There was a plan brewing to get them all out of here. Valor mulled over Ranger's words as he watched the duck pace at the very edges of his own vision. It wouldn't be tonight - there were new arrivals, and they had to be brought up to speed. But their escape would be soon. It had to be. Tomorrow night? Perhaps. The day after? Also a good chance of it. But they couldn't dawdle for too long.

Either way, the conversation Valor had shared with the farfetch'd had done a lot to endear the duck to him, and vice versa. Perhaps dire circumstances made for fast friends. Perhaps the passing resemblance to Sentry helped more than Valor wished to admit. Perhaps he was spurred to action by the pangs of sorrow and loss in his heart that rose in him when he looked at Ranger. He missed her.

"You don't know the status of your team, Valor?" asked Ranger. "You sure? You're sure they didn't eat shit and you're just refusing to accept it?"

"They were chasing after me. They have to be alive," replied Valor. "We were winning against that ambush. It's just because of me that…" He dropped his head into his hands. "It was my fault."

"Don't beat yourself up over it. It's the fault of these fuckers for kidnapping you in the first place. Not on you that it worked, be a shitty ambush otherwise, wouldn't it?" Ranger sighed.

"Have you tried just digging down towards whatever is doing this to us?" asked Valor, struck by a sudden, welcome thought. Anything to not have to consider that the last of Nomad - except maybe Stone - could be dead. "If you did, we could maybe, you know, actually fight like we normally do, and not like wildlings."

Ranger paused and turned to look at him. "Yeah. The rock that's doing this to us is too deep below us. Probably fucking huge too. Would make sense - The Hole wouldn't work its awful fucking magic otherwise."

Valor stared back at Ranger. "Who put it here? Mother?"

"Who knows, kid. World's weird, I don't ask too many questions. Point is, if we could have solved it with just digging The Hole deeper, we woulda already. Long as we're down here, we've got no special powers. We're just wildlings that talk. We have to figure out how to get out of this place. Then we'll be on even ground with those fuckers up top."

"Even?" repeated the croagunk beside Valor. He'd introduced himself as Fist. "Maybe we'll be even. But you guys look like you've been through it. More than once, maybe twice."

"We get just enough food to keep us hungry and alive. That pink bitch does it hoping she'll get some of us to break for a bite of anything other than half-molded bread and stinking berries." The farfetch'd tapped his beak several times with a primary. "It only worked once or twice. So far, anyway."

"How the hell do their ranks swell then?" said Sundance, exasperated. A pancham trudged into view. She sported several deep cuts with stained bandages over them on her arms and legs, as well as a cut across her face - none of them seemed to be able to keep her fierce spirit down. She'd been the voice Valor couldn't see in the cage on the other side of that vullaby, Silent Skies. "I'm not caving, and I'm sure that Valor and Fist aren't either."

"No faith in Silent Skies, eh?" asked Fist, snickering.

"She might not make it through tomorrow night. Had a rough enough time with this one, but now that the sun is rising we might be able to do something about her wounds," said Ranger quietly. The croagunk sobered immediately. "So it's fitting that Sundance wouldn't include her."

"I don't like writing anyone off, but we have to think about who's actually going to help us," said Sundance, looking at Fist meaningfully.

A nidoran, Crunch, and an aipom, Vandal, came up beside Ranger. The aipom tugged at one of his feathers and said in a low voice, "Count's done."

"How many?" asked Ranger, his expression darkening.

"Three. Probably four by tonight, maybe five if that vullaby doesn't hang on," replied Vandal.

"We've done what we can, but we can't afford to waste-" Crunch stopped himself and looked down, ashamed. "I don't mean… You understand. They'd be gone anyway, it was a choice between-" His voice trailed off. "I'm sorry."

"I know. You're doing what you can. Small comfort on the way out means the rest of us deal with that much more of a desperate situation. Anyone outside this stinkin' shitpile might break your spines over it, but they ain't ever made a harder decision than choosing pecha or razz." Ranger paused and gave the nidoran a small smile. "You're gonna make a hell of a nidoking some day, Crunch." Ranger looked back towards Valor, Sundance and Fist, his expression becoming troubled once again. "Anyway, to answer your question, Sundance, their ranks swell because the poor bastards they bring caged up have a fifty-fifty chance of taking Mother up on her offer."

"What? Really? They just betray their squads like that?" asked Valor, firing up. "What's wrong with them?"

"They're scared, Valor," mumbled Ranger. "Way they see it, loyalty ain't worth dying over. A lot of them were freshly named. Is it really that surprising?"

