At the very least, the conversation about what being an "assistant" meant was a quick one, but now Ran had to deal with Outrider and Thea speaking outside about finer details. She smirked and shook her head. "Finer" details. There were no such things - their assignment was clear. Thea was simply fishing, and Outrider at least wanted to know what for. She leaned back against the wall of their home and looked out at Stone's sleeping figure.
The lycanroc clutched Valor to her chest, and the two were snoring contentedly. She had hoped Stone would have stayed awake, but it would seem the lycanroc would not be explaining herself tonight. She didn't seem all that interested in it either. Where Ran saw an obstacle in her spell of amnesia, or blocked off memories, or whatever it was that was stopping her from penetrating what lurked beneath the Old Nightmare, Stone appeared to see nothing more than a quirk.
Outrider had not had the chance to explain himself either. The revelation looked like it had hurt him to some extent, or perhaps worried him. Something. She sighed and looked at the salted meat hanging from the string that spanned from one wall to the other. Stone had at least been willing to offer help long enough to drive the nails for it. She'd even driven a few more so they could hang Nomad's colors beside the door.
Seeing the banner comforted Ran, even if it did drive sadness into her chest. She gently ran a digit across the primary she'd taken from Oracle. It was a stiff feather, but the texture comforted her. It was all she had of the xatu now. She swore under her breath. What could Oracle have told her with her strange abilities? What had she lost?
Perhaps she could ask Thea about another pokemon in Crag that could help her. The xatu's gifts were likely rare, but they were in a city now. Someone would be able to help, yes? Offer some - any kind of insight. Anything to help her get the better of the void that gripped her in pitched combat or when blood touched her tongue. The door to their Communal opened and the dim light of the outside drew the outline of Outrider in the threshold.
The lucario shut the door behind him and noticed Ran seated against the wall. He cocked his head and went to sit down next to her. "Odd choice. Not tired?" he whispered.
Ran fiddled with a loose piece of the thin stone floor and shook her head. "No, it's not that. I mean, I guess a little. I'm just thinking things over. We learned a lot. And then Thea showed up." She frowned. "What'd she want, anyway? You?"
"Probably. Well, rather, almost assuredly. But she is unsure how to express that. She came of age some time ago, but it is clear that time has translated little into experience in these matters. So much pretense. Stone may criticize my speech, but I at least make points with my sentences." He laid his head against the wall and sighed. "Perhaps that is the way of things now. I have only a vague memory of an old flame, after all. From a time even before Nomad, no less. And those times were different. Direct questions and decisive action." He shook his head. "I assume you've been thinking over what Stone revealed."
"Yeah. I mean, why didn't you ever bring it up? Stone doesn't care, but you-" Ran trailed off and continued to look Outrider in the eyes.
"I put it to rest some time ago," he replied, averting his eyes. "I had to. It was interfering with things."
"How?"
Outrider looked uncomfortable. "There is a legend. It is whispered through cities, towns and villages alike. This condition is more than rare, it is… almost nonexistent. A good knock on the head might make you forget what happened just before someone got the better of you, but forgetting everything before a point in time is something else entirely."
"So what's this legend?" asked Ran.
"Those dark depths, from where the wildlings seem to flow eternal - they hold more than just danger. Pokemon far braver than ourselves have plumbed the depths of those damnable pits, and discovered forgotten knowledge and strange technology. Much of it remains largely incomprehensible. As you could imagine, it is difficult to maintain a group of any real size in the very belly of darkness itself. Getting food and supplies in, staving off non stop attacks from wildlings, and even just navigating the labyrinthine dungeons of those forsaken places are all tall orders taken individually. Taken together? They're nearly impossible. You'd need somewhere like here and a concerted effort to make any real headway. And you would measure your progress in bodies, not by how far you plumb.
"But it was from the extraordinary efforts of those pokemon we learned of a strange creature. At first, the only information we had was of a bipedal being of some sort, dressed in tattered rags and reduced to nothing but bones. But as more expeditions panned out, we eventually recovered a text of sorts. It contained a script that was entirely illegible. To my understanding, no one has managed to decipher it. But it did contain illustrations - and the illustrations gave us a glimpse at what these creatures looked like. It also told us they knew of pokemon, even interacted with them. Of course, the illustrations were largely doodles, which made it difficult to understand what was accurate and what was exaggerated. Except for one.
One of the illustrations, a large rectangular one, was really a set of three, arranged in a column. It was an image of perfect clarity. I have my doubts that it was truly an illustration - it captured life perfectly. Exactly as it was. Not a single exaggeration or hiccup.
