The door to Octavian's office burst open, revealing the form of Windrazor. The dragon looked up from his desk at the pidgeot and gave him a long look. Before the Chief Security Advisor sat Providence and Harvest, and both looked concerned - more so, now that a very distressed looking pidgeot had burst into the room.
"I'm sorry," panted Windrazor. "This is a bad time. I'll be waiting outside." The pidgeot saw himself out, and one of the machoke guards in the room closed the door after the bird.
"That was-" began Providence.
"Windrazor. Part-time courier, part-time scout. I expect he may have seen something suspicious while doing his rounds, and intended to tell me. Perhaps related to what we're discussing," said Octavian. The dragon leaned back in his chair and tapped a claw on his desk in a slow rhythm. "We've nearly turned Chloe's room over in our search for any kind of clue and still, we're no further along with the investigation than we were when we started. A dead solrock, a dead Elder, and Brace." He gestured to the machoke at his side.
"I've asked a dozen times now, but how did you not die?" asked Providence.
Brace grimaced. "I think the solrock assumed it had killed me when I went down so quickly." He clenched his hands into fists and his face became a snarl. "If I'd just heard that stupid rock…"
"They float, it's not your fault," said Harvest gently. "I just wish you were conscious to see who killed Chloe. It clearly wasn't the solrock."
Brace hung his head. "It should have been me to die defending her. I failed."
"You didn't even have the chance to do that," said Providence. She looked back at Octavian. "Her throat was slit. Doesn't do much to narrow things down."
"Whoever it was needed to be able to get close to Chloe without her seeing them. Or hearing them. Or it had to be someone that could have overpowered her," reasoned Harvest.
"Yes, yes, reasonable deductions. But there was no sign of a struggle in her room. You saw it, just as I did. She was dead in an otherwise tidy bedroom. In these halls, no less. Whoever got to her had to be someone she wouldn't have suspected," said Octavian. The idiots were none the wiser. Still, he needed to get to the point - the appearance of Windrazor concerned him.
"You're not suggesting…" began Harvest.
"It must have been a conspiracy of some kind," said the druddigon. "Someone on the inside is disgruntled. Whether they're in a position of power or just someone with a grudge - that's the real mystery."
"Someone in power!?" said Providence, looking revolted. "Octavian, none of us would dare conspire against another Elder. Besides, Archstone, Harvest and I weren't even in our chambers tonight. Archstone was - and still is - at his tribal manor! Thump is one level down sleeping with his tribe! Harvest and I were enjoying a lovely mug of late night tea at a tea shop one level down, as well! Runners and witnesses have confirmed it. And Bounty may have hated Chloe, but he wasn't about to kill her over it."
"The solrock," said Octavian, looking struck by realization. "The solrock is the key."
"They're dead," said Harvest, shaking his entire head - and entire body - sending his vines dancing. "We can't ask them anything."
"No. We can't. But their presence is what is the key. Is there a single solrock that should be here? In these halls? Whether they are employed here, an assistant, or an approved visitor?" He got up and began to pace around the room. "We've been so focused looking for clues in Chloe's room that we overlooked the only real clue. The solrock. If they weren't supposed to be here, it means they broke in or were let in. Part of our sweep of Chloe's room included searching for any signs of forced entry in the entire building - and we found none. No compromised alarm runes or anything."
"So the solrock was let in," said Providence, her eyes widening.
"Which means I have a guard to question. Or two. Whoever was on duty tonight at the front steps. You are welcome to join me." He made his way to the door and stepped out into the hallway.
"Octavian!" said Windrazor, getting off a provided perch next to a bench. "I have to-"
"Quiet," said the dragon. Providence and Harvest emerged at his side a moment later. "I'll catch up, you two. I need to hear this out." He waved the two away, and the moment they were out of earshot, he nodded at the pidgeot.
"Mother Superior is dead. I'm not sure who killed her or why, I didn't have a chance to really stick around. A weavile caught a glimpse of me from a distance and I left immediately," explained Windrazor at top speed. His wild, wide eyes made him look immensely strained - between the flight back and the distressing news, it was clear why.
"That does put a wrinkle in our proceedings. The mock attack is supposed to be soon, and while I have no doubt that the loss of Mother means little for us in the short-term, it means quite a lot in the long term. She was a stabilizing force for all of those pokemon under her control. Unless she has a successor lined up, the Children of Mother will cease to exist soon. A valuable relationship and resource lost, but those can be found and tapped elsewhere." He scratched his chin with a claw and hummed. "No matter," said Octavian after a pause. "We shall deal with that when the time comes."
Windrazor nodded. "Is that all, Octavian?" The pidgeot did not look relieved, per se, but he did seem a bit less stressed at least.
"Not quite. One more thing. Find the army Mother Superior sent toward us. You've been given a map already of their expected marching path. Search where you'd expect them to be around three days in. Watch for fires through the canopy," explained Octavian.
The pidgeot hung his head and sighed. "I'm exhausted. Do you need me back after?"
The druddigon scratched his chin again. "No. Stay in their camp, they should extend a bed to you if you show them the map you have. It's nearly identical to theirs. Will give you legitimacy. Just make sure you're speaking to their commanders."
"Any idea who their commanders are?" asked Windrazor.
"No. Mother never bothered to tell me. Honestly, it was irrelevant, I wasn't corresponding with them. Just ask."
"And what do I tell them?" asked the bird.
Octavian made a low humming noise and then said, "Wait here. I'll write it out. Shouldn't take more than a moment." He went back into his office and trudged over to his desk. A small sheet of paper and a simple message written in runes. Folded and tucked into an envelope. Behind him, Brace chuckled. "They don't suspect a thing do they?"
"No. But they will soon."
"Oh?"
"They'll just be wrong." He turned and gave the disguised machoke a grin and then returned to Windrazor, with Brace's laughs at his back.
The druddigon handed the letter to the pidgeot. "There. Change of plans. No mock battle. They'll be let in as refugees instead. Inform the gate guards on your way out that any mass of pokemon that look like children are to be let in without question. Even if they appear prepared for war."
"Sir?" asked Windrazor, looking shocked.
"I won't bore you with the politics, Windrazor. Just know it'll look better at this point."
The pidgeot nodded and hoppe down from the perch, ready to leave, but stopped and turned back to Octavian. "Do I tell them Mother Superior is dead?"
There was a long pause before Octavian finally shook his head and said simply, "No." He turned from the pidgeot and made his way to the entrance to the Elder Council chambers. Upon arriving, he was met with the sight of Providence and Harvest looking incredibly worried. They were having a conversation with the machamp and conkeldurr standing on guard for the night.
"It can't be," said Providence, her eyes wide and shining. "Why?"
"What is it?" asked Octavian, walking up to them. "What happened? Why did you let a solrock in?" He turned to the machamp as he said this.
The guard shrugged both of his shoulders. "He said he was here to see Elder Bounty." The conkeldurr beside him nodded in agreement. "And we received a message from Elder Bounty that we were to let a solrock in. Called himself 'Feldspar.' That was the name of the solrock that the Elder wanted let in, so, here we are, sir."
Octavian crossed his arms. "But did you let anyone else in? The solrock didn't kill Chloe." The cool night air out here in front of the Council chambers made him uncomfortable. He missed the warmth of the sun.
The machamp shook his head. "No one but that solrock, sir. No one invisible or disguised either, the rune over the entrance and the ones we have over the windows didn't sound their alarms."
"It had to have been someone inside. And it couldn't have been anyone in the SDC. They're all unarmed or wearing stone gauntlets. Close quarters means no real need for javelins." Octavian paced back and forth. "Bounty let a solrock in. The solrock tried to kill Brace and Chloe." He paused and looked up at Providence and Harvest. "It didn't stand a chance. Dealing with Brace was easy enough, but the fact it couldn't kill him means this solrock was less than competent. Which means it was just a distraction."
