Meyers tilted his head upward to squint at the tower looming in the distance. Its shadow was barely visible against the early morning horizon.
He felt Bean shift her weight to stay standing upon his head. Her leathery wings brushed against his snout, the motion familiar and calming. "We're so close, darlings! Perhaps we'll even reach Dragonspiral before the sun comes up," the Swoobat said cheerfully, adjusting her spectacles and looking down at their traveling partner.
Rayzor smiled back politely and nodded.
Meyers had originally been a bit irritated at the idea of having to travel with such a youngling. He was not a patient dragon (and a bitter old man, on top of that), and he was in no mood to wait as a pampered child moseyed behind them through life-or-death scenarios.
Rayzor, however, was holding his own exceptionally well, and even Meyers had to begrudgingly admit he was mildly impressed by the kid's resilience. They'd been travelling for almost three days now, only stopping for a few hours at a time to sleep, and Rayzor had kept pace with Meyers's strides the entire time, and didn't complain once. Obviously, what he was missing in physical size and strength, he made up for in spirit.
The Druddigon had to admit he had been a bit quick to judge the kid. Rayzor was more than met the eye, that was certain. Meyers couldn't put a talon on it, but every once in a while, he got a strange… feeling when he locked eyes with the young Bisharp. It wasn't exactly suspicion, but something akin to it. Something that told him maybe this kid was a little different than any other Bisharp- or maybe even Pokemon, in general- that he had ever met. It had bugged him the first few times, but now he'd written it off as something he didn't care enough about to pursue further.
Maybe he was raised by Druddigon, and I see my younger self in those bright eyes. Heh. Yeah, sure, Meyers. Very funny. Apparently, he was losing his mind, too.
Bean's chatter, which he had been tuning out, was growing slightly more hesitant by the minute. Meyers knew she was being talkative to try and make Rayzor more comfortable, as always, but he also suspected she was dreading reaching Dragonspiral Tower and talking incessantly to distract herself.
The Tower had been a staple of their generation, back when the tales of fickle gods and condescending deities had run rampant. In legend, it was depicted as the final resting place of the goddess of Truth, and so many clans had made frequent journeys to the tower to pay their respects. Meyers had always hated having to walk miles and miles to stand in front of a stupid tower, but Bean had always been reverent of the supposedly real deities. Seeing an influential monument from her childhood in ruins was bound to have some impact on her. He didn't pity her, though. She was strong-willed and strong-minded, and if anything, the experience would strengthen her resolve.
As they slipped through the final row of trees that was between them and the tower, Bean's words fell to a hush. The grassy clearing surrounding the entrance to Dragonspiral Tower was clean, but the tower itself was a sore sight. Even Meyers felt a long dormant twinge of something-or-other, seeing its current state. The top floors of the tower were almost entirely torn down, only barely-standing walls reminiscent of what had once existed. Not a single wall was left unscathed, vicious cracks and massive holes in the stone staring back at them mournfully. Occasionally, when the wind blew through the clearing, rubble clattered down the crumbling sides. Bean let out a horrified gasp, and Meyers could feel the pain radiating from her mind. Even Rayzor sucked in a breath through his teeth, despite having never seen the tower, even in its unruined state.
"I'm sorry, Bean…" Meyers rasped, unable to take his eyes off of the tower.
"Fine! It's fine," she said quickly, snapping out of her reverie. "Now we really know what kind of monsters these Pokemon are, and that means we have all the more reason to avoid them." Meyers could hear the resentment in her voice.
They all stood in silence for a moment. Neither of them knew what to say to their devastated companion.
"Why don't we head to the creek behind the tower? Remember that, Meyers?" Bean finally said briskly, shaking herself. "You can wash up and get something to drink. We deserve a rest."
Not that any soul would find much peace resting at the ill-caused ruins of a sacred landmark.
Rayzor groaned and sank to the ground next to the creek, lying on his back and feeling the cold water trickle past his feet. His head was pounding. His stomach was roiling, probably from a combination of hunger and overexertion. His legs were on fire, and the thought of standing back up again made him want to sink into the ground and disappear. He was somewhat surprised they'd supported his weight all this time.