"I'm freshly named!" said Valor, stomping his foot. "And I'd never do something like that!"

"I believe you, kid," said Ranger. "I do. But not everyone's got your moxie. Lot of the new recruits just want to feel safe, and the threat of The Hole is usually enough to get them to cave. If you're stuck down here in the shit-"

"Literally," grumbled Crunch.

"Then odds are good you chose the hard road 'cos you were always gonna," finished Ranger.

"So, what? Those pokemon that died, that Vandal was counting up, that's what they expect to happen to us?" asked Fist. "We're just gonna wallow in shit and misery until we give up and keel over?"

"That or you change your mind," replied Vandal. "But as Ranger said, no one really does. So they leave us here to die."

"BACK UP! BACK UP! BUNCH UP AND GET AWAY FROM THE DOOR," screeched a voice.

Somewhere behind them all, the sound of metal locks clicking open rang out, followed by the loud clack of a lock hitting stone. The squeak creaks of the hinges on the unseen door opening filled The Hole and the pokemon that could still move got up to clump themselves around Ranger and the others. Valor watched as a black rectangle of what he assumed was the metal door to The Hole swung open and revealed the bodies of a nickit, machop and skorupi. The three marched towards the group, though the skorupi broke to the right and began dragging bodies out of The Hole. After a few jabs with its pincers, anyway.

The machop and nickit came to a stop several paces away from the group of pokemon to stare them down. A necklace of glowing Runestone hung from each of their necks, and it bathed their bodies in a peculiar bluish glow, visible even over the brilliant reds and oranges of the torch the machop held aloft. She set a basket she was carrying in her mouth down. "Any of you change your minds yet?" asked the nickit. "Or are you enjoying another couple days of rotten bread and spoiled berries?" Beside her, the machop pulled the waterskin it was wearing free and dropped it on the basket. It held its hand out, and a filthy minccino walked forward, dragging the waterskin behind it and set it down at the machop's feet before returning to the crowd of pokemon.

Valor stared back them from behind Ranger, his eyes hard, fury burning in his heart.

Ranger stared the fox down. "What the fuck do you think?"

"So we're leaving the rest of you to die in this pile of shit, then?" said the machop.

"Expect the answer to change?" asked Crunch.

"I expected the slow starvation and living in your own shit to make the answer change, honestly," said the nickit, sneering. "But if you're really up to just dying here, be our guests. Let's go." The machop and nickit made to leave, but the fox sniffed the air and said suddenly, "Wait! Move aside, all of you." She stared down the pokemon in front of her. Beside her, the machop cracked his knuckles. They complied, leaving her with a direct line to Silent Skies. The vullaby was splayed on the floor, barely stirring, her breathing labored.

"Got one on the way out. Grab her," she said. The machop gestured everyone away from them, giving them enough room to work without being crowded.

"You sure?" he asked.

The nickit's nose twitched. "I can smell it, even over all the shit in here." The machop nodded, and picked up the vullaby before throwing her casually across his shoulder. "Right. We're out of here." They were joined by the skorupi, its task of removing the bodies from the chamber now complete, and made to file out through the door.

"Hey! You can't just take her!" shouted Sundance, storming after them. Valor almost joined her, but Ranger held him back, and shook his head. The flames in his chest soared. He felt like he was going to explode.

"Or what?" said the skorupi, wheeling around. The pincers on its tail clicked rapidly, dripping with venom. "You're gonna stop us? I'm sure your punches and kicks are really gonna bother us. Stay back or we'll be back for you after the poison kills you." He turned about and followed after the other guards. "Smack her against a rock or something, Pulverizer, I'm starving and don't feel like waiting."

"NO!" screamed Sundance, charging forward. The door slammed in her face and the sound of the locks clicking shut rang out, even as she beat her fists against the metal ineffectually. "YOU BASTARDS, I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU ALL!" Valor sprinted up to join her, the rage in him finally bubbling over, exploding out of him into hateful strikes against the cold metal door to their prison. It wasn't doing a thing to the face of the door, but right now, anything felt like something.

"Shut-" came the muffled voice of Pulverizer. There was a grunt of exertion, followed by a dull thud and crack. "The fuck up, you worthless cunt. Be glad the meat eaters aren't here to pick you, or it'll be your head breaking open on the floor instead of this vullaby's."

Sundance collapsed against the door, shaking with rage. Slowly, her furious punching began to slow and weaken, and the screaming rage became desperate sobs. Valor reached out to touch her shoulder, but she jerked away from him. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "Did you know her?" It felt like a stupid question.