He paused to look like he was thinking. When it felt pregnant enough, he continued. "Bounty killed Chloe. But with what? He's not much when it comes to natural weapons." He looked at Providence and Harvest and added, "Follow me. You as well." He pointed at the machamp, and then pointed at the conkeldurr and added, "And you stay focused on your job."
The dragon led them through the corridors of the Council chambers until they'd arrived at the door to Bounty's bedroom. A machoke stood in front of the door, arms crossed, though they dropped to his side and he stood at attention when Octavian addressed him.
"Did Bounty ask you to let-" He paused and looked from the machoke to the door behind him. "Is Bounty in there, right now?" asked the dragon, sounding confused.
The guard nodded. "Yes. He said he was going to sleep. Chloe's death was 'a tragedy' but he had nothing to offer the investigation."
"He's not afraid of being killed?" asked Providence.
"Not if he is the killer," said Octavian.
"Either way," said the machoke, interrupting, "There's no windows or other entrances to his room. Just this door. And I haven't moved from here."
"How long ago did he say he was going to sleep?" asked Harvest.
"Maybe half an hour ago. Haven't heard anything unusual coming from inside," said the machoke.
"Did you ever go in and check?" asked Octavian.
"I usually check hourly."
"Are hourly checks wise when an Elder has been killed?" asked Octavian pointedly.
"I offered to stand by his bedside and keep watch. He refused. Said I'd make him nervous."
"Let us in."
The machoke nodded and opened the door to the ludicolo's bedroom. Almost immediately, Octavian shouted, "No!" The dragon raced over to the desk Bounty sat at. The sounds of several pokemon close behind met his ears, but he made it to the desk first. "He...he stabbed himself. In the heart." The ludicolo's hand was indeed wrapped tightly around the handle of the dagger, his arm held in place against his chest because he had collapsed forward onto the desk. His other arm, however, hung freely at his side.
"Why would he do this?" sobbed Providence from somewhere behind Octavian.
The machoke had his head in his hands, staring at the scene in utter disbelief. At his side, the machamp bore the same look.
Far behind Octavian came Harvest's voice. "I- I don't want to see him," said the tangrowth, his voice shaking. "I don't want to see what he did to himself."
The dragon's eyes found a folded piece of paper sitting on the desk, a quill beside it, ink dried in its tip. He picked it up and unfolded it. Octavian did his best to look shocked. "He left a note."
"What does it say?" asked Providence between sobs.
"I trimmed the Council for you. I would sooner die than see my position lost while that childless cunt keeps hers. Now, I won't have to see such a farce happen. I know Octavian mentioned Thump and Archstone to spare us the indignity. So I will spare you wasting your time.
"A curse upon this city, if ever the Ludicolo Tribe falls from grace. May your soils die, and rain clouds form o'er your heads nevermore." Octavian folded the letter back up and looked around at everyone, apparently unsure what to say.
"That's an old curse in his tribe. It's just about the foulest one they have," croaked Providence.
"Did his position matter to him that much?" asked Harvest, still standing in the doorway. "Did power mean that much?"
"Maybe he hated Chloe more than you thought," said Octavian.
"But to murder her and then kill himself?" asked the tropius. "It's madness."
"The idea of the Ludicolo Tribe losing its primary position in the Council probably sounds like madness too. Especially after all this time. It's an insult to him. Embarrassing. Frightening. He sees his tribe as superior to Chloe's, which has less time on the Council overall. The fact that his tribe could be trimmed..."
"In a way, it is madness. To him, at least. The very idea of it. So he fought my 'madness' with his own," said Octavian, looking somber. "But I simply made a suggestion. And I meant what I said. Archstone or Thump should have been the ones to go first, if any."
The druddigon tightened his grip around the letter and groweld. "Well. So much for the investigation," he mumbled. "Providence, Harvest. Get some sleep." He looked at the machamp beside him and added, "See them out. They're distressed." As the machamp, tropius and tangrowth left, the machoke next to Octavian let out a strange sort of half-cough half-snicker.
"Two performances in one night," said Brace, grinning widely. "Not bad, if you ask me. That fat palm tree was a bitch to move though. Good thing he really did decide sleeping after a murder was a good idea. Fucking idiot."
"Excellent work on the letter," said Octavian, giving Brace a grin. "Very convincing." The disguised zoroark inclined his head. "Get some rest." The disguised fox inclined his head again and strode out of the room.
Octavian watched the false machoke go and then looked back at Bounty's lifeless body. So much still to do. But not tonight.
Valor stepped back and looked his friends up and down as they did the same. "You don't look too banged up," he said. "How'd you manage that?"
"We showed up when the party was already going," replied Thea, striding over to a desk in the corner of the room. "So things were a fair bit easier."
Ran rubbed the scabbed patch one of Valor's quills had been torn from. "What happened?" she asked, looking concerned. "You don't have your quill anymore…"
The quilladin did his best to smile, and gave the weavile a half-hearted, dismissive kind of wave. "Ah, whatever, I'm just lopsided looking now. You'll be able to find me way easier."
Outrider frowned. "Valor. Your quill is part of your-"
"I know it is, Outrider," said Valor, cutting him off. "I know. But I had to do it. It's how Ranger helped us escape. It was the least I could do." He stared at the ground, seemingly searching for something, before finally adding, "Have you seen Ranger? A farfetch'd - he was…" He paused and cleared his throat. "He was dead. In the yard outside of this house."
"Yeah, we passed by him. Outrider tried to look for a pulse but-" began Ran.
"No, no. He was dead when I – when I left him there. I just wanted to make sure no one had tried to carry him off for lunch." The quilladin continued to stare sorrowfully at the ground. "I'm glad you came for me. I'm sorry I got captured." He looked up at them. "But I guess we stopped a raider group, right?"
Ran stared back at the miserable expression on Valor's face. The question on his face was clear as day: was that even worth it? Thea answered.
"I… no. No. No! You BASTARD!" shouted the braixen from the corner of the room. The three looked immediately over to her and saw Thea drop a letter onto the desk and step away, paws clenched and distorting the air around them with the heat that rose off of them. "Do you know-" She paused to compose herself again, visibly shaking. The fire in her eyes was wild, and soared only higher as she spoke. "He's in with them." She gestured outside. "He's in with Children of Mother and Claws of the Dawn. He's in with Shards of Regret and The Opening Maw."
At the look of confusion the others gave her, Thea stomped her foot. "Raider gangs! All of them! Octavian - the Chief fucking Security Advisor of Crag has been sending letters off to raiders! He gives them details on caravans to hit, scouting locations and pathways, and even told Mother about ideal places to set up ambushes!" She put her paws to the sides of her head and growled. "Do you know how many squads we might have lost to him? How many of the poor bastards we killed might have been our own!? No wonder every election raider attacks would ramp up."
"How do you know this?" asked Outrider, looking concerned. "Did he sign his name? It seems to me you'd have to be enormously foolish to do so."
"It's his handwriting. It's very specific. Vanguard pointed it out to me - anyone that's ever received any kind of message intended to be handed down to defense or recon forces has seen his writing. It's that distinct," explained Thea.
"Election?" asked Ran.
"His position. It's an elected one, so he has to be voted back into it by the Grand Council - all the councils, basically. Majority vote," explained Thea.
"And you know his writing because he's written letters to you?" asked the weavile.
"Obviously he doesn't hand-write tons and tons of messages, he writes one and it's duplicated onto blank sheets of paper using some kind of rune technique. But, that means everyone knows his writing," said Thea. "And that's exactly what we've got on that letter over there."