Meyers and Bean had already headed back towards the tower to set up a small camp for the day, but Rayzor hadn't wanted them to see how exhausted he was. He didn't want to irritate his new companions by forcing them to travel at a slower pace… Stretching his shoulders, he slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position and stared at the reflection of the tower behind him in the slow-moving water.
Bean and Meyers were nice, and they didn't seem annoyed by his tagging along, but he was still a little anxious. If he had been given the choice, he would not have chosen to escape dictatorship with complete strangers. Though, to be fair, the people he'd known back home weren't the most pleasant, either. Even if he didn't know them as well, he considered the kindly couple a step up from the jeering faces of his old workmates.
Maybe he just wasn't used to being around Pokemon of their status. The older you were, the more respect even your mere presence commanded, though many of those practices had faded in modern communities. Still, it was always smart to be polite around your much wiser (and most likely much stronger) grandparent.
He crossed one leg over the other and hummed absent-mindedly. It was quiet and serene along the riverbank, spare for the gentle rustling of the trees and the burbling of the creek. It filled him with an almost peaceful feeling, something he hadn't experienced in a long, long time.
Actually, have I ever felt like this? Wow.
He was pondering past memories of bittersweet experiences when the back of his neck began to prickle. Stupid scarf. Old and itchy… Rayzor tugged at the purple fabric, which was so sunbleached it was almost gray. The feeling persisted. He rubbed at the back of his neck, uneasy. It almost felt like… somebody was watching him.
Suddenly nervous, he pushed himself onto his knees and whipped around. The feeling disappeared almost instantly. Neither Bean nor Meyers was standing behind him. The worn dirt path and the trees surrounding it were empty. Rayzor's eyes darted nervously towards the tower. Despite the many holes and windows in its walls, nothing was visible inside.
"It was nothing," he muttered to himself. Perhaps a forest dweller or a bird Pokemon had paused to watch him out of curiosity. Regardless of what it was, it still left him feeling unsettled.
He quickly hurried back to the clearing in front of the tower where Bean and Meyers were resting, trying not to look outwardly shaken.
Bean lifted her head and adjusted her spectacles when he neared them. "Everything alright, dear?"
"Uh… yeah," he said hesitantly, taking a seat under the shade of the tree.
She frowned at him and cocked her head. "Are you sure? You seem a little unsettled. Did you see something?"
He considered telling her about the creepy feeling, but held his tongue. It was no use alarming them about something his overtired brain had made up.
"Nothing. It was nothing."
After resting for most of the morning, they shared some of the provisions they'd received from Serpentine and set about preparing to move again. There wasn't exactly a whole lot to prepare, so Rayzor wandered back down to the creek again against his better judgement. Meyers had decided he wanted another nap, so Bean followed him down to the riverbank, waddling next to him on her tiny legs.
"Do you feel better this afternoon, sweetheart?" she asked as they settled down.
"Yeah, I was just tired this morning," he replied, his thoughts flashing back to his earlier paranoia.
"That's understandable. We traveled a long way. Well, you and Meyers did, at least," she amended, a flash of amusement reflected in her glasses. "I will say I'm quite impressed with how you managed to keep pace. You must have traveled a lot before all this happened, yes?"
"Oh- uh-" Rayzor rolled his eyes to the side, thinking about how to answer the question. "No- not really. This is the farthest I've ever walked."
"Oh, my! No wonder you were exhausted," she said with sympathy.
Rayzor wanted to say something about how it was okay, and he would much rather be trekking with her and Meyers than stuck back home, but he didn't know how to word it without sounding resentful. He also didn't feel like bringing up that smoggy orphanage. It was much too long a story for the moment, anyways. He decided to settle on, "It's okay. A good rest helped, and I'm ready to go again."
She smiled at him and nodded. "Very good. Your spirit is strong."
They sat in silence for a few moments, and then Bean waded into the water and began to clean her fur. It had become slightly smudged and dirty on their journey.
While she was busy, Rayzor turned backed to the tower. It was silent and empty, everything around it frozen in time. The feeling of being watched had not returned.