They bore images of a short-haired and a long-haired creature. It was faded, but somehow still held its color just enough to make out what was what. In one image they stared at you. In another, the long-haired one rested its head on the shoulder of the short-haired one. In the final image, they were pressing their lips together."
"Male and female?" asked Ran. "Is that it?"
"Yes. You see, they were called 'The Lost', because that is what their bones appeared to be, so deep in those festering pits." He paused and took a drink from his waterskin. "I say were, because one of them appeared in the Mist, lost and confused. But they were not how they appeared in the picture. Instead, they were an oshawott."
Ran furrowed her brow. "They- what?"
"In solving the Bittercold Crisis, the human - her name was Forbearance - gained access to important information about themselves. Namely that she was once human - the name of the creatures in that illustration. Except it wasn't an illustration, it was the product of a piece of technology we don't have nor understand. It was a 'photograph' - or so she said." He paused and rubbed his chin. "This is all on the official records, perhaps there is a copy in the bureaucratic nightmare high above us.
"Anyway, she told us she'd been given a choice in the wake of their success. Forbearance could return to where she came from, or she could regain her memories. If you think about it, it's the same choice, really. The only difference is where you lay your head when all is said and done. She rejected the return home - to a place where humans and pokemon lived together. Fought together. Fought each other. It did not seem any more happy and stable a place in its best parts, and no more unstable and stricken with violence and death in its worst."
The weavile laid her head back against the wall and let out a long, low whistle. "I didn't know any of this."
"I was going to bring it up eventually. There have been more humans that have appeared here since. We do not know why, and we do not know how many. Most do not have a recollection of their past life, only vague shapes and forms, bizarre sounds and smells, and faded colors. But they have a habit of performing impressive feats. Like founding Treasure Town. It is a far from perfect place, but it is a beacon of stability in a world filled with wildlings and raiders."
"How did the human that founded Treasure Town remember they were human?" asked Ran.
Outrider shrugged. "It simply occurred to him one day." He chuckled. "There were a great many skeptics. So they took him before Forbearance, by then an aged samurott. They had a conversation that lasted seven hours the first time they met. And they kept up regular correspondence until Forbearance peacefully passed on."
"So, then what happened?" asked Ran.
"Ulysses died. Before the end he had confirmed the existence of two other humans - one of which helped chart the very trail that Jasper was using to get to Treasure Town," said Outrider. "The other disappeared upon arriving on the Sand Continent and was never heard from again. Still, we have no reason to believe humans have ever stopped appearing. But they die, just as we do, and since those four, they've all passed on without ever confirming if they are human or not. Dead mysteries."
"But wouldn't the fact they can't remember anything past a certain point be reason enough?" asked Ran.
"No. It is still entirely possible that some have simply suffered some type of brain damage and lost their memories. You've seen how it is out beyond the walls. Coming off the back of a fight with a case of 'where am I' is a blessing, all things considered. Besides, entertaining the thought is not the best idea in polite company. The world is harsh enough as it is. The introduction of the concept of humans made it clear that there are things spinning in the realm of the gods that we cannot hope to comprehend. It's easier - and safer - to focus on survival." He pointed at Stone. "Her attitude is the best one you could have. 'What difference does it make? I have a life to lead.' Simple. Clean." He shook his head. "That's why I shelved my own pursuits."
"You telling me that, or convincing yourself?" said Ran, lifting Outrider's head to look her in the eyes. "Because I don't think you're telling me."
"What difference would it make, Ran? Look at what happened in Nomad. Would a creature that made itself known for solving a world-shaping crisis fail to save a simple town?"
Ran shrugged. "I don't know. But are you gonna let the truth evade you forever? Just give up on it and that's it?"
"Would you chase this thread? No, actually - will you?" asked Outrider, looking serious.
The weavile looked down at her claws and tried to bring the sights, sounds and smells that flashed in her head during her rages forward. It made her head hurt, and she felt sick, but after a beat she said. "No. Because I know I'm not human. Or wasn't. Both, really."
"How can you be so sure?" asked Outrider, looking dumbfounded.
"Because humans do great things. I don't. I haven't," she mumbled. "At least, that's how you've made it sound, anyway. Maybe you've got something great coming. Maybe Nomad wasn't a failure - just another step in your journey to wherever."
"Maybe there's hope for us both," said Outrider, smiling. He put his arm around Ran and gave her a reaffirming squeeze. "Might even be hope for Stone."
