame.

"Gale, stop that. This wasn't you, and you know it. Just because some of your type did something doesn't mean that the whole group is responsible or guilty. Now, let's see if we can't find someone who still has some sense left in them," Wolfe told her sternly.

Gale flinched again, but she nodded. As Wolfe walked around the room to search for any survivors, she turned her attention back towards the man cowering behind the bar, scared senseless. She wondered what could have turned so cheerful of a man such as himself into the emotional wreck that he was now. Then she breathed in, and immediately knew the answer.

He had just seen and heard twenty people killed. Some of them were probably his friends, maybe even family. Who wouldn't that affect? She turned her gaze back to Wolfe, and then answered her own rhetorical question. He's already seen and experienced that, so I suppose he would be one. She took a moment to admire his emotional fortitude, and then sighed. If only I could be like that.

She was brought back from her thoughts as the man behind the bar suddenly, and jerkily, stood up and stared at her, then at Wolfe, who was now making his way back towards them.

"Sir, can you answer my questions?" Wolfe asked softly. The man dumbly nodded.

"Yes," he whispered hoarsely. Then he shook his head and cleared his throat. "Yes," he said more strongly, though still very quietly.

Wolfe nodded in appreciation. "Thank you. Now, what happened here?" he questioned.

The man's eyes glazed over, as he stared off into space. "I don't know for sure," he whispered. "Everything was fine, when you," he gestured to Gale, "left here do to whatever those other pokemon were saying to you." Gale nodded.

The man shook himself again. "Then, from somewhere where the customers were the thickest, I heard a scream. Then I saw… Dave…" he broke off. The he started to cry as he continued. "Then I saw Dave go flying through the air. Or, I saw half of him. He… h-he w-was t-torn in t-two," he gasped out, before he began to sob.

Gale placed a paw comfortingly on his shoulder. He nodded his thanks at her, and then continued. "After that, all I could see was fire and flashes of light and blood. And the screams! Oh Arceus, the screams! And the sounds! The sounds of people and pokemon being torn limb from limb! Do you have any idea how that sounds? Any idea of how a human, screaming in pure agony, sounds?" he demanded of Wolfe.

"Sir, calm yourself. Yes, people were killed here. Yes, some of their deaths were brutal. Most deaths in this time period are, you eventually get numb to it. Now, what I need to know is who did this? Was it an unusual looking scyther, with a chunk taken out of his left leg?" Wolfe asked calmly.

The man shook his head, still trying to process the horror that he had witnessed. "No, no it was not. It was four pokemon, a machamp, a blaziken, a glaceon and a magmar. They only left about an hour ago, when a scyther came leaping out of the doorway leading to the inn. It's only blind luck that I'm still alive…" the man's voice trailed off once more as he collapsed into unconsciousness. She heard Wolfe give off a soft hum of thought.

"Well, we have targets now, with at least a generalized description. I'm curious as to why they waited until you left to start butchering the people and pokemon here. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but it's something that I would like to know," he stated calmly.

Gale jolted, and then snapped her head towards him. "Are you saying that this was planned like this?" she asked.

"I'm saying that it's a possibility, and no more. But, it would make sense. What I need to find out is why. Why would they wait for you to leave? It's obvious that Crux is with this group, and he made it very clear that he was watching us for a long time. Long enough to witness certain events last night, as well as me undying," he answered. Gale blinked at him.

"So, he was maybe wanting to have his revenge on us?" she asked.

Wolfe nodded softly. "That is indeed a possibility. But, he knows that he is no match for me alone. So, this leads me to believe that he had one of two intentions. One, draw one of us out so that we could be killed, or two, draw both of us out and into a position where we would be defeated quickly."

Gale blinked, and then nodded in understanding. "But, that still doesn't explain why they let me go. I mean, as much as I hate to admit it, I wouldn't have stood a chance against four pokemon, especially when two of them are fire types with a type advantage over me. So, I'm guessing that I wasn't their target. So, that leaves you," she answered, pointing a paw at him.

Wolfe nodded again. Then he groaned. "You know, it's times like these when I really wish we had Nova with us. Chances are, she would solve this problem of ours with no trouble at all," he complained, sounding more like how he usually sounded. Gale nodded in agreement. Then she frowned.

"Wait, isn't she marked? Can't you communicate with her through telepathy?" she questioned.