See? Just a fluke.
"What are you looking at?" Bean asked, shaking herself dry.
"I was just thinking about the tower," Rayzor said, tilting his head. "Did Pokemon live in it before it was attacked?"
"No, not usually. Many only came to pay their respects before returning home. It has been a long time since I have been inside, but I can assure you nobody, to my knowledge, has made a permanent residence there."
"You can go inside?" he asked, surprised. He had been imagining those who came stopping at the entrance and… bowing their heads while paying whispered respects, or something.
"Oh, yes! In its time, it was quite grand. Beautiful architecture, spiraling staircases and spotless walls." She said the words with some heaviness, knowing it no longer looked pristine inside.
"Could we… go in now? Even though it's ruined?" he asked tentatively, curiosity getting the best of him.
Bean blinked a couple times. "Well. I suppose nothing is stopping us. But I would prefer to stay on the outside. I do not wish to see the damage, or incur the wrath of restless spirits."
It was Rayzor's turn to be surprised. "You mean like- ghosts?" Ghosts were not uncommon. Even though they were reclusive, a fair number could still be found inside most towns and villages. Though they usually kept to themselves, they weren't as sinister as legend depicted them. He thought back to the kindly Jellicent fisherman who was always sitting at the dock back in his hometown.
"Perhaps," she mused. "But I expect more than that. Others, whose restless souls have wandered here in search of solace."
"Oh." The logic of spirits confused him. Why did some return to roam the earth, but others disappeared into thin air? Maybe it wasn't their choice.
"If you wish to explore, though I will not stop you! Just be careful, darling," she told him.
He nodded thoughtfully. "Alright."
A few more minutes passed. They sat and watched the pebbles tumble along the riverbed.
"What do you say we go back to Meyers and get ready for this evening?" Bean finally asked, hopping in the direction of the clearing.
Rayzor trailed after her, turning to glance once more at the abandoned tower. Something moved in one of the windows, hurrying out of sight. For a moment, he blinked in surprise, caught off guard. Then, he realized what he'd just seen.
"Be- Bean?" he squeaked, backing away.
She looked up at him, frowning. "What is it?"
"I- I just saw something- in the tower-" he stammered, trying to dispel the thoughts of vengeful spirits and ill-willed marauders.
She stared at him, and then the silent ruins, her eyes round with shock, before snapping out of her reverie and gasping, "Meyers!"
The two bolted back towards their camp, praying no harm had come to the Druddigon while they were away. When they stopped in front of the tower, breathing heavily, they found him still snoring away in the warmth of a dying sunbeam.
At the commotion, he opened one amber eye and regarded them with annoyance.
Bean flapped over to him and nestled in between his horns. "Oh, thank goodness you're alright. Were- you weren't in the tower, just now, were you?"
"Why wouldn't I be? And of course not," Meyers grumbled, sitting up on his haunches.
The Swoobat adjusted her glasses out of habit and looked worriedly at Rayzor. "You're sure you saw something, Rayzor?"
He nodded anxiously. "I- I'm sure of it! And I thought I felt something watching me this morning, but I assumed it was nothing."
"What?" Meyers snarled, rising to his feet. "Bastards! They're stupid to dare to come back!"
Bean swayed precariously upon his head. "We should move now," she pressed.
He snorted and tossed his head. "No, we should go in there and chase that wretched creature out! Damn raiders have no right to be sniffing around where they don't belong."
Rayzor shifted his weight from foot to foot as Bean and Meyers argued.
"There's three of us. We can easily scare off whatever's hiding in there," Meyers was saying. "Don't you want to bring peace to the- tower?" It sounded like he was biting his tongue so as to not let an exasperated insult slip.
Bean stared at the ground. Her ears twitched as she debated their options, before letting out a reluctant sigh and telling him, "Fine. But we should be quick…"
Meyers didn't answer, just stomped towards the entrance to Dragonspiral.
Rayzor hurried after them, apprehension coiling in his stomach.
The tower was eerily silent inside. Bean's ears pinned back as she surveyed the damage. Most of the supporting pillars had been smashed, and were laying on their sides, and the holes in the walls looked worse from the inside. It was a marvel the tower was still standing at all.