"She grew up on my level in Crag," began the pancham. She opened her quivering mouth to continue, but instead simply hung her head and wept. "Doesn't matter," she croaked.

Ranger appeared beside Valor and put a wing around Sundance and pulled her in close. The panda threw her hands around his chest and sobbed. Darkness had fallen upon the prisoners once more, but light was beginning to creep across the sky far above them, beyond the mouth of their cell.

"Nothing you coulda done there, kid. Both of ya." Ranger looked at Valor meaningfully. "That's why-"

"You're planning a breakout, I know," whispered Valor. "What do we have to do?"

Ranger walked Sundance and Valor back over to the rest of the pokemon and looked out over them all. "Listen closely." He drew himself to his full height.

"We know the routine by now. If you're new here, you just saw it. Before dawn they come in, leave food and water, take the dead, lock us back in. We have that window to strike - overpower them and get the fuck out and topside before too many of the bastards up top get wind," explained Ranger.

"We're fucked. How do we overpower them?" asked Fist.

Ranger held up a primary and waddled away, then returned with a very muddy branch. "With this. I might not have everything I need to break necks so long as we're in this fucking pit, but I can at least poke someone in the eye. Problem is, I've only got one branch, and they always send in three. Pulverizer alone would destroy us, and even if we killed him, Bandit and Needle would kill us. By the Abyss itself, Needle alone could probably take us all out. So this branch ain't getting us anywhere as it is."

"Is that it?" asked Sundance.

The farfetch'd nodded. "There's more to the plan - if we can get those necklaces off of them they're easier to deal with because then they're on even ground. Even better if one of us can get one of those pulled around our necks, because then we've got a proper party. Beyond that, we have to get topside and fight our way out of this fucking place. And then… there's the issue of survival but, honestly, if we can make it topside and out of this camp, I'd rather be winging survival than fading away in this fucking Hole."

"I want their fucking hearts," spat Sundance, angry tears burning in her eyes. "I'm not fucking running away, I'll die fighting them if I have to. For Silent Skies and my squad."

Fist nodded. "Yeah, I'm with her. Even if it costs me everything, I'm not taking what they did to my squad sitting down." He drove his knuckles into an open palm. "Making them pay. This place needs to be burned to the ground."

Ranger laughed. "You've still got the energy to think like that. The rest of them, not so much. They've been here longer than a day. Some of them have been holding on for three weeks."

Valor looked around at the pokemon on either side of him. Now that sunlight had filtered into The Hole, it was easier to make out who his cellmates were. He wished he hadn't been made aware. Gaunt faces, thin stomachs and fragile limbs stared back at him with sunken eyes and slack jaws. Even with the adrenaline from a successful breakout, making it out to the wild would be a fight. Nevermind the fight that would happen in the wild itself.

He stared at the rockruff beside him, looking him right in the eyes. The dog looked like death itself, and yet, behind the eyes there burned something. A desire. I will die free. Fury, wrath, anger - whatever you wanted to call it, it burned in his cell mate's eyes with the same intensity it burned in his own heart.

Valor looked up at Ranger. "I know my team is out there. I know they're trying to find me. I don't know when they'll be here, but- We can't wait for them. Not if we don't know for sure, right?"

The farfetch'd gave him a long, searching look, then closed his eyes and shook his head. "We can't pin our hopes on your maybe alive team. Sorry kid."

Valor swallowed hard and nodded. "What do you need your branch to do?"

"Cut? Stab? Break? We don't have much in the way of natural reinforcements among us. What little we do have just isn't practical. Rocks from a rockruff's fur? Too small. Needles from Crunch's ears? Not long enough," explained Ranger.

The nidoran looked down, defeated. "I had almost all of the spines on my back broken when I was taken in. Lost 'em fighting, you see. The malnutrition and awful conditions haven't exactly been helpful for getting them back."

Valor stared at the nidoran, his eyes searching for something beyond him. His eyes began to widen, and a look of grim resolve spread across his face. "You don't have your spines anymore." He reached up and touched one of the primary quills on his head. It was soft to the touch, but instinct allowed him to flex it, making it incredibly rigid. "But I do."

Ranger stared down at Valor, his own eyes wide. "You do. I dunno why I didn't think-"

"It's because they look floppy most of the time. No point making them stiff if you don't need them. But you do need them now. One of them, anyway. Always liked the right one more, so…"

"Valor, you're crazy," said Vandal, stepping forward. "Don't you know how those things work?"