"Stone doesn't need hope," said Ran, laughing. "She just has to give a fraction of a damn." She smiled at the lycanroc's sleeping figure and felt her eyes beginning to grow heavy. "Good conversation, but I think it's time for bed. We'll see what Stone tells us tomorrow."
"You're leaving before us?" asked Ran, looking up from her breakfast of berries and some of the soft bread Stone had given them.
The lycanroc fixed the various pouches on her belts and gave one of them a light tug. "Yeah. Need to get up to some committee that's going to assign me a close-range inventory report or some shit."
"What does that entail?" asked Outrider, cocking his head.
"They said I'd be going to places on a map and checking for active Runestone. It supposedly gets pushed out of the ground very slowly over time, so you chip chunks of it free pretty regularly." She tossed a piece of jerky into her mouth and chased it with a swig from her waterskin.
"But we wanted to ask you a question!" said Ran.
"What about? My amnesia? Psh." Stone waved the thought off. "Meaningless shit. Who cares what I am and where I came from. I got stones to find, and when I get back, I've got bodies to scope out." She chuckled and unlocked their front door and tossed the lock to Ran. She threw the door open and said brightly, "See you guys tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Not sure how long this'll take. Don't eat all my pickled vegetables, Valor. Help yourself, but don't gorge yourself."
Valor put the carrot stick in his hand back into the jar and then crossed his arms, pouting. "I've only eaten like three today!"
"There's only like 24 in the jar," called Stone over her shoulder before closing the door.
Ran fiddled with the padlock with her free hand, chewing her dried berry absently. "Well, there's our answer," she said, looking over at Outrider.
"Expected. And not the least bit disheartening, honestly. It is an admirable outlook," replied the lucario. "Not one I would choose, but still. To each their own."
"So what are we doing today?" asked Valor.
"Accompanying Thea as her assistants," supplied Outrider. "As far as I can gather from her explanations, we'll be investigating multiple positions on a map, much like Stone. However, we are scouting for signs of potential raider activity or massing wildlings. She said there was the remote chance of one of those accursed pits opening up, but they seem to avoid appearing within a considerable distance of Crag."
The chespin deflated. "You mean it's just more walking and talking and looking?" He raised a foot. "I've got a hurt foot! Bandage still on and everything!"
Outrider glanced down at his arms and chest. They were covered in bandages in varying states of freshness. "Could be worse."
"Whatever." He turned to Ran. "How did you get away with basically nothing, Ran?"
The weavile shrugged. "Luck? Not sure. It's hard to tell when I have an episode." Someone knocked on the front door. "Come in."
Thea walked into the room, smiling. "You keep your door unlocked? Huh. Anyway! Ready, Assistants?" She looked at each of them in turn.
"As we'll ever be, I think," said Ran. "Where are we going?"
Thea knelt down beside her and rolled a map out on the floor. "So if you look here, you can see these little dots that mark where we're going." The map was less than helpful, noted Ran. Though the entrance to Crag was clearly illustrated in the corner, the enormous walls showing up as a tiny arc hidden away at the edge of the paper, the actual details of the map seemed inaccurate. She was certain there were no forests in several locations that still showed them. With a delicate touch, she traced a footpath that had been illustrated and followed it to what appeared to be a lake. Perhaps a pond?
"How accurate is this map?"
"Not very, as you might imagine. Do you think you can produce a more accurate one?"
Ran frowned. "I don't know. Probably not? But I feel like we should at least give it a try. There aren't trees over there for sure," she said, pointing at what appeared like a heavily wooded footpath.
"Then we'll try and put something together while we're out," said Outrider. He turned about and fished inside of a supply box and removed several pieces of graphite.
"Great! If we do a good enough job we might see a reward of some kind," said Thea, rolling the map back up and sticking it into a case.
"What kind of reward?" asked Ran.
"Anything really. Better provisions, supplies, maybe even a totally new place to live. Somewhere a bit higher up, you know?"
"Is that for us, or for you?" asked Outrider, staring hard at her.
The braixen gave him a cool smile. "Mostly for me, but it's not like you'd be forgotten about. You're not even really in the mind of any committees until you start proving yourself, you know? Getting into their good graces because you helped make a much better map might be enough to better provisions and the beginnings of consideration towards a Soaring Communal."
"A Soaring Communal?" asked Ran.
"Communals that exist a bit higher up. They're nicer, and some of them have small windows because there's not nearly as much Crag above them. A little larger, and I think a few of the ones that were built are actually two rooms." She tapped her foot. "Must be nice, I guess. Place to get away from the others for the day? Who knows."
