"...and it's crazy! I've never been to the ocean, but I think it would be a lot of fun. I've seen it from afar, though. It looks really pretty…" Rayzor continued to chatter, gesturing wildly and never taking his eyes off of Golurk, who was watching him intently.
Bean smiled as she watched them. She was immensely pleased with the progression of the last couple days' travel. They'd wound their way through the dense forest in just a couple of days, only stopping to sleep for one night. Now, one of the only obstacles between them and the human territory, and hopefully, safety, were the formidable Twist Mountains.
On one hand, it would take twice as much time and energy to go completely around them, but it was also just as perilous to attempt to march straight through. The caves were a labyrinth of dead ends and frozen corridors that could quickly turn into an icy prison if one was not familiar with the terrain. They had yet to discuss their plan about the direction of their travel.
On the other hand, Rayzor and Golurk appeared to be bonding quickly, and Rayzor in particular had talked more in one day than he had throughout the entire span of their journey before the addition of a new member to their group, much to Meyers's irritation. Perhaps it was smart to move through as quickly as possible to avoid dragonfire explosions.
The dragon had made a couple grumbled remarks about how he missed the silence of their earlier leg of the journey, but Bean had given him a stern tsk! "It's good for Rayzor to have friends his age!" she'd assured. Well, they didn't know how old Golurk actually was, but his mental age and maturity seemed similar to the Bisharp's.
"He's obviously much more comfortable now that we've gotten another member. Personally, I'm thrilled that the both of them get along so pleasantly."
Meyers had snorted. "You're starting to sound like his mother."
She hadn't known how to respond to that one. It wasn't such a bad thing, really. The thought had followed her into present day, as they trudged along the dirt path. Every youngling needed a bit of guidance in their life. She wouldn't become a stand-in guardian if Rayzor didn't want it, but for now he didn't seem to mind her coddling.
A mother… Bean had never had children of her own, and sometimes she felt as if it was something she had sorely missed out on. She wasn't quite sure how she hadn't ended up with a nest full of hatchlings, considering her maternal instincts sometimes overruled her own logic.
At the moment, it wasn't really something she wanted to dwell on, mostly to avoid falling into a dormant, pensive state. She just needed to focus on getting them through this leg of the journey while keeping the boys safe.
Well, that was kind of motherly. Great stars, I was just one big endless cycle, wasn't it?
She rubbed the condensation off her glasses, courtesy of the early morning dew, and turned back to the current conversation at hand.
Rayzor and Golurk had been discussing travel for most of the morning, considering Golurk had never been more than a couple steps for his whole life. At first, she had worried that being outside would be disorienting for the golem, or that he would be overwhelmed by the vastness of it all, but he was holding his own quite well. She supposed it was a bit easier for him with a chatty friend explaining it all.
From what she could glean from the conversation, it appeared Rayzor had lived in one small town most of his life, but the details were still vague and pleaded unimportance. He was much more open now that he had Golurk to talk to.
Bean wasn't offended, but she certainly hoped the reason he hadn't talked much before was because she'd made the Bisharp uncomfortable.
"There are more mountains?" Golurk was asking now, looking up at them with curiosity.
"Those are the Twist Mountains. Um, right?" Rayzor added, glancing at Bean.
She nodded approvingly. "Correct! What do you know about them?"
After pausing to think, he responded, "Well, apparently, you have to go through the mountains instead of climbing over them, and there's tons and tons of tunnels. But I've never been this close to them, so I don't know if that's true."
"No, no, that's right! That's likely where the name came from, don't you think?"
"So, are we going to have to go into the tunnels?" Golurk chimed in.
"Maybe if you want to enjoy a freezing, starving death," Meyers grumbled. He hated the cold.
"That seems a bit morbid," Rayzor squeaked.
"It is," Bean huffed, tapping her feet on the dragon's rough scales. "What he's trying to say is that it is very easy to get lost in the mountains, due to their size and layout. But… yes, the rumors agree that some who enter never find their way out."
The two younglings exchanged a startled glance. "So… do we have to go through them?"
"We can go around," Meyers grunted. "It'll take longer, but with less chance of a freezing cold, painfully slow death."
Bean leaned back and rested against his crooked horns, thinking. "Well, we haven't decided for sure, but we'll probably go around. For safety."
Rayzor seemed satisfied with that information. "Okay! I'm sure it'll be fine either way." He resumed talking with Golurk, and Bean couldn't hide a smile.