Meyers prowled the bottom floor, his eyes glowing slightly as Bean used her powers to enhance his sight.
Rayzor had been following them, but premonition told him they wouldn't find anything on the ground floor. When Meyers had stopped to sniff at a fallen pillar, he had drifted away towards the direction of the stairs.
While the idea of going face to face with a foe, alone, made him anxious, but curiosity overruled. Surely, if this creature had ill intent, it already would have tried to attack them, wouldn't it? They had been asleep, totally unguarded, for most of the morning, and that would have been the perfect time to strike. Maybe it was just as afraid of them as they were of it.
The second floor seemed just as empty as the first, but he swore that he had seen the figure at around this height.
It was… right there, wasn't it? He walked across the floor, towards the other wall, his feet clicking against the stone. The echo seemed too loud, and it made him nervous.
He approached the gaping hole in the wall. It overlooked the tiny path that went all the way down to the creek. Rayzor could picture him and Bean sitting there, just moments before. This was where he had seen the figure… and where he had felt like he was being watched.
Something creaked behind him.
Ohhhh, no.
Slowly, he turned around.
Golurk realized he had made a mistake a second too late. About five seconds ago, he'd thought it was a good idea to approach the Pokemon standing at the window. He had been watching them from the tower all day, mostly out of curiosity, and they seemed nice enough. Now, the sheer terror in his eyes was making him rethink that.
"Wait, wait wait wait!" he cried waving his hands.
The intruder shrieked and leapt back, wobbling precariously on the ledge.
He hesitated, not wanting to scare the other further. If he moved back any further, he'd fall right out of the tower.
"Um- I- I'm not going to hurt you! Stop!" he tried again, taking a step back.
The Bisharp regarded him with wariness. "Yeah, really? Then why are you sneaking around in an abandoned tower?"
Golurk was bewildered. "It- I live here?"
The Bisharp blinked at him. "You what?"
At that moment, the Druddigon burst from the stairwell and lunged at him, roaring.
"Great stars!" the Swoobat on his head shrieked, making him squeal to a stop. The bat was staring at him with huge eyes, as if she had just seen a ghost. Well- yeah, actually. She was looking at one right now. "A- spirit?" she breathed.
The dragon snorted. "Put your glasses back on, Bean. Looks pretty real to me." He started to growl again, and Golurk could see fire gathering in the back of his throat.
"Wait!" the Bisharp cried, running out from behind him and putting himself in between him and them. He turned to Golurk. "Do you really live here?" he asked.
Golurk saw the Swoobat, Bean, hesitate, and the Druddigon's jaws closed. "Um- ye- yeah," he muttered, avoiding their gazes. Was that wrong? Did he do something bad? He'd lived here his whole life. Nobody had ever told him to get out.
"A guardian!" Bean marveled. Her look of fascination and adoration was off-putting.
"What? Uh, not really. I just kinda… sit here…" he trailed off. It sounded much lamer out loud. "I can't really do anything now that everybody is gone."
The light from Bean's eyes faded, replaced with sympathy. "Oh… I see. Why don't you leave? I don't mean that in a rude way. Just, go somewhere where you can start a new life?"
Golurk had considered this many times since the destruction of the tower. "Well-" he started hesitantly. "I've… I've never left the tower." He wondered if he was making a fool out of himself.
The Bisharp spoke up, now. "Why not?"
"I… wouldn't have anywhere to go," Golurk murmured. "And because I've never been outside, I wouldn't know where to go."
The Bisharp and Bean exchanged glances. The former gave a slight nod.
"You must be quite young to have never traveled. I won't pretend to know how ghost… age-logic works, but, by comparison to others, yes?" Bean asked, pushing her spectacles up on her face.
"Oh, yes. I haven't been around very long," he answered, relieved they no longer eyeing him like an enemy.
"Well, would you like to come with us, dear?"
The Druddigon let out a disgruntled snort, and Bean made a shushing noise.