Wolfe shook his head. "No, she isn't marked. She didn't like that it included a bond with a male other than Kage. She's rather loyal, which is equal parts cute, and equal parts annoying," he replied.

She looked at him in confusion, wishing that she could see his face. "Why is that infuriating?" she asked.

She could feel him glaring at her from underneath his hood, causing her to shift from paw to paw uncomfortably. "I don't like limited options," he said shortly.

Gale snorted in amusement, and shook her head. "You never change, do you?"

He shook his hooded head. "Nope."

She rolled her eyes, and then hopped off the bar and made her way towards the door, flicking her tails for him to follow. "Well, I suppose that's something that I can admire," she said haughtily. She heard him chuckle as he followed her.

Once outside the door, her jaw dropped in disbelief. Outside, covering the streets, were bodies on top of bodies. It almost looked as the whole village was slaughtered, and all she could do was stare in amazement.

"This was more than just five pokemon," she said softly.

Before she could get a reply, she felt a strong hand grab the back of her armor and hoist her into the air as she let out a yelp.

"There's one here!" a male voice shouted next to her ear. Then the man screamed in agony, and Gale found that she was suddenly free, and falling to the ground, which she did with a soft 'oof'. Then she scrambled to her paws and turned around to glare at the man who had been holding her, before she let out a surprised squeak.

The hand that she guessed had been holding her was dangling from his wrist, connected to it by just a few inches of flesh and bone. He was clutching at it with is other hand as he screamed, staring at it in horror. Gale shot a quick glance at Wolfe, and saw that he was standing stoically, though she noticed that he no longer had a dagger on him.

"I wouldn't be so quick to touch her, friend," he told the screaming man icily. The man slowly stopped his screaming, before he collapsed onto the ground in a sitting position, staring now at Wolfe with fear in his eyes.

"There's another! Fire!" the man called. Immediately after he said that, Gale heard the twang of bows firing, as well as the sound of a faint buzzing. Then her eyes widened in horror as she saw multiple arrows fill the evening sky.

"Wolfe!" she called, and then closed her eyes as she waited for the arrows to strike her.

A moment later, she heard something move over her, as well as a grunt followed by the sounds of arrows bouncing off of something, as well as arrows imbedding themselves into the dirt surrounding her. But, she didn't feel any pain.

She risked opening her eyes to stare around her, immediately seeing Wolfe's arms and legs around her. Great, he saved me. Again, she thought. She saw arrows sticking out of the dirt surrounding her and him, causing her to blink in surprise at how close she had come to dying two days in a row. Then she turned her gaze upwards to Wolfe, expecting to see the worst.

Needless to say, she wasn't surprised in the least to see him completely covering her with his body. However, she was surprised to see that he wasn't breathing any harder than normal, nor was he spitting up blood like he had the last time something stabbed him.

"Wolfe?" she asked breathlessly. She heard him chuckle over her.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. I'm not going to die on you this time," he told her, laughing softly.

She glared at him, and smacked him with a paw. "Then get off of me!" she yelled at him.

He shook his still hooded head in amusement. "Fine, I'll save that for later. For now, we have some assholes to deal with," he replied, before getting to his feet.

As he did so, she heard what sounded like collective gasps coming from somewhere around her and him. As he stood up, she heard him whisper something to her.

"Don't aim to kill, aim to knock out. These aren't our enemy," he said.

She nodded once, briskly. Then she looked around her even more to see them surrounded by twenty or so troops, with ten having drawn their swords or other melee weapons for any possible close quarters combat. She also saw the man that had previously held her lying nearby, multiple arrows puncturing his body as he breathed his last breaths.

"Well now, isn't this a surprise? You're still alive. Well, I suppose that means that we have to get our blades wetted today, ain't that right boys?" she heard a voice call out.

As a group, the soldiers tilted their heads back and howled, sending a slight shiver down her spine at the bloodcurdling sound. Needless to say, she was quite shocked when she heard Wolfe chuckle.

"Oh? Might I ask why you all howled?" Wolfe asked.

The same voice responded, saying, "It's our war cry, we use it as tribute to the great Wolfe, who once led me and many of these men's fathers in the first Memory War."

Wolfe chuckled again, even as Gale snorted in amusement. She saw the speaker's eyes flash dangerously.

"I will not have him mocked my Memories such as yourself!" the man called back, anger in his eyes and voice.