Valor jumped up and down. "We gettin' this started or not? I've got a whole day of complaining to do with my foot like this," he said loudly.
"Does it really hurt that much if you're jumping up and down like that?" asked Thea.
"Shut up!"
Ran took a swig from her waterskin and sighed. "Is summer rolling in?" she asked the others. "Because it sure feels like it." She waved her paws through the air and groaned. "This is awful." The sun bore down on her with a hate she had not felt over the last few days.
"Shouldn't you be keeping cool better than the rest of us?" asked Outrider, panting.
The weavile took another swig from her waterskin and waved the lucario over. "C'mere," she said, letting out another satisfied sigh. "I've got a trick. Thea? Valor? You interested?"
Thea had taken up a position in the shade of a tree and her focus was set on trying to map the area around her effectively. Judging from the swears that had drifted up towards Ran now and again, it wasn't going well. "No," she called out, "Not right now. I want to get this right. Besides, this heat is nothing. It'll only get worse as the season develops. You'll know when it has, too."
Ran cocked her head. "How?"
The braixen blew a small plume of fire out in front of her and then smiled. "You'll see that a lot more often." She focused on her map once more.
Valor trudged miserably over to Ran and looked up at her. "What are you gonna do?"
She took a deep breath and blew a mist of fine ice particles into Valor's face. "That, first. Hope it helped."
The chespin rubbed the thin layer of frost she'd blown onto him off and smiled. "Thanks, Ran."
She gave Valor a nod, and then turned to Outrider and said, "Give me your waterskin."
The lucario complied, and she uncorked it and took another deep breath, then blew directly down the opening. Plumes of water vapor escaped from it as she swirled it, and then blew into it again. "Try it now." She handed the skin back to him.
Outrider took a swig and smiled. "Thank you." He took another sip and then frowned. "Is this… taxing you?"
Ran looked away. "Don't worry about it."
Outrider opened his mouth to argue but was cut off by Thea shouting, "Hey! Let's get moving, we've still got plenty of places to scout and sketch." The three made their way down the little hill and caught up to Thea. "Trail is… that way I think?"
"How can you even tell?" asked Ran. The woods around them bore few signs that anyone passed through - inhabitants of Crag, raiders and wildlings alike. The fact they'd chosen to stop where they had made sense only because Thea had pointed out a stone hanging from the branch of a tree. It had two rectangles carved into, barely apart, and they supposedly represented the gates of Crag. According to the braixen, the location represented the edges of the safety zone that radiated out from the city.
"I've done this route a few times, but-" She looked around and then squinted in the direction of a large willow. "It's a bit fuzzy. This way."
She was right. The trail picked up again halfway to the willow, though the many footfalls in the dirt looked old. "Little activity this way," noted Outrider before standing up straight to scan around. The forest was not nearly as thick where they were, and large clearings and outright meadows existed between pockets of proper wood.
It would have been a pleasant stroll if not for the sun bearing down upon them and the constant need to climb hills and then descend them. Valor's complaints rang truer and truer to Ran as they continued along, and she was certain she'd scraped one of her paws at some point. The trail out of Nomad and the loop they'd taken yesterday were pleasant strolls compared to this, even with the murkrow from the latter outing.
After nearly thirty minutes of walking, Thea held an arm up and pointed out a large stone column that rose out of the ground. A small pond sat near it, alongside a very, very large willow. "Next destination. Let's go."
And so they all sat in the shade of the willow as Thea tried to capture this sector as well. Outrider had joined her, pointing out inaccuracies and supplying his own beliefs about the terrain where he could. Ran, however, knowing her artistic skills were impaired by the fact her arms were more razor than anything else, busied herself with a few games of Orans & Nanabs with Valor. She drew a wobbly circle into the center of the play field and then a line through it and its two brothers on either side. "I win," she said. She glanced over at the three other playing fields they'd etched into the dirt. "Uh, again."
"That's not fair! Orans are easier to win with!" said Valor, slapping his hands on the dirt.
Ran laughed. "Does being easier to draw matter that much?" she asked.
"Yeah! It means you don't have to spend all your time thinking about it, and you can just focus on the moves you're gonna make!"
"Ran!" called out Outrider.
"Yeah?" she called back, scratching another playing field into the dirt.
"Come over here, we need you to do something."
"We'll have to hold off for now," said Ran, standing up and cleaning the dirt off her claws. "Record is uh… zero you, four me?"