Golurk was used to the question. He only got it every single time a group of travelers came though… He readied himself to politely decline their offer, but something stopped him. Maybe it was the fact that they were all mismatched and unique, unlike the uniform families he had met before. He would fit right in. Perhaps it was the nagging idea that this could be one of the last encounters with others, as the tower fell more into decay and others would begin to avoid it instead of flocking to it, like they had before. Or, even worse, the army could come back. Or, maybe… He glanced at the Bisharp, who was watching him with a mixture of fascination, curiosity, and possibly… hopefulness? They'd barely exchanged a frightened word, and yet something about him made Golurk curious, too. The other two were older, like the parents and elders he'd encountered, but this Pokemon appeared young, and full of energy. Kind of like him. Well, the 'young' part, at least.
Maybe, he could be… my first friend?
It took him a moment to realize they were still watching him, waiting for his answer. "Um- well- where are you going? I wouldn't want to slow you down."
The Druddigon snorted again. "Look again, kid. You're twice our height. Somethin' tells me that won't be the issue."
"Well- alright." He glanced again at the Bisharp. "You're sure? I don't-"
"Honey, we're not concerned about you dragging us down. I think Rayzor would like somebody to talk to, and if we get tired, you could probably carry all of us on your shoulders," Bean interrupted, finishing with a mischievous smile. "You don't have to stick with us forever, but I think you should get out of this sad old tower. It's not good for anybody's health."
The idea of leaving his dying home made his chest fill with apprehension. And some excitement, he had to admit. I think if there's a time to do it, it's now.
"Okay," he breathed, feeling his lights flicker. Slightly embarrassed, he hoped they hadn't noticed.
Rayzor- was that his name?- grinned at him, and Bean cooed and flapped her wings in a pleased manner. The Druddigon eyed him in a scrutinizing manner, but it was not unwelcoming.
"That's great, sweetheart! My name is Bean." She looked expectantly at the Bisharp, who chirped, "I'm Rayzor," and then at the Druddigon below her, who growled "Meyers" in a gravelly voice. "Don't mind him. It's all bark," she said in a teasing manner. "Now, I'm afraid I didn't catch your name."
"My- my name?" he stammered. Oh, this was soo embarrassing. He'd lived alone his whole life, and nobody had ever really given him a name, so to speak. He usually just went by the general name of his supposed kind, when a rare somebody asked. "Well- I just- you can call me Golurk," he told them, glad the glowing heat in his face wouldn't be visible in the afternoon light.
The three spared him a confused look, but Bean quickly dismissed it before it could make him any more anxious. "Well, it is wonderful to meet you, Golurk. We were just getting ready to leave, if you're ready to come with. Otherwise, we understand if you want to say a last goodbye."
"Okay," he said, not knowing what else to add. He turned away from them, staring back out the hole in the side of the tower. He didn't really have anything to say goodbye to, but he needed a moment.
That had been a rather overwhelming experience; most Pokemon didn't scream in terror when they met him, then immediately offer to take him with them, and he most definitely didn't agree to go with them, usually. But this had been different, and now it was the last time he'd have to hear that dreaded question. Was that a good thing…? He thought so, probably.
There was a clicking noise, and he turned around to see Rayzor still idling on the second floor. Bean and Meyers had already disappeared down the stairs.
"Oh- um, sorry," Rayzor said, backing up. "I'll- I'll go-"
"No! It's okay. I'm ready," he said quickly, not wanting to be left alone. "Let's go."
Rayzor nodded quickly and headed for the stairs.
They descended together, and then came to a stop at the massive archway that was Dragonspiral Tower's exit. Funny. Before, he'd always thought of it as an entrance.
Meyers was already standing in the clearing outside, Bean still perched upon his head.
"I've never been through this door," something compelled Golurk to say.
He saw Rayzor look at him in surprise out of the corner of his eye. "You weren't kidding, huh?" he marveled, putting his hands on his hips. The tattered scarf around his neck danced in the sudden breeze. "Well, why don't we take the first step out together, then?"
Golurk liked that idea quite a lot. "Okay! That sounds nice."
Together, side by side, they took one step out of the tower, their feet hitting the dirt in sync. It felt like an adventure in itself that Golurk had been missing his whole life.