The chespin looked confused. "No? I just… flex and they get stiff."

"Yes, but- there's a reason why," explained the aipom. She took a deep breath, "I know how they work because I tore one out of a chespin once." Her eyes narrowed and a look of disgust crossed her face. "It-" She looked Valor in the eyes. "Valor, it's not pretty. It'll hurt. A lot. More than anything you've ever felt in your life."

"Why the hell did you do that?" asked Fist, looking appalled. The aipom threw him a look that had him throw up his hands in a way that said, "Nevermind."

Valor swallowed hard. "I don't care," he said, working as hard as he could to keep his tone even. "If it's what we need to get out of here, it's what we need."

The aipom strode up to him and put her hands on his shoulders, looking him in the eyes. "Valor. Listen. There's a root attached to it. I don't know what it's connected to, but-"

"Did the chespin die after you did it?" asked Valor, interrupting.

"What? No, he died when I beat him to death. He was a wildling."

"But he didn't look like he was going to die after?"

"He was screaming and came after me even harder, but no, the fight went on for a while after. Didn't even bleed that much. Then again, your kind tend to bleed two liquids, so, I should say he didn't bleed much red."

"But he didn't die from it?" asked Valor again, now breathing heavily.

"No. But… Valor. Are you sure about this?" asked Vandal, staring at him in disbelief.

"I plucked Sentry's feathers when we needed them. One time- I accidentally plucked a really big one. She was okay, said it would make flying a bit harder but she just needed some rest and she'd be fine. She said… 'You do what you must for your village.' And…" The chespin looked around. "You're not my village, but you're close enough to it for now. After Nomad was destroyed-" The chespin trailed off. "Hold me down and tear it out. I'll keep it flexed the whole time, that might help." His breathing had picked up in pace. "And get me something to bite down on. I can't scream, that'll be suspicious, right?"

Ranger and the others stared at him in complete disbelief, though none spoke.

The farfetch'd was first to break the silence. "Kid…"

"You'll have a spear," said Valor, looking at him. "That's enough, right?"

"You're fucking crazy," said Fist, staring at the chespin. And yet, a wide grin had crossed the frog's face. "But if it's what you wanna do, I'll hold you down. Just don't bite me, yeah?"

"You enjoying this?" asked Sundance, looking appalled.

"Kid's got a bigger pair than I'll ever have. I'm not enjoying this, I'm in awe. Someone find him something to bite down on." Ranger handed Fist his branch. "Perfect. On the end of that, Valor."

The chespin did as he was told, and began to shake when Fist grabbed hold of his shoulders. It worsened when Sundance grabbed his legs to hold him in place. Vandal walked up to him and stared him in the face, looking fearful. "Valor," she whispered. "You're sure?"

Despite the branch in his mouth, it had gone completely dry, and he was panting. He could feel his heart beating in his ears, but still, he flexed the left primary quill all the same. He spit the branch out long enough to say, "Yeah. Yeah, I am. Just- make it quick."

Vandal searched his face. "I'll- I'll make it as fast as I can." She glanced at Fist and then Sundance. "Catch him. If he-" She stopped. It was clear she didn't want to finish her sentence. "Just be ready," she said at last. The croagunk and pancham nodded. Vandal swung her tail up and grabbed hold of Valor's quill and looked the chespin in the eyes.

Valor made a funny sort of noise that caught in his throat, along with whatever he was trying to say. He swallowed and nodded. He flexed the quill as hard as he could and bit down on the branch with almost as much force. The pressure of Vandal squeezing the quill with the fingers on her tail came first. Uncomfortable but-

The first yank completely blurred Valor's vision as an ominous crack filled his head. He wanted to spit the branch out and scream, but he knew he couldn't. He had to keep biting down, he had to let the screams die on the splintering wood in his mouth.

The second yank turned everything into swimming shapes of color. The world was nonsense, and tears streamed from his eyes. He could feel himself hyperventilating and struggling against both Fist and Sundance. He was trying to get away, even as his brain screamed to stay put. It would be over soon, it would be over soon.

It would be- Another strong pull.

He couldn't think anymore. The tugs, the pulls, the tears - they all came faster, stronger. He could feel the blood pouring out from the fresh hole as Vandal pulled as hard as she could. Something in his neck, in his shoulder, in his back - it was sliding and flexing and ripping. Where? What? The shapes made no sense. He was crying so much. The branch was cracking in his mouth. Nothing could possibly hurt this much ever again. Nothing. Why? How? Where?