"This isn't over!" said Valor, pointing at her. "Just you wait!"
Ran walked over to Outrider and looked down at the map he was filling out with Thea. "What's up?" she asked.
"Can you get up a tree and take a look around? Thea believes we have to head towards the sun, but judging from the original map they've given us, I think we need to move a quarter turn away from it…" He pointed somewhere to the east. "Roughly in that direction."
"Sure. I'll try this one," she replied, gesturing up to the willow.
"Thanks," said Thea, looking up from her map. "Keep an eye out for a large set of rocks. It's what we're trying to find. And anything unusual while you're at it."
Ran nodded, and began her climb. Halfway up, she paused and sat down on a thick branch to drink from her waterskin. For how much it was leaning in one direction, the willow was much taller and much more difficult to climb than she expected. Of course, the heat didn't help.
When she'd finally reached the top, she balanced herself on the thickest bough she could find and looked around. The stones Thea had mentioned didn't appear to be anywhere in sight. She craned her head around, looked behind her and then faced forward and squinted off into the distance. Where would those stones be?
Something flashed. She'd been searching the horizon, and the glint came at her from the very corner of her eye. She focused in on it and saw what appeared to be a very small, crude structure built atop… "The rocks. Weird," she mumbled to herself. She looked up and around and aligned the direction they had to go a feature down on the ground. A large, mossy boulder to the east would work.
Back on the ground, Ran took another swig of water and pointed over her shoulder where they needed to get going. "I found the rocks," she explained. "But it looks like something was built on them. Does Crag keep outposts?"
Thea frowned and shook her head. "No. We don't. Or, I don't think we do." She sighed. "How did you find them?"
"Something flashed from inside whatever it was that was built on them. Caught my eye."
"Then it's probably raiders of some kind. Unless we luck out and find out a new village decided to start up in between a bunch of rocks."
"I get the feeling that isn't very likely."
Thea made an indistinct noise in her throat and looked out towards where they had to go next. "Stay close and keep your eyes open. We could run into something on the way there."
"Is this wise?" asked Outrider. "We have no idea about their numbers or if we've somehow stumbled into their territory. We have nothing to work with but a structure in the distance."
"We have to finish mapping and checking every sector on this map, Outrider," replied Thea.
"I'm aware. I'm merely suggesting we exercise caution. Perhaps a spot of stealth while we're at it."
"Do you want us darting between trees the whole way there?"
"No, but it wouldn't hurt to start doing so when we get closer. How far away are the rocks?"
"A good walk. Quarter of an hour? Right around there."
"So get sneaky when we're five minutes out?" asked Ran. Outrider nodded. "Why even bother? If you're going to approach somewhere quietly you have to stay quiet the whole time and from way further out. All we're doing is making it easy to get surrounded by slowing down on the final approach."
The lucario cocked his head. "I didn't have you pinned for someone that would have a decent understanding of stealth."
"I've got a good feeling about what I said. I wouldn't call it an understanding."
"It sounds like understanding," said Thea.
"It's just intuition. Probably coming from something I don't remember." Ran scowled, then raised her claws. "These must have been good for something."
"I always wondered why you kept them so long," said Thea, looking at them. "Most weavile I've met don't."
"They probably don't lose control in combat either."
Thea frowned. "I guess not, no."
Twelve minutes later, the rocks Thea had pointed out were now visible through the thicket of trees a hundred meters away from them. "Lucky us," said Ran.
"Mmm. We can get low in that thicket and see what's ahead of us. Stealth may yet be an option," said Outrider.
The four carefully crept into the thicket, dropping down on all fours to reduce their profiles and the noises they were making cutting through the brush. Ran laid down in the dirt, using a large bush for cover and looked back to watch Outrider crawl up beside her. Thea joined them a moment later, crawling in beside Outrider. Valor, on the other hand, appeared at Ran's side and said, "So what are we doing?"
"Can anyone see what's going on? All I can really make out is that banner they've got flying in front of the outpost." asked Ran, trying to part the bush as quietly as she could.
"What's that banner mean, anyway?" asked Ran. "We have one back in our Communal." It was a flat-bottomed banner, featuring a large white egg with four red arrows pointing up drawn on it, which itself was framed by a larger yellow arrow that pointed up.
"Was Nomad a raiding village?" asked Thea.
"What? No," interjected Outrider. "We were farmers and wand-makers, living quiet lives."
"Well, those colors up there mean they're Children of Mother," explained Thea.
"I don't like the sounds of that," mumbled Valor.