Outrider's eyes widened in revelation, and he punched his palm. "We need to get that letter and any other evidence we can gather back to Crag!"
He began to pace. "I might have finally found it. I might have found what I need to do to clear the fog in my head. To solve this cursed amnesia." He looked down at Ran. "Or perhaps it will simply put my suspicions to rest."
"What the fuck are you on about, Outrider?" asked Thea, raising an eyebrow. "What does the evidence do? Let us bring it before the Council? The very same Council that has an endless set of councils beneath it that make getting anything done impossible? The very same Council that has Octavian in it?"
"I thought you liked how Crag worked," said Ran, furrowing her brow.
"We wasted an entire day trying to get supplies that are vital to defense forces staying alive out in the field and didn't get them." The braixen began to pace. "And now we learn this." She looked back at the desk, disgust written clearly on her face. "I think it's safe to say I'm less than happy with how Crag works now." She looked at Valor, and her face softened. "We almost lost you because of him. We did lose pokemon because of him."
Valor took a deep breath to steady the freshly ignited rage in his tired body. "Why Mother?" he asked.
"Why any gang of raiders?" asked Thea, shrugging. "There's a motive here, but I don't know what it is. All I know is the letter was confirming Mother was prepared. It's obvious they've been communicating for a while because he didn't mention what for."
"Then that means her response could be in that desk," reasoned Outrider. He strode over to it and began to rummage through the cabinets on it. A moment later, he had retrieved a sizable stack of letters, and split them between Thea, Valor and himself. Ran watched them read through the letters feeling slightly stupid and particularly useless, and so decided she should scavenge the house for food and supplies.
The kitchen was largely a dud, though. Save a loaf of bread and a few berries, it seemed like the kitchen was less for storage and more for cooking. Wooden cabinets with not much in particular besides dishes and crude cups. A dead stove with charred wood. A spotless countertop bearing little more than jars containing yeast, salt, sugar and other baking ingredients. And then, the door outside. Ran frowned. Outdoor storage, perhaps? She stepped out and her eyes went wide.
Down towards the end of the yard was a pidgeot, staring down at something. Ran squinted - it was pink and lumpy. The bird's head snapped in the direction of the weavile and she felt a chill run down her spine. It took off a moment later, and peeled away from the camp at a blistering speed. Ran tried to track the rapidly shrinking brown dot in the clear blue sky, but it vanished not even fifteen seconds later.
Curious, she moved closer towards what the pidgeot was staring at and felt uneasy as the bloody corpse of a blissey came into view. A large wound in her side provided a glimpse of far more of a blissey than Ran had ever wanted to know. A scattering of needles poked out of the blissey's skin - though as Ran drew closer she noticed they appeared to have forced their way out instead of in.
"Valor did this?" she mumbled. The idea disturbed Ran, though after everything they'd seen in the last couple weeks, it would have been a miracle for him to have remained unaffected. They'd passed by two slain krokorok on the way up to the house, as well. Did Valor kill them? The weavile continued to stare down at the blissey's body. The needles poking out of her. The gaping hole in her side. The horrified look on her face, and eyes that stared without seeing, full of fear.
Ran turned around and headed back to the house. It seemed like there were more questions to ask then just what the pidgeot was doing here, she reasoned.
She stepped back into the living room and said, "A pidgeot landed in the yard and looked at a blissey's body."
Valor's eyes hardened. "Why was a pidgeot looking at Mother Superior?" he asked.
Ran shrugged. "Not sure. It was gone the second it noticed me. Not sure if it was a wildling looking for a meal or-" She paused and scratched her cheek, thinking. "So that blissey-"
"Was Mother. Yeah. Mother Superior, specifically. She's not a problem anymore." Valor looked back down at the letter in his hands, but his eyes did not move across the runes.
"You did that?"
There was a short pause. "Yes."
"And the krokorok outside?"
"One of them was me. The other was Ranger." He cleared his throat.
"So you fought alongside Ranger?" asked Outrider gently, looking up at the quilladin, his eyes soft.
"Yeah." Valor coughed and stared harder at his letter. "He set up the breakout. Thought of everything." The quilladin managed a miserable smile. "He saved my life. I didn't know him long but-" Valor folded the letter up and put it aside and tugged another one from his pile and began to read through it, and remained silent.
Thea folded up her own letter and tucked it and the rest away into a pouch at her side. "C'mon Valor. Show me what you know about the camp," she said quietly. The braixen stood and held out a paw to help him up.
"I don't know much about the camp, Thea. I was stuck in a hole-" He looked up from his own letter and trailed off upon seeing the expression on her face. "Alright. Take these, Outrider." He folded up the letter, placed it back on his stack and handed it to the lucario. The two left through the front door.
Ran sat down beside Outrider and stared at the letter in his hands. "Wish I could help," she whispered.
"Your company is enough," mumbled Outrider, looking over the letter. "Many of these letters appear to be from couriers used by Mother. Movements, details, and other such things, but none of it relevant to our goal." He looked more closely at the letter in his hand and said softly, "Other than this one."
"What's it say?" asked Ran, looking at him, concerned. "You look a bit-"
"This will help condemn him. It's a discussion over forces being massed by Mother to engage in a mock attack of Crag. The reason behind the deception is not given. Clearly, Octavian feels Mother Superior did not need to know the why, only the how." He looked at Ran. "The fact that no forces are here, however, means... " He paused and his eyes widened.
"They're already on the move," said Ran, finishing his sentence. "Is there no way of knowing when that letter was sent?"
He scanned the letter again. "Only that the forces will be ready and in place before the election."
"If Octavian's been orchestrating attacks and strikes against caravans like Thea said, then wouldn't that mean…?"
Outrider looked alarmed. "We have to move, right now. We're a small group. We can move faster than a mass of pokemon, even with however long of a head start they have over us." He trailed off and shook his head. "We get to the city and we show that letter off to whoever we can. We're able to expose Octavian for who he is. We can prove the coming attack is a false one. With Mother Superior dead, it might not even occur, but that doesn't matter. The fact it was planned is enough." Outrider began collecting all of the letters and tucking them away into a large, separate pouch from the one he tucked the letter in his hands into.
"This sounds very half-formed, Outrider," said Ran, a troubled look on her face. "Run back to Crag and go off and tell… anyone about what we found out? Who? You heard Thea, the Councils aren't going to be especially receptive. We don't even know how many of them are in Octavian's clutches. We don't know much of anything. We just know he's corrupt."
"We'll have to improvise. If the Councils can't be trusted, we go to the next best thing. The biggest thing, really. The pokemon of Crag. If we can rally them, they'll get the Councils to buckle." He got to his feet and helped Ran to hers. "Right?"
Ran stared back at Outrider, at the energy coursing through him, the expectant look in his eyes, and the clear impatience that had taken hold of him. "You really want your memories back, don't you?" she whispered, looking into his eyes.
The lucario's expression faltered for a moment. When he spoke, it was slowly, and with carefully weighed words. "We have to do what's right. If what is right happens to align with something that could restore my memories…" He closed his eyes. "I do not wish to appear selfish."
"I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to know, but, it's your life on the line here. Our lives are on the line by association, probably. We could have something terrible happen to us for doing this. We should at least run the plan by Thea, just to be sure. She knows Crag best," said Ran. She put a paw on his shoulder and smiled. "I'm not saying I won't be there no matter what you choose to do, I'd just like what you choose to do to be the best option."
Outrider smiled. "You've made quite the turnaround since our conversation on Oracle's roof."
The weavile looked down and furrowed her brow. "That feels like forever ago."