What? Where was-

He screamed into the branch as another powerful tug filled his entire head - his entire body - with fire. His eyes were clamped shut so hard it surely had to hurt, but he did not know. His head was going to explode, why wasn't this over yet? Muffled sounds - were they trying to talk? Please, anything to-

He felt another tremendous tug as a shout of effort hit his plugged ears, and the world went black.

Her back was wet. Her arms. Her tail and crest. Why? She was floating. Floating. Ran opened her eyes and stared up at a sunless, clear blue sky. Where was she? Where did the light come from that cast everything in the warm glow of a sunny day?

As she tried to sit up, she bobbed dangerously in the water. The water? That's why she was floating. Ran looked about, finally understanding. She was floating in an endless pool of clear water. Featureless, clear water. No landmarks, no rising columns, nothing. Blue out to the edges of eternity where it met the blue of the sky. With some trepidation, she dipped one of her legs into the water and reached out with clawed toes for any sign of a floor.

There it was. She could stand. The water dripped off her in beads, rolling to join the pool around her thighs effortlessly. She wasn't wet anymore. Ran looked down at herself and her mouth fell open.

A swirling mass of concentrated, inky black swirled and spun slowly over her heart. It warped the air around it, distorting it like heat waves on a summer day. It seemed to pulse with her own heartbeat. Crackles of red danced across its surface at random. A halo of lilac radiated out of it, but was sucked back in, like a spiraling galaxy.

A voice laughed behind her.

Ran spun around, her claws raised and then gasped. Her claws. They were normal. The long and cruel razors she'd known ever since that forest were barely longer than the claws of that waitress back in Crag.

That waitress.

She exploded out of the water, staring back at Ran with that same expression of fear and respect. "What did you do?" she asked her. Her face was fuzzy and indistinct. The edges of her body cut an imperfect shape into the world around her. Bit by bit, the waitress was dripping back into the water, her form collapsing as the memory slipped away from Ran and back into the ether of her thoughts. What did she do? What did she do?

The voice laughed again, but this time, Ran did not turn around. She set her face in a frown, furrowed her brow and said sharply, "Why are you laughing at me?"

The laughter in her ear tickled the feathers that covered it. She turned to her right, but found nothing. "Stop running!" she shouted.

"Running?" said the voice. "I've been chasing."

"No, you haven't been. You've been- You've-" Ran faltered. Of course. "You're the rage."

"The lust," said a voice behind her. "The hate and the flesh." It smacked its lips.

Ran flexed one of her paws and took a deep breath. She spun at top speed and groped wildly for whatever it was that was behind her. Her mouth fell open. Her claws had seized hold of the voice's throat.

Her throat. Ran stared back at herself. The doppelganger gave her a wide smile dripping with cruelty that snaked all the way up to her pupils - nearly invisible pinpricks in tiny puddles of red. Slowly, her clone raised a paw alive with long, cruel razors. The claws Ran knew. Hers. She closed her eyes. "No. No, no, no."

"Look," whispered the other Ran. "No hit to the head will fix this."

Ran brought her free paw and stared at it. There they were. Those claws. Her claws. The waitress' voice echoed all around her.

"What did you do?"

Ran gave a start and jerked herself out of her dream. Nightmare? Something in between, perhaps. She looked around at the forest clearing that surrounded her, coated in the oranges and reds of daybreak. Dew glinted off leaves and grasses all around her, like so many twinkling stars. She was okay, at the very least. She was safe. Relatively speaking. Ran dropped her head back down onto her pillow. It was much harder than she remembered.

"Oof," said Outrider, stirring below her. The lucario sat up, and Ran's head slid off him in the process. "Dropped your head a bit gracelessly there."

"I thought I fell asleep on Thea's lap, not your stomach," said Ran, sitting up and yawning. Even the electricity that crackled out of her brain seemed sluggish. Not a bad place to sleep, all things considered.

"She relieved me of my watch duty a few hours after you went to sleep. We just did a bit of careful maneuvering to not wake you. Worked out well enough," mumbled Outrider, yawning himself and then getting to his feet. "We should find her and get moving." He dug some jerky out of his pouch and tossed it into his mouth, then chased it with a swig of water. "Come on."

She caught up to him, though she worked her way through over a quarter of her own jerky. After a day of being struck repeatedly on the head, she was starving. Ran took a sip of water and furrowed her brow. No lasting damage from the blows, at least. Then again, Thea and Outrider had managed to dial in exactly what she needed to keep the red away.

It still hurt. Gods above, how it hurt. But it wasn't nearly as bad as when they began.