"Hush! Let me focus for a moment, and I might be able to at least know how many we're dealing with. Whatever band of raiders they belong to matters little compared to their numbers," mumbled Outrider. He closed his eyes. A soft cyan glow surrounded the bundles of hair that hung from his head. Ran watched him shut his eyes progressively tighter, as if a loud noise were ramping up in his ear, but then his expression relaxed. "There are between one and three of them. Calm as one can be." He opened his eyes and shook his head. "At this distance, it is impossible to separate the vague blob - if it can even be separated."
Ran frowned. "Still a number advantage at least. Can you confirm anything, Thea?"
The braixen furrowed her brow. "No?"
"Then what's the wand for?"
"Blasting things, what else?"
"But you've got no tricks for this?"
"Do you?"
"I do have a wand, but it's not going to help us here," explained Ran. She rolled to her side and patted the wand Oracle and Planter had made her. "Not unless you want me to blow the structure off the rocks."
"That's not a bad idea," said Valor. "Can I do it?"
"No," said Ran and Thea at the same time.
The braixen stifled a chuckle. "Unless you want me to throw Valor at them, I don't keep many tricks in my tail."
"Do it!" said Valor, squirming with excitement. "They won't see it coming, and it'll cause a distraction so you can run in too!"
"Absolutely not," said Outrider. "We don't know what we're up against. We should-"
"I can drop in with Valor too," said Ran. She blew a gentle puff of frigid air at Outrider. "All you have to do is throw me when Thea throws Valor." She peeked further forward and noticed several outcroppings on the closest of the stones. "Right at one of those outcroppings. I can hop up along the sides and then crash down from the roof."
"You're going to willingly put yourself in the fray?" asked Outrider. "And by entering through the ceiling? That seems unwise."
"It's an ambush. Between that and Valor flying in, it'll at least be a good bit of shock."
"Valor, get over here," said Thea, her tone dripping with impatience. "Vanguard always said talk shit or do shit, and I think we've talked enough." She got up and caught the chespin out of the air as he jumped at her and placed him atop her head. "Jump into the air towards the stones and I'll push you. Ready?"
"You bet!" said the chespin excitedly.
Ran hopped to her feet as well and waved for Outrider to get up as well, her expression frantic. "Look, Valor will be able to get away from me if something happens, so don't worry for him or me, just catch up to us after you toss me. And make sure you toss Valor after I'm already in position, okay?"
"How are we supposed to know that?" asked Outrider.
"Listen for the loud crash, I guess," said Ran, shrugging.
Outrider stared hard into her eyes for a moment. Barely a week ago she would have quailed under that cold stare. She did quail under that stare. But not this time. The lucario wheeled her around and grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up. Ran tried to ignore the crackle of electricity that ran through her at top speed - and completely forgot it when he brought his arms over his head, flipping her world completely over and then right it once more when he tossed her full force towards the nearest stone.
Ran felt her ascent begin to decay and prepared herself to land on the outcropping fast approaching her. She nearly slid off and had to scratch her way up to a flat enough portion to be able to bound up to the next one. Her heart was racing. This had been a good idea now that she was on the outcropping. It was a phenomenally bad one before she'd actually made it.
She began to climb, jumping up to higher and higher outcroppings. Again and again, until she had made it up next to the outpost itself. She took a deep breath and then launched herself up as high as she could and then blew a large platform of ice into existence beneath her feet and then rode it down, angling herself and it, preparing for the impact. There it was. Closer. Closer. Closer.
Feet first into whatever the hell was below. The soft thoompf that met her ears as she broke through the straw roof was followed up almost immediately by a tremendous crash as her ring of ice impacted the wooden floor, filling the air with dust, splinters and shards of ice. Her legs screamed at her as the shock of the impact ran up them but she ignored it to scan the structure. Two extremely surprised looking pokemon stared back at her.
A chingling and a houndour. Wait. A chingling and a houndour?
The wall beside the houndour exploded as the triumphantly screaming body of Valor made his entrance, striking the dog square in the side and knocking it directly into the wall beside it. A sickening crack had filled the room for barely an instant when the roof collapsed. A flurry of straw and dust hit Ran full in the face, and she sputtered and wiped it away as best as she could while rushing forward towards the debris. "Valor! Valor, are you okay?" shouted Ran, starting to move rubble aside.
Several vines tore through the mounds of cloth, straw and wood, and revealed the dusty, slightly battered form of Valor. "Eugh, I didn't think that would happen," he said, coughing and waving dust from his face. He clambered over the rubble towards Ran and nearly fell over by the time he'd reached her. "You ok?"