"In some ways, it was."
Ran let out a sharp breath through her nose - a sort of half-chuckle, and paired it with half a smirk. "I guess so."
Thea had let the silence stretch for as long as the quilladin needed. She remembered the silent vigil she carried herself when she'd heard of Vanguard's death. Being rather alone without the typhlosion guiding her, it was a silence that lasted nearly two weeks. Fortunately, in Valor's case, it would seem he had been processing something more than just Ranger's passing.
Valor stared down at Ranger's body and wiped the tears from his eyes. "It's not just about him," he said at last. Thea did not say anything. "Sentry died and there was just never time to sit on it." He paused. "That's kinda a lie, I guess. There was, but I didn't want to. I miss Sentry, but..."
Thea rubbed his back.
"Now I have to deal with it, right?" he asked, looking at the braixen. She nodded. "Figures." He looked back at Ranger. "No distractions here. There's not a new city to look at. Cool places to explore. Stuff to point at and stairs to complain about." He smiled. "No missions take my mind off things. No need for hero time." His smile faltered and tears soaked in the fur around his eyes. "It's not fair." He gestured at Ranger. "None of this is fair."
"No, Valor. It's not." Thea looked down at the broken bird as well and shook her head. "But Vanguard told me something before he went off on a mission and died. He said: 'What you do about this fact is what matters.' And that's stuck with me."
"When I was fighting Mother Superior, I was so angry. I was furious. I wanted her dead. No doubt about it." He frowned. "I tried my absolute hardest to kill her, and I did. I knocked her over." He raised an arm and flexed it - needles sprouted from the gaps in the plating on them. "And I punched my entire arm into her and I made the needles explode into her body."
A very long silence fell between them as they both continued to stare at Ranger's corpse. What a way to go, thought Thea.
"I watched Mother Superior die." He took a step towards Thea, so that he was inches away from her. "From this far away. And now that I'm thinking about it again, I'm remembering how angry I was. I know why I was so mad, I know I had a reason to be and everything. But it was like the kind of angry Ran gets. Almost." He looked up at Thea. "Is that how you get? Is Vanguard the reason you're so angry when you fight?" mumbled the quilladin.
Thea closed her eyes. The question felt like a jab to the gut. She could see the melting magnemite from yesterday clearly in her mind. Its anguished screams and pleas for her to stop were right there in her ear. But the fires of hate burned hotter than the discomfort. "I don't know how I lost Vanguard. Wildlings, raiders…" Her eyes opened to narrow slits. "The actions of fucking Octavian. It's a mystery. I accept that. I know I won't ever know."
"And that makes you angry, right?" asked Valor.
"Angrier than you could ever-" She paused and looked him in the eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, it makes me angry. But even if Octavian's head rolls, there will still be wildlings and raiders. Octavian is just one possibility off the table for Vanguard's death." She clenched her paws into fists. "That's what not having closure is. Nothing ever makes it right. Nothing but closure makes it right."
"I don't want to be that angry," said the quilladin, looking at her with pity.
"You don't have to be. You can choose not to be. You can say Mother Superior is your closure," said Thea. She gave him a weak smile. "It doesn't account for Sentry, but you did take a leader of a raider group off the map. Assuming raiders attacked your village. If not, well, there will always be wildlings, I'm afraid."
Valor looked down at the dead farfetch'd for a long while before he finally spoke. "I don't think this is anything but putting things right for Ranger. I can't put things right for Sentry. Not unless something shows up and tells me who did it."
"Sounds like you're going to be a terror to wildlings and raiders, then," mumbled Thea, looking sad.
"No. I won't be. And you. You don't have to be so angry. Vanguard told you, right? None of this is fair. We get to choose what we do about it. I don't want to be angry. I just want to do what's right." He knelt down and put a paw to Ranger's head for a moment. "I still want to be a hero. For all of you."
Thea stared at Valor, a mixture of shame and respect swirling in her stomach. It only churned faster when the quilladin rose and turned around to embrace her. "Thanks for this. For talking to me and helping."
Thea returned the embrace and rubbed his back in an absent sort of way. It was certainly something worth considering.
"Thea! Valor!" shouted a voice. It was Outrider. The two turned to look at the lucario as he jogged up to them. Ran was close behind. "Listen," he said, stopping in front of them. "We have to move. Now. Back to Crag." He raised a letter. "Forces are on their way there." He handed it to Thea.
The braixen read over the letter at top speed and then grit her teeth. "Motherfucker. You're right. The election was a little over a week away when we left. Beating away a raider attack is the easiest way for him to secure his seat again." She stuffed the letter into the pouch the other was in. "We're moving. Now."
Despite their clear rush, they were stopped by a croagunk as they made their way out of the camp. They waved them over, and Valor drew closest first. "This is Fist," he called over his shoulder at the group. "He helped out with our escape. Him, Crunch..." He gestured from the croagunk to the nidorino beside the frog. Valor looked down at the ground. "And so did Sundance and Vandal." He paused. "Where's Vandal?"
"Tending to the wounded and sick. Giving the unlucky ones a hand to hold," said Crunch. He looked back towards a building nearby that had suffered only cosmetic damage. "Her and a couple others that are well enough to help." Valor nodded.
Thea looked between Fist and Crunch. "Nice to meet you two. Thanks for looking after him," she said.
Beside the braixen, Ran nodded. "Yeah. We owe you all. It's just-"
"We have to move now. If you want to come along you're welcome, but you'll need to pack provisions," said Outrider, stepping forward and looking at each of the pokemon in turn.
Fist waved the offer away. "Nah, we've got sick and injured we need to take care of. Bodies to sort, bury and burn. Plans to make." He looked at Valor and gestured in the direction of Mother's home. "The bitch dead?"
"Yeah," said the quilladin. He cast his eyes downward. "So's Ranger."
The croagunk let out a long, sad sigh and kicked a considerable bit of dirt out of the ground and towards one of the nearby palisade walls. Crunch simply closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath. "I figured as much. He went off alone in the middle of all that fighting. Seemed to me like he was gonna make good on his promise to bring a little piece of the Abyss into Mother's lovely camp." The croagunk shook his head and made a low tsk noise.
"He saved my life," said Valor quietly.
"He saved all of our lives, honestly," mumbled Crunch, his voice hoarse. "And he just had to get himself killed."
"I hope you made it fuckin' hurt," said Fist, looking Valor in the eyes, his hands balled into fists. "I hope to whatever gods out there that still give a shit that you made her taste Oblivion."
"We need to get going," said Thea, cutting into the conversation. She put a gentle paw on Valor's shoulder and added, "Right, Valor?"
The quilladin nodded. "Stay safe. And alive. Maybe I'll see you in Crag some time."
Fist and Crunch both nodded. "Good luck," said the frog. "Keep your eyes open. Might run into stragglers, and not all of them will be Mother."
As the group pulled away and onto a shaded forest path away from the camp, Thea turned back to see Ran had stayed behind for a moment. The weavile said something inaudible to the croagunk and then caught up to them. As she drew closer to the group, Thea said, "Valor, go help Outrider find the trail, you need to learn what we're looking for." The quilladin nodded and caught up to the lucario.
Thea fell back until she was walking beside Ran. "What did you say to him?" the braixen whispered.
"I told him couriers might be showing up and that they should be ready. They'll be couriers that belong to Mother, so they're probably dangerous," explained Ran.
"And what else?"
The weavile fiddled with the feather she'd taken from Oracle, tucked into her armband. "I also told him he didn't have to hope. About Mother Superior's death, I mean. Explained what Valor did."
"He told me what he did first-hand. You're rubbing off on him," said Thea.