Wolfe shook his hooded head, still chuckling. "Nay, it wasn't us mocking him. Rather, it was us amused at something you currently aren't aware of. But, no matter. I don't have much respect for those who dare attempt to harm those under my protection while using that name," he replied, his voice drawing to an icy tone as he spoke.

Then he tilted his head back and laughed, loud and long. He laughed for well over what would normally be customary, before cutting himself off abruptly as he snapped his head to look at the speaker, growling softly.

"Well?" he asked darkly.

The man snorted in his own amusement, before rolling his shoulders, shield hanging from his left hand. "Alright boys, let's teach this scum to respect so great a man," he said, before raising his shield to cover his body as he approached, with ten of his men following suit.

Wolfe chuckled again, rolling his own shoulders. As he did so, Gale saw an arrow clatter to the ground behind him, with its tip slightly red with blood. She snapped her gaze up to his back, and saw a hole in his cloak where the arrow had been. You missed one, she thought, worried.

"He wasn't as great a man as you might think, but no matter. Well, let's dance, shall we?" he asked, shooting a glance at Gale, who nodded in agreement, wriggling herself to loosen up all of her joints and muscles. As she did this, she heard Wolfe groan. She stared at him, worried, as he slowly turned back towards the approaching men.

"Gale, that was way too damn cute," he muttered. She snorted in amusement, before looking towards the men.

"Care to reveal your face, Memory? I want to memorize every one of your kind that I kill," a different guard said, smirk on his face, as the other men grunted in agreement. Wolfe chuckled once more.

"Well, if you insist," he said cheerfully, before reaching up to his throat and unclasping his cloak and casting it behind him.

She immediately saw the first speaker halt as his eyes widened in surprise. The rest of the men bellowed in unison, and charged at him, even as their commander called after them, "Wait! Stop!"

Unfortunately, he was slightly too late as only a few of his men heard him, leaving her and Wolfe to fight off only six men, with the rest calling for them to stop. Then the men were upon them.

Gale saw immediately that these men weren't anywhere close to veterans, as they weren't approaching in any real sort of uniformed fashion, as well as the way they held their weapons, gripping them so tightly that she saw their knuckles were a pale white.

"Sit back, Gale, I've got it this time," Wolfe said to her. Gale hesitated for a moment, before nodding in agreement.

She was then awestruck as Wolfe moved faster than she had ever seen him move before, so fast that she had trouble following his movements. She saw him first slam his shoulder into one of the men's shields, sending the man flat on his ass a few feet away, now holding a dented shield, with his sword nowhere to be found.

She then saw him lash out with a foot, connecting with one of the men's hands as she heard his fingers snap. Needless to say, he dropped his weapon, and was thus unprepared for Wolfe's round house kick to his stomach, also sending him onto his ass.

She proceeded to watch as Wolfe quickly and efficiently disarmed and incapacitated all of their aggressors, one after another. Ten seconds after the skirmish started, the last guard was knocked unconscious after Wolfe delivered a blow to his temple. As he knelt to check for a pulse, Gale saw one of the archers aiming at Wolfe with his drawn bow, about to send his arrow into the unsuspecting warrior.

Not really thinking about it, solely going off of her instincts, she fired a low powered ice beam at him, watching as it hit the bows cord, causing it to snap and lash at the archer, who just stared in shock at his bows remains. She saw Wolfe nod his head at her in gratitude, before he turned to the first speaker.

"Matt, it's been a while," he greeted. The older soldier simply stared at him, before ripping his helmet off of his head and lowering himself onto one knee as he bowed his head, offering the greatest sign of respect a guard of Norovia could offer to another as he saluted Wolfe.

"Wolfe! Dear Arceus, I am so sorry for this mistake!" the man, Matt, apologized. Wolfe dipped his head in acceptance as the other men, who were still standing, copied their leader as they fell onto one knee with their helmets extended and their heads bowed.

"Rise, all of you," Wolfe ordered.

"Yes, sir!" they shouted in unison, even their leader, who was still staring at him with awe as they rose to his feet.

The man then quickly walked over to Wolfe, almost in tears it appeared as he gazed at Wolfe.

"Wolfe! Wolfe, you demon you, what are you doing? And how the hell are you alive?" he asked hurriedly.

Wolfe smiled, and then closed the remaining distance between them as he punched the man in his stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and causing him to double over in Wolfe's grasp.

"You're lucky you still are, you dumbass. What was one of the first things that I taught you? Always identify your enemy first to confirm that they are an enemy," he said brightly. "As for how I'm alive, well, you said it yourself, old friend. I'm a demon, aren't I?"