"Am I okay? Look at you!" She reached down and started picking straw from his fur and looking him over for wounds.
The pile of rubble stirred and a low whine filled the air, followed by a muffled kind of ringing. A glow surrounded a patch of broken wood and piled straw and then exploded up into the air, and out of it flew a chingling wreathed in purple. It launched itself directly at Ran, striking her square in the chest and sending her flying backwards with a force of impact that was far greater than its tiny body could have produced. Still, it bounced off of Ran and flipped over in the air several times before coming to a stop, clearly disoriented and obviously hurting.
Several scratches adorned the bell's surface and its eyes were locked on Valor's, burning with hate. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" he screamed. The wall of sound that burst from him sent straw and dust flying out of the way as it filled the only room left in the structure. Valor clutched his ears and let out a shout of pain, dropping to a knee and writhing.
"It's too loud!" he shouted back to Ran. The weavile, still reeling from the attack, couldn't cover her ears and heard only a very muffled Valor shout something at her over the intense ringing in her ears. She felt slightly drunk, and focused on the scene in front of her with blurry eyes and a distinct pain in her head.
Valor shouted back, "We know you're raiders!" He stomped his foot. "And you're going down!"
The chingling reared back, then opened his mouth, angling it upwards. A strange clicking sound issued from it, and though it was loud, it was not nearly as painful as the previous scream. Outrider's voice came through a door Ran couldn't see, "Ran! Valor! Are you alright? What's happening in there!?"
The very same door burst open, revealing Thea and then Outrider, both stumbling into view as they tripped over the debris in the outpost. The braixen fired a gout of flame directly at the bell, but it dodged out of the way and let out another horrific, ear splitting scream.
Ran managed to cover her ears this time and staggered to her feet. The chingling was floating backwards, trying to use the horrendous uproar to make enough space for itself to turn and run. She tried to shout over the din, but really, did she honestly expect to be heard?
It did not matter, because Thea hopped forward on one paw, shifted her weight and completed a full spin kick, dragging a wreath of flame through the air as she did, and then stopped her kick right in front of the bell. He stopped screaming and stared, confused, then smirked.
"You fuckin'-"
"DIE." A fireball erupted from her foot and sent the chingling flying with it a dozen meters back, where it exploded and sent the bell crashing down. He did not re-emerge from the patch of overgrown grass where he fell.
Ran wobbled her way over to the others and looked down at Valor. "You okay?" she said, her ears still ringing.
The chespin nodded and then looked around. "Where's the thing I hit when I broke through the wall?" He snapped his attention to Ran. "Did you see that, by the way? That entrance? Didn't that look cool?" He was practically bouncing.
The weavile gave him an incredulous smile and then pointed to the destroyed wall the houndour had been launched into. It took a few minutes of digging and moving debris, but eventually, Outrider pulled a cloth pushed up against the stone formation the outpost had used for support, and uncovered the lifeless body of the hound. Her head was bent at a very odd angle, and her glassy eyes still stared into the infinite, the confused expression of Ran's sudden appearance frozen on her face.
Outrider shook his head. "At least it was quick," he muttered. He replaced the cloth. "We can't stay here. That sound the chingling made has probably already been picked up by someone that was listening for it. We won't be mapping this sector, Thea, I'm sorry."
Valor's mood had shifted at top speed from enthusiastic and proud to horrified. He was frozen, staring at the lumpy cloth that covered the deceased houndour and croaked out, "W-wait, did I-"
Thea spoke over him. "Comb the outpost, and fast. Grab anything that looks like it might even remotely be useful - especially papers." She started frantically tossing aside piles of straw and cloth, and pulled loose sheets of paper from the ground.
Ran flipped piles of half-stuffed cushions over, tore open sacks and rifled through a box bearing a set of runes she couldn't read with such speed she was worried that if she did find papers of some kind her claws would shred them. She looked over her shoulder and saw Valor still staring at the hidden body of the houndour, unmoving.
What an awful time to have to deal with this, she thought to herself. Just hang on until we get somewhere safe, Valor. She stared hard at the page she was holding, reading the runes on it without comprehending them. Anything to keep the horrible reality of the two raiders that died here out of her head.
They were little ones. Just like Valor.
She shook her head and kept sifting through the box. Not now. Not now.
Outrider, for his part, had gathered a stack of sheets and several tubes similar to the one Thea had at her side.