"I'm rubbing off on him?" asked Ran, looking offended. "Have you looked at how you fight? At least I'm trying to take control of-"
The braixen waved the comment away. "I'm sorry. That was-" She paused. "We talked while you and Outrider were looking at letters. I started to help him through something and he… got me to reconsider some things. Win-win. He really cared for Sentry. I really cared for Vanguard."
"Are you going to be a little less, uh, me in how you take out raiders and wildlings?" asked Ran.
The braixen chuckled. "Not quite." The weavile looked alarmed. "But I'm certainly planning on it."
"Plans?" The weavile raised an eyebrow.
"I'm considering it. That's more than I've done since Vanguard died," said Thea.
Ran nodded and gave the braixen an ironic smirk. "One step at a time, right?"
It turned out Crag was not so many days away. Perhaps it was because she was alone. Perhaps it was the anger. The defiance. The sick feeling in her stomach at acknowledging that her fellows had done incredible things. Well, three of them. The fourth was lost in Sand. Their goal was unknown. And yet, they had their memories. Forbearance had earned hers, but Ulysses gained his when…
Stone pushed the thoughts from her head. It didn't matter. It didn't matter how things worked for them. The Rune Ore made her remember. It was either the Ore itself or what the Ore could do. She wasn't especially keen on finding out one way or the other. In the former case, it meant her own wish to be free of this vertical hellscape was her own undoing. Her own eject button from a life spent believing things were really as simple as eating, sleeping and maybe fucking whoever you could get to agree to share the hay.
"Are you alright?" asked the audino treating Stone. The midnight lycanroc snapped back to the exam room she was in, and nodded. It smelled like herbs, berries and smothering audino throughout much of the clinic. From the lobby to the room she was in, the smell was everywhere. She meant to ask the comfey receptionist if she ever got used to it, but the receptionist had taken two looks at her - one at her wound, and one at the runes on the bags she was toting around. That was enough, it seemed. She sent Stone off to be seen almost immediately. All because of some dumb rocks. Cool, but still dumb.
"Sorry, I've just been thinking over everything I saw and did on this last assignment I was on. Lots to process." The lie seemed enough, as the audino went back to treating her and asked no further questions.
When the nurse had stepped away, Stone looked up at her, expectantly. "We done?"
The audino nodded. "Yes. Here, you'll need these," she said, turning away and heading over to a wooden cabinet to retrieve a large bag and hand it to Stone. "Supplies. You'll want to change the dressings when they become too soiled." She pointed to the bandages at Stone's side. "Otherwise, you're fine. Just… very tired, from the looks of it."
The lycanroc hopped down from the raised wooden bed she'd been sitting on. "Yeah, you could say that." She added the bag to the several she was carrying and excused herself.
Thoughts of going back to her Communal and falling asleep for a few days filled her head. Crag was really not that far away if you just pushed yourself. Start before sunrise, stop a while after. Keep on all fours as long as you can, strange as it may suddenly feel to move in a way that clashes with everything you once knew. She clenched her paws into fists for what felt like the twelfth time.
She was furious. Everything and nothing had changed. She'd learned more than she could have ever wanted to, and yet it was such an insignificant thing to her. But it wouldn't be to anyone else. To the others. Who she really was would cause a stir. She put a paw to the bandaged wound on her side and winced. She owed an explanation to her friends. Maybe to Thea. And no one else.
As she made her way down towards her home, pointedly ignoring the building that she had to dump her Runestone at, she peered into the open doors of many of the buildings in the artisans' quarters. Claydol psychically spinning and shaping pots, carefully whittled wooden statues made by an excadrill, brilliant flower displays tended to by a comfey that would have put Planter to shame… It wasn't all that bad, this place. She'd still be leaving, no doubt. But it wasn't all bad.
She came to a stop outside of a curious sight. The only blacksmith she'd seen this high up. Sure, she'd passed by many a smithy in the lower levels, churning out whatever it was they needed to, she sure as shit didn't pay attention then. But now… now she was paying attention. Stone stepped inside, rapping a knuckle against the open door casually. "Anyone home?" she said aloud.
The main room of the home bore a stone forge, a decently sized anvil, a rack for tools, and even a chimney for venting the smoke up and out into the skies above Crag. The benefits of being so high up, clearly. An aggron sat in a forged iron chair bearing beautiful metalwork, wiping down and polishing a steel buckler. Gleaming gauntlets, broad shields, glittering spears and finely shaped bracers of various sizes and form factors sat behind a large table in the back corner of the room. "Striker, we got a customer," said the aggron, giving Stone a warm smile. Her deep voice bore a decidedly feminine lilt, and she set the buckler down on the anvil in front of her and stood from her chair. "Can I help you find anything?"
Stone looked around the shop again. "I don't know. Was sort of just looking around, noticed you're the only blacksmith this far up in Crag." Her eyes caught on the longsword beside the forge. "Nice work."
"Oh that wasn't me, that was-" began the aggron. She was interrupted by the appearance of Striker from a door in the rear. The infernape looked to be getting on in years - his eyes drooped and his fur was faded. But it was the flame that softly billowed from his head that drew Stone's attention. It was small, determined, and blue.
"What in the name of the Renegade does a lycanroc need from a smith?" asked Striker, looking Stone up and down. "You sure she's not lost, Shine?"
The aggron chuckled. "She didn't walk in like she was lost, you little smoldering coal," she said gently.
"Alright, alright. Fair enough, fair enough. What did you need… um-" He paused and gestured to Stone.
"Stone. And I'm not sure. Had ideas in mind on what to do with something I had, but it didn't involve a smithy." She paused and put a paw to the sack bearing the Rune Ore. "Was just thinking things over. Wondering and wandering, you know?" She scowled internally. The Rune Ore would fetch a tidy sum of services and materials alike. "I'm sorry I bothered you, I just really wanted to see what a blacksmith this high up in Crag could make." She gestured to the sword again. "Nice stuff, it seems."
"Well, dearest over there keeps it looking good and gleamin'," said Striker, looking somewhat disappointed Stone was just window shopping.
"Oh hush, you should be proud of it," said Shine, picking the buckler she was working on back up off the anvil and beginning to oil it.
"I'm not too proud of things that spend a few years just sitting on a wall. Well made and good looking - thats pointy thing is both of them. But no one's ever wanted 'em. Swords move like shuckle through berry fields," he said, walking over to the sword to take it down off the wall. He brought it to bear in a two-hand grip and swung it a few times through the air.
His form was alright, thought Stone, comparing his movements to old shows she'd seen before the gods pissed on her face and convinced her it was rain. "Not bad, old timer. Get a lot of practice in?" she asked, smirking.
"Ah, burn you and your snark," he said, grinning nonetheless. "Might as well get a few swings in when I get the chance. Not like it's going anywhere."
"Mind if I try it out?" asked Stone.
"You gonna manage it with no thumbs?" asked Striker. He held up a hand and shook it once for effect. "Gauntlets, claws, or maybe just some bracers. Better suited for you."
"I wanna try swingin' a sword around. Who cares if I suck, it'll be fun. Besides, one of 'em moves enough on each paw to get it close enough," said Stone.
The infernape rolled his eyes. "Just don't go and let her loose. Pretty big fan of not having a piece of metal stuck through me."
"I'll be careful, I'll be careful," said Stone, taking the sword from Striker. It was awkward to hold. Between the shape of her paws, the limited range of movement her "thumb" gave her, and the long claws that grew from each of her digits, holding the weapon felt awkward even when she had the best grip on it she could manage.
She gave it a swing and felt it slide in her paws. She adjusted and tried again. And again. And again. It was awkward. No, it was more than awkward, it was unfeasible for any kind of combat.