Thea was waiting for them at the top of a tall column of stone. She appeared to be scanning the horizon, and gave Outrider and Ran a wave as they approached. "Was wondering if I was going to have to go wake you. We've got more walking ahead of us as we follow the trail."

What little of it they could see, anyway. The tendency for unevolved pokemon and little ones alike to be smaller and less conspicuous meant that actually following the trail was an exercise in straining their sight. The sun did little to help - it was sunrise, but that meant the shadows were long and dark. It took them nearly half an hour to finally find the trail once more, and it led them through a large meadow, and into the forest beyond it.

"How far out do you think they took Valor, Thea?" asked Ran, cutting her way through the underbrush for them.

"Not sure. More than a day out. Maybe two or three?" replied Thea. "I really hope it's only two days out. Any more than that and- well, we'd keep going either way, but the sooner we can find him, the better."

"It will tax me, but I am keeping my senses as open as I can get them," said Outrider. "Both to see if we come upon an ambush, and to see if I can pick up a settlement."

Ran frowned. "I thought you couldn't see that far out." She stopped hacking to clean her claws off on a large leaf before resuming. "Or does a large concentration of pokemon become easier to see?"

"The latter, definitely the latter. It doesn't extend how far out I can see them by much, but any little bit helps."

Thea made a low humming sound. "Why haven't we been ambushed again?" she wondered aloud. "We're prime targets if they have enough of them. Not exactly desirable - or, at least you two aren't. But still. What if we're not getting closer to where they're all at? What if this trail is taking us away? To another major trail that merchants and travelers use." She let out a low whine. "What if we messed up?"

"This trail branched off of a major trail, Thea," said Ran, huffing between swings of her claws. "Why would they make a trail that goes from one major path to another with no offshoots to get back to where they're camped?"

"Ran's right. We've been meticulous in our searches. We'd have seen a branching path. Or rather, I would have. I've not slacked off as we follow these tiny trails. Any deviations or potential side paths are all I've been looking for when I'm not scanning for an ambush or wildlings," explained Outrider. "We're on the right path. Or at the very least, on the right path to the right path."

"They'd have to have built their camp in a forest," mumbled Thea.

"Why? To hide it?" asked Ran.

"Yeah. To hide it. They have to. If they don't, they're open to attack from wildlings. Well, more open anyway. Tuck yourself away in a forest and you're at least more protected from major settlements like us. Not that we really go out and try to destroy raider camps…" She growled. Ran turned to look back at her. "Instead we just-" She let out a long, steady breath, but it filled the air with sparks as she did. "We just keep the walls strong."

Ran reached out and gently touched her arm. "It's not your fault."

"I know. But it doesn't make anything any easier. Any better. It's just… an empty fact. Keep cutting the foliage."

Stone rolled the map the committee had given her back up. After a full day of wandering through the forests of Grass, coming upon open meadows and rolling hills was a welcome rest. Mostly welcome, anyway. She still had to climb up and down all of these hills, and that wasn't going to do much besides tone her ass.

Stone sat down on a boulder at the top of one such hill and looked behind her, at the dozen she'd already passed, and then forward again at the two dozen left to go. As she took a drink from her waterskin she thought back to the huddle of taillow she'd come across. The way they looked at her, like she was a bush come to life, walking through the forest. It was bizarre. They were certainly wildlings, but it seemed like the further out she got from Crag, the less and less the wildlings she came across seemed to care.

"By the infinite Abyss itself, here comes another example." She watched a buneary crest the hill, a few paces away from her. The bunny stared at her for a moment, its head cocked and then carefully walked past her, giving her a wide berth all the while. It continued to look back at her for a while as it descended the hill, only facing forward when it was almost out of her own vision. "Too bad they can't talk. Be nice to have a conversation with anyone." She corked her waterskin and continued her journey.

Idyllic though the scenery was - green meadows of tall grasses peppered with the rare tree and boulder - it was a bit boring. Grass was breath-taking just about anywhere you could go - but she still missed Sand. Rolling dunes, enormous rock formations, huge stretches of red rock… Sure, all that sand got boring too, but- "I wouldn't be so gods damned bored if I just had a partner with me. Why the fuck do they think anyone wants to be out here doing this shit alone?" She picked up a small stone from the ground and tossed it forward. Perhaps she'd find it again. Something to do, right?