They had nearly inverted the shack in their haste to pull anything and everything that might have given them information. By the time Thea had shouted time was up and they had to get moving, much of the debris had been overturned several times over. They bounded down the rickety stairs that had been built up the sides of the rock formation to make their retreat into the forest, leaving an outpost in their wake that was all but unrecognizable.
Their "retreat" was anything but. They had advanced to the next sector, much to the vocal outrage of Outrider and quiet concern of Ran. Valor hardly seemed to have the heart to go on by the time they had settled down with their "spoils," and the moment that Ran had seated herself to begin sorting through them, the chespin immediately rushed over to and threw his arms around her.
"R-Ran," he said, his breathing shaky. "Did I kill that houndour?"
The weavile hugged him back and stared, wide-eyed at the ground. "Um…" She swallowed hard, her mouth going dry. "Well, you see-"
"Yes, you did. Did you see what your entrance did to that wall?" said Thea, glancing past Outrider's shoulder.
"But the murkrow was fine yesterday! I didn't-" said Valor, failing to keep up with wiping his tears away. "I didn't kill him!"
"No, you only broke like half the bones in his body, which I guess is still technically better," reasoned Thea. She turned her attention back to Outrider. "And will you stop complaining about us moving on? It was that or go backwards and if we go backwards we have to blaze a totally new trail to the next sector anyway! And we have to do it with raiders looking for us!"
"Potentially, looking for us!" he shot back. "And they were also probably going to be more little ones! Why didn't you say the Children of Mother was a literal name for them?"
"What does it matter that they're kids? You think that houndour doesn't know how to bite Valor in half?" she said angrily. She took a step forward and butted her head against Outrider's. "In case you didn't notice, that chingling nearly destroyed our fucking ears."
"Couldn't we-" began Ran.
"Don't fucking say 'reason with them', please, Ran. It's like asking us if we can reason with you when you're in the middle of giving murkrows live autopsies," said Thea, still pressing her forehead against Outrider's, her teeth bared.
"Usually a punch to the head is enough to stop it."
"Well punching them isn't going to work unless you're going to do it until they don't ever get back up."
"Never in all of my travels, in all that I've seen, and all the cruelties I've had to bear witness to, have I-" began Outrider.
"Oh fuck off with that, will you? It's a big fucking continent and there are other even bigger ones past an ocean so large that pokemon die in transit," snapped Thea. "Listen." She pulled her head back and took a deep breath and appeared to calm down. A bit. "They're raiders. Doesn't matter how old they are. They're raiders first. They're all dangerous enough to make a life out here surrounded by wildlings. And these particular ones use the fact they're little to their advantage. Some of them aren't even young, they just haven't evolved. You heard what the chingling said, either he was young and spent his time around sewer mouths or he was old and stupid."
"I didn't do anything to the chingling," said Valor, turning away from Ran, the fur on his face tear-streaked. "I'm talking about-"
"I know. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter who we found in that outpost. A raider is a raider. And the Children of Mother are among the worst. How do you think they get so many 'little ones' in their ranks? Why do you think we keep the roads safe? Why do you think we're even on this patrol?" Thea looked around at each of them in turn. "At least none of you hesitated. That's commendable. Always better to complain after than during."
"I didn't do much after that poorly reasoned entry. Never doing something like that again - you shouldn't either, Valor," said Ran, looking down at the chespin. "I was stuck dealing with a bad case of ringing ears and checking that my chest wasn't caved in." She rubbed the spot the chingling had struck her. It was still sore.
"Then you agree that he was trying to kill you? And that what I did was hardly 'excessive' or 'unnecessary' or anything like that? What about you?" asked Thea, looking back at Outrider. "Or you, Valor?" She did not take her eyes off the lucario.
Valor turned back to hug Ran. The weavile ran the backs of her claws gently down his back and looked up at Thea. "I do, I agree, but... Do you expect an answer from him?"
"Eventually. You don't get to stay appalled at this forever. You're always allowed to hate it and wish it wasn't real or happening or whatever. You can be disgusted, whatever you want." She pointed at her chest.
"I still am. I don't like doing this - no one on any scouting or defensive squad does. They all fucking dread the day they get put on scouting duty and get hit by Mother. They don't even call them by their full name - by the part that's actually descriptive. So I say again, to everyone but Valor - he can process things for now. Was what I did too much?"
A long silence followed, and neither Ran nor Outrider met her eyes.
"Start processing what we've found. Give me anything you find with runes on it, Ran. If any of you want to cry about what happened, wait until you're home like I do. Gods know I'm not made of stone."