"Alright, if that's how you're gonna treat me, you stupid fucking paws," muttered Stone under her breath. She gently tossed the sword up and caught it with her mouth. She chuckled and gave Striker a toothy grin. The swings came faster, easier, but still awkward. Though now it felt like a lack of practice was making it awkward.
Upright, a high horizontal swing. Follow it through and get low. All fours now, another horizontal swing, but low now. Stop it and head back now, stand up as you do. A rising sort of diagonal slash if she angled her head right. It was hard. But it could be rewarding, she reasoned. Very rewarding. Can't fight like a human, and who gives a shit about that?
She wasn't- well, she was, but… Stone huffed and awkwardly pulled the sword from her mouth with her paws. "Thanks for letting me do that. I tried not to drool all over it." She handed the weapon back to Striker.
The infernape looked the weapon over before setting it beside Shine and nodding at his wife.
"I could get used to swinging my head around like that," said Stone.
"Can't say I've ever seen it done. But everyone's got trails to blaze, right?" said Striker, giving her a smirk. "Though I have to wonder what you need with long, sharp and pointy when you got all three already." He gestured to the spike at the end of Stone's mane of fur and the thick, long claws on her paws. "Seems redundant."
The lycanroc frowned and considered his words for a moment before finally saying, "Either way, it's probably not in the cards as far as purchases go. I'm sorry I took up some of your time, but I need to get going." She turned and then stopped, and turned right back around. "But, before I do… you take custom orders?"
He hung the sword from the wall once more and said, "Yep. If you need something specially made, I'm the infernape you need." He strode back over to Shine and tapped his knuckles on the crown of her head twice. "Ain't that right?"
"Keep up that knocking, Striker, see if I don't toss your dinner in the forge," said Shine, grinning.
"My loving wife would never do something like that. Some clever bastard's gone and swapped you for an 'ark."
"Oh, hush." The aggron looked at Stone. "If you need anything dear, we'll be here. Even if I go to sleep at reasonable hours, sometimes the mood takes him and he's up forging, shaping and hammering away when most sensible pokemon have gone to sleep." Shine threw her husband a pointed look.
"The hammering doesn't bother you, in my defense," said Striker, looking at his wife before looking back at Stone. "But it does rile the neighbors up. Maybe some of 'em deserve it." He winked. "And maybe I just take naps during the day to compensate. Either way. We'll be here if you need us, uh…" He trailed off. "I've lost your name. Sorry."
"Stone," said the lycanroc. "I'll be by if I do." She gave them both a swift smile, then waved and left.
As she descended the steps, her thoughts stayed with the interior of the blacksmith. Fine pieces, probably. Nothing in her memories really said she was ever an expert on this. Bit of a shame too, but that just didn't interest her back then. Same with guns. Bit of a shame, she could've tried to sketch one out, maybe even get something close to it working.
"Bah, I don't know how to make gunpowder, who am I kidding," she muttered to herself. "Might as well think about inventing an airplane or some shit while I'm at it, I'm sure engines can't be that hard."
She was almost home. Or, whatever that Communal was to her. As she drew near her front door and looked down at the padlock on it, she frowned. What was it to the rest of the friends? Did they want to be rid of Crag as much as she did?
The Rune Ore. It was a ticket out of here, probably. But were any of them going to take it?
Navigator stopped and looked over at Vain. The pawniard stared back at her and shrugged. "What?" he asked, his voice cold.
"Sun's getting low. We should set up camp and send the courier out for updates," explained the clefairy. "That way they're back before we start moving again." She glanced around at the forest that surrounded them. "Plus, the troops will need time to set up camp in all this wood."
Vain rolled his eyes. "Do we have to? Every delay is just asking for wildlings to take interest in us." He gestured to the loose rows of Mother's forces. "I can't believe we had to do it this way. So slow. So inefficient."
"We're expected to come across a few of their recon forces before we get to the agreed upon staging area. If they ran into just the two of us, the survivors wouldn't have anything scary to report to Crag, would they?" said Navigator.
"At least I get a chance to command, I guess," grumbled the pawniard. He turned to the patiently waiting pokemon behind him and shouted, "Hey! We're stopping. Set up for the night!" Their ranks visibly sagged as the order was echoed by random pokemon up and down the lines. The stiff air held between them immediately dissolved into the sounds of relief, complaints and chatter.
"You! Get over here," shouted Navigator, pointing at a nearby buneary. The rabbit walked over to her, looking apprehensive and nodded in lieu of saying anything. "Find Whistle, our courier, and tell him to get to our tent, we need him."
"W-what does-" began the buneary.
"He's a spearow," said Vain, his tone curt.
"There's more than one spearow with us…" mumbled the buneary.
"What does a courier usually have on them?" asked Navigator, rolling her eyes and sighing.
"B-bag?" asked the bunny.
"Correct. He'll have it strapped to his back. Tell him to get to our tent. He knows which one it is," said Vain. The pawniard pointed back to the Mother's forces. "Go!"
The buneary yelped and tore off into the mass of pokemon, squeaking, "Whistle! Whistle!"
Vain watched the rabbit go and shook his head. "First wave. No, first ten. Easily."
"We're not fighting them," said Navigator, looking over at a machop and a timburr as they set up the Command tent. "And I'd bet a week's rations on first five."
The pawniard chuckled. "They don't look that incompetent. Didn't trip on their way back to the ranks."
"Because walking a straight line is worth rewarding?" said Navigator, rolling her eyes again.
"It is when you look like you're about to wet yourself."
"Fair enough."
"The tent is ready, Commanders!" shouted the nearest machop, wiping his brow. Beside him, a timburr emerged from the tent, looking similarly tired.
"Excellent," said Vain. "Return to yours." He nodded at the machop and timburr as they passed by and then made his way inside the Command tent with Navigator.
They had just sat down in the two rough, wooden chairs that accompanied their simple table when a voice came from outside the tent. "Vain! Navigator! You summoned me?" It was Whistle.
"Enter," said Vain.
The spearow brushed past the flap of the tent and came to a stop a few paces away from the table. "Need something delivered?"
"I was hoping for eggs for breakfast, actually," said Navigator sarcastically.
"Afraid I don't make those," said Whistle, smirking. "Alright, what do you need delivered?"
"Standard status report. Vain, if you could get started on it? I'm going to stargaze for a bit and see if I can figure out just how much we've moved," explained Navigator. She rose from her seat and walked past the spearow and out of the tent.
"Figures she'd leave me with the busy work," grumbled Vain. He stood and strode over to a wooden chest near a hay covered bed frame and removed a roll of paper and an inkwell. With clearly practiced precision, the pawniard dipped the very tip of his blade into the inkwell and then held it perpendicular to the paper and began to write out a sequence of runes.
Standard day. No wildling contact. No sign of any deep reconnaissance activities. On pace to make it to Crag in the- He paused. Navigator would know that, actually. Otherwise, he was just guessing. And the last thing he needed was to send off a letter to Mother Superior with an incorrect guess. Or any guess, really.
He sat back in his chair and stared at Whistle. "You have a rough guess how long it'll take you to get to the camp and back?" asked Vain.
The spearow approximated a shrug with his wings. "Could maybe get it done in a single night, coming and going, if I really try and push it. Assuming, of course, we're not too far out.
"If we have grasslands coming up, we could pack up camp and start marching again. Think you could find us?"
Whistle nodded. "Easily. Forest, though? That'll depend on how thick the canopy is."
The flap behind Whistle parted, and Navigator strode back in, looking smug. "We're less than a day away."
"You sure about that?" asked Vain.