She looked skyward. "Hey! Or, uh…" She looked around. "Wherever in all of the alpha's providence you bastards are. Arceus, the Pillars of Creation - fucking anyone, I don't care. Do any one of you mind dumping someone I can talk to on me? Help keep my sorry ass from going crazy at the silence?" She held her arms out to her side. "Well? Nothing?" More silence pressed itself against her ears.

"Fine, whatever. Cunts. See if I ever say anything nice about your worthless asses." She didn't bother looking for the stone she'd tossed ahead, and instead focused on getting past these hills. Her maps had made note of a particularly large meadow she'd have to cross before she reached the search area to try and find new deposits of Runestone and Anchors. This had to have been in, which meant she was in for another few hours of this tiring up and down.

It was mind-numbing.

So much so that she almost forgot to be relieved when she crested a hill and found a thin forest ahead of her. A river cut through it, winding here and there, while the forest itself was peppered with very large boulders and unnatural stone columns. More strange bullshit. At least the dust on her body wasn't harmonizing.

She pulled the icosahedron from her pouch and held it up. It had been silent for the entire journey. Shame. If it had started ringing she'd be done with this that much faster. She tucked it away once more and made her way towards the river. She could follow that for a while, if she remembered correctly. She stopped and sighed. "Might as well be certain." After removing it from its case, she unfurled the map and traced a claw delicately along the path she'd roughly taken from Crag. Yep, she was where she thought she was. Just had to follow this river until it took her out of the forest, and right to the start of the search area.

Stone put the map away and made her way to the river, stopping long enough to refill her three waterskins and take a deep drink. Maybe she'd catch sight of another wildling that would act like she existed. Like that buneary had. As she passed one of the strange stone columns, she ran a paw across its cool surface. It was unnaturally smooth, and, as she expected, likely a bizarre formation. Magnus had said that these formations were the result of irregularities in the tapestry that covered the world. Hiccups, wrinkles, even little tears.

Of course, he was sort of guessing. The world was difficult to understand, and Stone found herself drawn more to trying to get to know individual pokemon than the nature of a rock that grew to resemble a pyramid. She grinned to herself. Sneaking conquests past Magnus was some of the most fun she'd had in her life. Then again, it was his fault for assuming she'd actually gone off to study something in the library. She smiled to herself. "I was a terrible student."

Perhaps student wasn't the right word, in the end. Magnus had to have known she was only half listening. He had to have seen that she was more interested in chasing a body for hay, rare foods and good drinks than an understanding of rare stones. Perhaps he did. Perhaps he kept her around for company.

She stopped in her tracks and stared at the long path ahead of her. A long walk in silence, save the gentle babble of the stream and the wind between the leaves. It was peaceful. Serene. And she hated having no one around to share it.

Stone looked at herself in the river and frowned. "This job fucking sucks. When I get back to Crag, I'm quitting." Whether that was allowed or not mattered little to her.

Valor opened his eyes to the stark lighting of The Hole, high above him. He was surrounded by rough, dirty feathers. These weren't Sentry's. The awful smell filled his senses once again, alongside a horrible, pounding pain on the top of his head. Right. Ranger. He was lying on Ranger's back, looking up at the mouth of The Hole. And his left primary quill...

Was gone.

The pain continued to throb, though at the very least it didn't feel like he was bleeding. He said in a raspy voice, "Ranger."

"You alive, Valor?" he said.

"Yeah." The chespin paused. "It hurts." He took a long, shaky breath. "A lot."

"You should see what got yanked out with it. Vandal was right - it's got roots. Look kinda like a flower's roots, you know? But longer. Thicker and stronger too." The farfetch'd fell silent for a moment before adding, "Thanks for what you did."

"We have to get out. You needed a weapon," said Valor, closing his eyes again. "Just like plucking feathers off Sentry."

"I don't think plucked feathers hurt quite like that, Valor." Ranger chuckled. "Matter of fact, I'm willing to bet they don't. So, uh, don't let anyone tell you that ya don't know what it means to make sacrifices."

Just opening his eyes was painful, so Valor kept them shut. "I've got more quills. I'll be fine. Besides, now everyone will know it's me doing the hero stuff." He smiled to himself. "Bet Sentry would call me a show off and everything." He furrowed his brow, his eyes still closed. "How's the branch look?"

"See for yourself."

Valor opened his eyes and saw a branch slide into view above him. The long, plant-like roots attached to the quill had come in handy. With them, the stiff appendage had been wrapped around the end of the branch and tied down with a knot. It slid out of view once again, and Range said, "Gave it a few thrusts. It'll hold so long as we're not trying to stab at anything that isn't relatively soft."

"I've broken rocks with it before…" said Valor.