Matt coughed, and gasped for breath, before he dumbly nodded.

"My…. apologies…. sir," he gasped out. Wolfe chuckled in amusement, before patting his back heartily, being perhaps a bit too hard in Gale's opinion.

"It's all good, though I will be having some words with you about the training of your men, as well as the equipment they're given. You know how I feel about gauntlets," Wolfe told him, helping the man to stand upright.

Matt nodded, and then gasped hugely. "I am so sorry, my Lord! They aren't normally under my command, point in fact they're all transfers. I'm currently in the process of trying to correct their errors and lapses in training, but it's a slow process. These were the ones at the bottom of the list in skill, which is why we were sent here. I would greatly appreciate it if you could show or teach them a few things. What I wouldn't give for them to learn from the master himself, the symbol of our entire unit, the Grey Wolves!" he exclaimed.

Wolfe nodded once to himself, and then turned to study his surroundings. "Maybe if I have time, Matt. I'm currently on a contract, or rather a mission for a contract. Someone bought me for three years, if you can believe that," he replied.

Matt's eyes widened even further. "Three years? Who the hell had enough money for that?"

"A group called the Dark Army. Maybe you've heard of them, but odds are you haven't," Wolfe told him.

Matt's eyes furrowed in confusion at the name, before he shrugged. Then he stared pointedly at Gale. "And who is that? A member of this Dark Army?" he asked, nodding at her.

Wolfe nodded his head yes, before looking at her with a small smile. "Yeah, she's my partner for the month," he said.

"Ah, I see. She a good friend of Zero's, is she?" he asked with a laugh. Wolfe chuckled, and shrugged.

"I suppose that's one way of putting it, though I suppose it's a bit more complicated than that. You see, he actually got a mate a few months back," he informed him with a straight face.

Matt guffawed, and started laughing hysterically. "That old bachelor finally found himself a girl?! Damn, but I never saw that coming. He's about as free with pokemon as you are with the ladies!" he laughed.

Wolfe chuckled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Gale rolled her eyes in amusement, before shaking her head.

"Wolfe, don't mean to hurry you or anything, but it's starting to get dark. We should be finding a new place to stay for the remaining duration of our mission, if you'd be so kind," she informed him.

Matt looked back down at her. "Well, that's an easy solution! You can stay with us for however long you need! The local garrison has plenty of beds to spare," he told her. She stared at him, shocked.

"You can understand me?" she asked. Matt nodded with a grin.

"Yes, yes I can! It's a requirement for our unit, which is considered to be the best of the elite, anywhere across the land. Well, when they aren't as new as these recruits," he said, gesturing to the incapacitated men behind him. He turned to look at Wolfe with a glimmer in his eyes. "I dare say that our best soldiers would probably give you a run for your money, my friend."

Wolfe snorted in amusement. "I certainly hope so. One should always strive to be better than those that they idle," he replied. Then his face turned serious. "Matt, why are you here? You're geared for war. What's been going on?" he asked.

Matt's gaze also turned serious. "You've been out of contact for a while, haven't you?"

Wolfe nodded. "Yes, yes I have."

Matt sighed, as his fallen men started to gather himself up along with their gear. "It's bad, my friend. Real bad. Obviously, you know about the plague, but that's the least of our concerns now. And old acquaintance of ours has made a reappearance in a big way, around a year ago now I'd imagine. It started with our friend simply flexing her muscles, trying to shake off the plague. Then she struck in a big way."

"Memoria has invaded again, my friend. And it looks as though all of her has come to play."

[POV: Tox]

Toxy smiled happily as he padded through the field surrounding the village. I wonder when I'll see him again, he wondered? He had to admit, he was very excited for the next time they were to meet. He hoped it would be memorable, to say the least.

As he walked, he saw a group of pokemon walk along a path in a hurried fashion. He frowned thoughtfully as he stared. That's strange. Why isn't that scyther flying like normal? And why is he being carried by a machamp? Wait, is that a magmar and a glaceon? And a blaziken?! What a strange group, he mused as they passed him. But, he didn't call out to them or make his presence known at all.

He frowned as he followed their route, and then frowned some more. Are those flags? And tents? Wait, are those men armed? Weird, he thought. Then he shrugged good naturedly, and made his way back towards the village he had come from.

Well, I hope that I see you again soon, Zero.