"Yep. Depending on how things go, anywhere from half a day's march to a little bit more than that. Makes sense, more or less. We estimated between three and four days, so we're on track," explained the clefairy.
Whistle clicked his beak. "Bit of a fly back. I'm fast, but that fast?"
"We hitting open grassland soon?" asked Vain, looking at Navigator.
The clefairy nodded. "Yeah, several large patches of it. You want to head out at daybreak and have Whistle catch up?"
"Exactly."
The clefairy sat down again and pulled the letter across the table and read it. "Alright, that should be doable. Just fly your wings off, Whistle. Sooner you're back to us with a reply the better." She reached the end and began to write in her part.
"Should be in the camp a few hours before sunrise, if I push myself. I'll cut my nap at the camp short so I'm back a few hours after you set off," said the spearow.
"Shame we all don't have wings," said Navigator. "Gods damned forests and hills."
"And fewer numbers. This many pokemon moving at once, well..." added Vain. "They're not helping."
"We need the numbers."
"I know."
Whistle cut across them. "If you're done with that letter? Sooner I'm up in the sky the better."
Navigator nodded and finished her part of the report, then rolled it up and tucked it into a tube across the spearow's chest. "Get moving."
The bird nodded and left the tent immediately, leaving Navigator and Vain to pore over the map they'd been following to Crag. The two lapsed into a discussion over potential shifts in their approach to save time and avoid especially dense patches of forest, as well as very hilly stretches that masqueraded as grasslands.
The discussion became so bogged down in the finer details that Vain only barely registered the passage of time, much less a machop entering the tent. The pawniard looked over at the pokemon and said, "What? We're busy."
"A pidgeot by the name of Windrazor is here to see you. He says he's from Crag. A personal courier to Octavian," explained the machop.
"Are you sure? What if he's lying?" asked Navigator.
"He has proof. A map that looks much like the one you have there. Same seal in the corner," explained the machop.
"Windrazor!" shouted Vain. "Enter. Slowly. And give your map to our guard."
The pidgeot let himself into the tent, clutching a map in his beak and handed it over to the machop wordlessly. The guard walked it over to Vain and unfurled it in front of him. Vain looked at the seal in the corner and compared it to the one on their own map. Sure enough, there it was. The two vertical rectangles - the symbol of Crag - but with a shape like a claw etched inside each of them. It was as Mother Superior had explained to them.
"He's telling the truth," mumbled Vain.
The pidgeot looked relieved. Navigator spoke up, "So, given that you really are Octavian's courier: what is it? A message?"
"Yes. And a change of plans," said Windrazor coolly.
It was well past midnight. Ran was exhausted. They'd started their morning early enough as it was when the horns in Mother's camp sounded. And now, after a nonstop, fast-as-they-could-manage trek across the grasslands and forests between Mother's camp and Crag, she could hardly feel her paws. It was fortunate that going back across trails you just finished crushing yourself made the going a bit easier.
That and Thea's ability to orient them using the stars. The strange red one, she'd said. If you followed it, it took you in the direction of the city. And now, as they passed through the gates of Crag, Ran could hardly believe that she started her morning out in the middle of gods know where.
"This isn't any easier with longer legs," complained Valor, trudging beside Ran. "I feel like I'm gonna pass out."
"You have had a harder day than we have," said Ran, looking over at the quilladin. She looked at Thea and Outrider's backs. "Well, harder than me anyway. They had to do a bit of fighting."
He fell in behind Ran as they began to ascend a set of stairs and groaned. "At least we're almost home."
The stairs leveled off and the group made their way towards the next set. "Do you mind if I just pass out in your Communal?" asked Thea, looking back at them.
"You didn't have to ask," said Outrider, laughing. "Our door is always open."
"Yeah, if you're ever tired of sleeping up in your Apartment just swing by," added Ran.
The braixen gave them each a smile and then stopped at the top of the next landing. "Looks like Stone is back," she said, surprised.
The four made their way inside and found Stone reclining against a wall in the communal, bags laid out around her. She was chewing her way through a sizable pile of jerky and sitting beside a small lantern. It cast a small area around her in a warm orange glow. She raised a paw at the group and smiled. "Caught me having a midnight snack," she said. "Guess I can't give you shit for waking me-" She paused and her jaw went slack at the sight of Valor as he made his way into the room. "V-Valor?"
The quilladin looked confused. "Yeah?" He looked down at himself and then chuckled quietly. "Oh right. Yeah. It's me."
The lycanroc was up in a flash and in front of the quilladin in two long strides. She knelt down and ran a paw across where one of his quills once protruded and stared him in the eyes. "Are you okay? Where's your quill?" She pulled Valor into an embrace. "Your eyes... Why did you evolve?" Each question filled her voice with greater sorrow.
Stone pulled him away and looked at Ran. "What happened? And...why do you all look so tired? You're more fucked up than you usually are, Outrider. And Ran and Thea, the both of you actually look like you've taken a few dings."
"Calm down, Stone," said Ran, "I- uh, we can all explain." And so they did. Ran covered the kidnapping. Outrider explained the fight they found in Mother's camp. Valor told her briefly about Ranger and his defeat of Mother Superior. And Thea explained the letters they'd found and what they meant.
By the end of it, some thirty minutes later, Stone had pulled Valor into a tight hug and looked down at him with visible concern etched across her face. "And so now we're here. A good night's rest and… something, tomorrow. Telling everyone the truth. Or anyone that'll listen, I guess. Outrider and I have been discussing where to go to get started. We figured the tavern from a week ago was as good a place as any. Plenty of pokemon to speak to."
"Plenty of souls to rouse," added Outrider.
Valor looked up at Stone and frowned. "What's wrong?" he asked.
The lycanroc let out a long, slow breath through her nose. "I found Rune Ore while I was out."
Thea and Outrider both went wide-eyed. "You found Rune Ore?" asked the braixen.
Stone nodded. "Yeah. Big chunk too. Probably enough to work into some gear for us. Uh, most of us." She gave Thea an apologetic grin. "Sorry."
Thea waved it off. "I have Rockmelter. You four don't have much of anything," she said.
"I have a wand that launches stuff with wind," said Ran, shrugging. "But I keep forgetting to use it. Or, well, can't use it." Her face darkened. "I wish I was over these rages. I'm getting more annoyed during each of them, which beats feeling nothing but unbridled anger."
"Turns out hitting her on the head is enough to snap her out of it," added Outrider, looking at Stone. "Worth keeping in mind if you ever need to bring Ran back from whatever darkness takes hold of her."
"Stone, are you okay?" asked Valor again. The lycanroc looked like she was slightly sick. "Stone?"
"I guess I do have to help." She released Valor and got to her feet, then stooped over to pick up a bag covered in runic symbols. "I'll be back soon. Striker should still be open." She turned to leave, but Ran and Valor both went after her.
The weavile stopped her in the doorway. "What's wrong, Stone?" chorused both Ran and Valor.
"I'd been thinking maybe we could leave Crag. Forget about this city. Head somewhere else and leverage the Rune Ore as a ticket to anything and anywhere." Her posture sagged and she sighed. "But it looks like you actually care about fixing what's wrong with this place."
"It's the right thing to do," said Valor, looking up at her. "Octavian can't be allowed to get away with this. Not after what he helped Mother Superior do."
"Shine in the eyes is gone, but not the shine within ya, eh?" said Stone, smiling briefly at him. She looked at Ran. "What about you? And you, Thea? Outrider? Why do we care about this shit? We could leave. All of us. Door's open for you too, Thea. Nothing says we have to stay here. Let this place sort itself out. Octavian can let it burn for all I care." She looked at all of them in turn.