"We're damn near useless in this hole, kid. Have to assume that this won't work if we don't stick the pointy bits into just the right parts of those bastards." Ranger paused. "S'why we need those necklaces offa them. No necklace, no chance they'll be able to take more than a few of my jabs. I might not have my leek anymore, and this shitty Hole might be doing weird shit to us all, but I still know my way around branches. Can't take that from me."

"You think we have a chance, Ranger?" Valor swallowed hard. "You think this'll make the difference?"

"We got a chance, Valor. Don't know how much of one. Don't wanna know how much of one, honestly. All I want to know is if we got one. And everything is tellin' me: we got one. We can do this shit."

"When?"

"Tomorrow. No sense waitin' for any more of us to die. Some of us might not even make it through the night. Couple of the pokemon in here took a turn for the worse while you were out. It's bound to happen, of course, but between waiting for fresh 'recruits' to get dumped down here so we stand a better chance and giving the poor souls already down here a fair shot, well…"

"I'd pick giving them a chance too," mumbled Valor.

"I know you would, Valor." Ranger stood up slowly, and Valor felt himself slide down his back a bit. "You alright with walking?"

"I can barely open my eyes. I don't know, Ranger."

"Your feet didn't get pulled off, just a quill. Come on, you're a tougher soldier than this, kid." Ranger stood up properly, and Valor slid down to the floor, landing on his feet heavily and nearly falling over.

His head was killing him, but at the very least standing up didn't feel much worse than lying down. Seemed like the wound in his head didn't really care so much about how he moved as much as it cared that he'd gone and ripped something out of his body. Valor opened his eyes a fraction and shuffled his way over the wall of The Hole and then slowly slid down it into a reclining position. "You happy now, Ranger?" he called out, his eyes shut once more.

"Very," came the farfetch'd's voice. "The rest of ya gather round Valor and open your ears real good." Valor heard pokemon shuffle up next to him, and someone sat beside him.

"I'm sorry, Valor. I did it as fast as I could." It was Vandal. "But, you can only make something like that-"

"I don't blame you. I know you tried. You got it out in four, that's gotta be a record or something right?" said the chespin, opening his eyes to look at Vandal and smile.

"I don't know. I pulled it off of the wildling in just one tug. But I think that might be because he was a wildling."

"Shh," said Crunch, looking back at them. "Pay close attention. Ranger's gonna whisper almost all of this."

Ranger looked around at all of the pokemon before him and took a deep breath. "If you're too sick to fight then hold back or try to get away once we're topside. Don't stick around. Don't die on our account. Get out of the camp and try to get yourself food."

"Or somewhere nice to die," rasped a pokemon towards the front.

"Or that. Everyone else, you know the deal. They come in, we swamp them. We pull and yank and tug and- you get the point, I won't make this harder for Valor to listen to. But get those necklaces offa them. Call it out when it happens. I'll be ready with Valor's gift."

Through grit teeth, Sundance muttered, "I'm going to tear them apart."

"That's the spirit. But save it for the bastards up top. We get those necklaces off and the guards are as useful as we are in The Hole. Gotta take it all a step at a time." He twirled the branch in his wing and smirked. "Now that we have something substantial, what we'll do next is push immediately to the shack to our left the second we're free of the staircase that leads down here. The cages are in front of it - or might be in front of it. Depends on if there are new recruits or not."

"Break 'em open if there are?" asked Fist.

"That's the plan. Breaking outta the cages is dicey when you're in them given how many of those bastards are watching. But we'll need all the help we can get for this. Try and keep who's who clear as we fight. It's gonna get messy."

"What then?" asked Vandal.

"We burn this place to the ground," whispered Ranger. "We make these fuckers pay. Come Oblivion or victory, I'm makin' my stand tomorrow."

"We all are," said Sundance. "There's got to be too many to fight off completely. But we can hold them off long enough for anyone that wants to flee to get going."

"That means you, kid," said Ranger, looking directly at Valor.

"I want to-"

"You can help. But the second things are fucked, you are gone. Do you hear me? Gone. You are fighting to give the weak a chance to get away, but I better see your ass running out of this damn camp the second the last weak pokemon clears the gates. Do you understand? If your team is really out there, kid, you owe it to them to stay alive. So make sure you fucking do it."

Valor stared up at the farfetch'd. Ranger's expression remained hard. The duck's eyes bored straight through him. Valor couldn't hold eye contact and finally looked down, his face falling, breaking up into frown. He closed his eyes as bitter tears welled in them.

"Okay."