"I've lost a lot of my love for Crag in the past couple days," said Thea. Her voice was bitter, and almost mournful. "But I don't hate this place. It's my home. I won't let that dragon get his claws in it anymore than he already has. Whatever he's planning after that fake attack - we have to stop it. We have to stop him."
The lycanroc turned her attention to Outrider. The lucario stared back at Stone for a long while, obviously thinking. When at last he spoke, it was in a very low voice. "I have personal reasons - personal demons to put to rest. It just so happens that these demons might be thwarted by doing the right thing." He cleared his throat and continued, his voice louder and more confident, "It is important we do the right thing. It is fortunate that the right thing is convenient to my own aims."
Stone looked at him expectantly.
"This fog in my head. You, Ran and I know what amnesia can signal. And if I am to have any chance of confirming or denying what I am, I must do exactly what is expected of humans. I must do great things. Helping rid the world of some despot bent on tightening his grip on power over an innocent populace seems like a great thing. If we are successful, if I can help bring about his fall, that may be enough," he finished.
Stone stared at Outrider for a long while, looking almost as if she was chewing her tongue. "When I found that Rune Ore, my amnesia cleared." The lucario's eyes widened, and Stone's shoulders sagged as she sighed. "Yeah, I figured you'd react that way. I used to live in a place called Unova. My name was Ivy." She paused and glared at them. "Don't call me that. I'm Stone. Through and through.
"Anyway, I don't know how I wound up here, or why. The last thing I remember was walking across the Swordsfall Plateau and then hearing the rush of wind." She looked down at her paws. "So, yeah. Kinda sucks."
"How could say that?" asked Outrider, visibly shocked. "You've discovered something immensely important about yourself!"
"Wait, you're human?" said Valor, looking at Stone in alarm.
Ran looked as shocked as Valor did. "Did you find out anything useful?"
"Not especially," said Stone, shaking her head.
"It's no guarantee a human will be useful just because they remember strange things," said Thea. Stone looked up at her with a small smile. "The first solved a great calamity of some sort, the second, uh… founded a village?" She shrugged. "Something like that, I haven't heard the accounts in a while."
"Forbearance solved the Bittercold Crisis, Thea. And Ulysses founded Treasure Town. Are those not noteworthy to you?" asked Outrider, looking perplexed.
"They're historically important, I guess, but they happened long before me. And you. Before a lot of pokemon, really. And what did the other humans do? I didn't really care too much and neither did Vanguard, so we didn't discuss it much." She paused and tapped her chin. "Were there others?"
"The third human charted one of the most important trade routes from Treasure Town deep into this very continent," said Outrider, taking a step towards the braixen. "We still use that route today! I've walked that route!"
"Alright, the third human found a trail," said Thea, shrugging. "The fourth?"
Outrider fell silent for a moment before he said quietly, "We don't know. They disappeared when they arrived in Sand."
The braixen looked over at Stone and raised an eyebrow. "How did you get your memories back?" she asked.
"Touched a rock," replied the lycanroc.
"That doesn't matter! And your disinterest in it doesn't matter either, Thea. It's clearly important. It means something. It has to. And that means that I must help out in what's to come, in any way I can," said the lucario, firing up. It was the most animated Ran had ever seen him in all her time knowing him. His aura threatened to flicker to life now and again, with the faint shine of cyan appearing in his paws and eyes.
Outrider gestured out of their Communal. "If my answers are out there, this seems like the lead up to when and where they will be closest at hand. I would be a fool to simply let this pass me by. I want to know what happened to me. This is my best chance to find out."
Stone let out an exasperated sigh. "What for? So you can remember a life you've lost? What does that information even give you?"
"Closure! A sense of wholeness. I can rest knowing I understand everything about myself, and I can be rid of this fog that plagues me." He took a deep breath. "And because it is the right thing to do. I would be a poor example for Valor if I did not lead by it."
"We don't know what'll happen out there, Outrider. We don't know how anyone is going to take what we say," mumbled Stone. "We could die, if things go bad."
"We've already almost died trying to get Valor back. Many times. Is putting our lives on the line for Thea and I really all that different? You know what I'd do for you, Stone. Ask Ran. I know she'd do the same."
Stone looked down at the weavile. "I don't have anyone else. No one, no thing, no where," said Ran. She reached out to hold one of Stone's paws. "I can't leave there behind. You shouldn't either. You three are all that's left of Nomad."
"You mean us four," interrupted Outrider. "You were every bit a part of that village. It does not judge the brevity of your stay."
"Fine. We're all that's left. We should stick together," whispered Ran.
The lycanroc offered Ran a reluctant smile. "Just had to go there, huh?" Ran looked confused. "I'm gonna go get us weapons and gear. I don't like us sticking our noses in this shit, but if it's important to you, Outrider, then fine. Same goes for you, Thea - I may not know you too well, but they do, and if they're willing to help you save this hellscape, then I guess I'm stuck with it too." She smiled in earnest at the braixen and winked.
Thea offered her a small smile in response. "Based on what they've told me about you, I'm not sure if I should be touched or terrified. That wink didn't help much, either."
Stone chuckled. "Guess we'll see, yeah? Until then…" She pointed at Outrider. "Shin guards?"
Outrider cocked his head. "Uh, alright? Is that what you plan on getting me?" he asked.
Stone nodded and then looked at Ran. "Armor will just slow you down. I'll see if there's something useful for those claws of yours." The lycanroc looked over at Valor. "And I've already got you figured out. Watch would be proud if he saw what you're about to do." The quilladin's eyes widened.
"I'll be back." And so, Stone turned and left.
The door to Strider's shop was still open, and sure enough, the infernape was- She paused and stared at the monkey, stunned. He was shaping a red hot piece of steel with his bare hands. Whenever he needed to hammer, he instead delivered an open palm strike. Again. And again.
Stone walked in, the drowsiness that had taken hold of her vanishing. "Changed my mind."
Strider smiled. "Have you now? You're lucky I work late." He struck the metal again.
"I'm lucky I found this," said Stone, pulling the Rune Ore from her bag and holding it up.
The infernape nearly dropped the metal he was shaping. "By the Alpha's grace. Is that-"
"Yep. What's the going rate for having this worked into some of your pieces?" asked Stone.
"What did you want?" asked Strider, still awestruck by the ore.
"Two shields. Big enough for a quilladin to grow into. Shin guards for a lucario. Mail gloves that won't get in the way of a weavile's claws." She paused and grinned, then pointed at the sword from earlier. "And that. I want you to work the Rune Ore into all of it. You can do that right?"
"Do chimchar shit fire?" asked Strider, dipping the metal he was working on into a vat of oil beside him and then pulling it free and setting it atop the anvil once more. "Of course I can!" He walked over to Stone and held a hand out towards the Ore. "May I?"
"Please."
He took the Ore from her and ran his hands along its many smooth curves and small divots. His eyes shone in the dim light of the forge and small scattering of lanterns set up around the shop. "I've worked with this only once. A completely custom job."
"When?" asked Stone, tilting her head.
"The runic armor that Octavian has. My handiwork," said Strider, still running his hands all around the Ore.
Silence fell between the two of them as the infernape continued to admire the Ore. Stone decided it would be best to let the monkey have his moment and simply watched. It was worth it. When he finally spoke again, he said, "I'll have this worked into what you asked for before breakfast is even over, later today. But." He looked Stone in the eyes. "I won't use all of it in the process. I want what's left as payment."
They midnight lycanroc grinned widely. "Abso-fucking-lutely." She held her paw out. Strider smirked and shook it.
"Now get out. I'm going to perform magic, and you can't have my secrets." He chuckled, then turned and shouted, "SHINE! I got a surprise that's worth your anger at me for waking you up!"