"How much could they possibly have to talk about?" Meyers groaned.
She tittered and twitched her large ears. "Tune them out, darling, that's what I do. The music of nature is strong out here, if you'd rather listen to that."
Letting the voices of her companions melt away, she extended her reach into the forest, hearing every rustling leaf, the whispering breeze in the trees, and the gentle trickle of a tiny stream. It was quiet, peaceful. The forest was at ease.
After another full day of travel, they had reached the foot of the mountains. Rayzor had never seen something so tall and majestic in his entire life. With the entire world unfolding underneath his feet, sometimes the huge sights were nearly overwhelming.
After a couple of scouting excursions, they discovered a few small caves that most likely fed into the tunnels, but they seemed unimportant after the unanimous decision to go around the mountains, instead. They set up a small camp and Meyers carefully started a fire on the empty spot of land.
"What will be on the other side of the mountains?" Golurk asked. He was leaning against a large, sturdy tree, but it was still slightly bowed under his weight. The comical sight made Rayzor smile.
"Well, the humans live on the other side, so probably cities and roads and… humans and stuff."
"Oh, wow. I've never seen a human," Golurk marveled.
"They're not as exciting as they sound," grunted Meyers from across the fire. "Small. Mostly hairless. Whiny and annoying. Overly persistent pests."
Rayzor snorted. "What, like me?" It was the most outspoken thing he'd said so far, even as a sarcastic joke.
Meyers lifted up his head and stared at him with narrowed eyes, but he saw a glimmer of amusement hidden in their depths. "If you keep it up, you'll fulfill the last two requirements."
"I don't think you're annoying," Golurk said loyally.
Meyers rolled his eyes up to the moon and Bean gave a tittering laugh. "Don't encourage them," Meyers scoffed, but his crooked jaw was curled in a way Rayzor hadn't seen before.
"Are you- smiling?" he asked in mock amazement.
Meyers turned his head and thumped his heavy tail on the ground. "I am going to sleep. So keep it down over there." He rested his head on the ground, his eyebrows creased as he tuned out the sounds of their conversation in an attempt to get some decent rest.
Rayzor couldn't stop from smiling as he leaned back against the trunk of the tree, staring up into the star-scattered night sky. He'd been nervous at first, when they'd started travelling, but Bean and Meyers were more friendly by the day, and he'd found he could talk to Golurk for hours without getting bored.
I wonder… where will we all go when we get to safety? I wouldn't mind staying together for a little longer. I think we're almost in the clear.
He closed his eyes and let sleep carry him to pleasant dreams.
And then, just like that, the horror of Invictus, the newly waged war, and the bloodthirsty invasion came flooding back to them in biting reality.
The dawn light hadn't even broken through the trees when Meyers grabbed Rayzor by the arm and pulled him to his feet, making him cough and stumble in the dirt. The Druddigon didn't relent, pulling him along until he finally caught his footing and was able to run alongside them. "What- whashappening?"
"Keep up, please!" Bean's usually lighthearted voice was tight with fear.
Rayzor's stomach twisted uncomfortably, and he turned to glance behind them. His heart dropped to the ground when a huge, marred Stoutland shouldered his way through the undergrowth and stared at them with malice. There was blood dripping from his muzzle, and Rayzor hoped it wasn't from one of their own. He tilted his head back and howled, a bone-chilling, grizzly noise, and around them, more barks and roars responded.
"Invictus," Bean gasped, and Rayzor strides became longer, carrying them away from the murderous legion as quickly as they could.
"We won't be able to outrun them!" he wailed as they weaved through the forest, desperately trying to lose the Stoutland.
"The mountains," Meyers snarled, slashing through a tangle of tree branches. He didn't elaborate, but Bean seemed to understand his meaning.
"We have no other choice," she said, and he veered towards the side of the mountain.
"What are you doing?! It's a dead end!" Rayzor gasped, wheezing from the effort of stumbling through the crowded forest.
"The tunnels!" Bean shouted back.
"But- they'll corner us!"
"Not if we get there before they can see us go through!" The sweeping wall that was the side of the mountain was visible through the trees.
As soon as they passed the tree cover, Meyers trotted up to the side of the mountain.
The vicious barks of Invictus's legion still rang out behind them, but they sounded slightly further away than they had before.
"I don't see anything," Rayzor said, trying not to let his fear leak into his voice.
"Shh," Bean hissed, closing her eyes. Her ears twitched once, and then her eyes flew open. "There's an opening down there!" she exclaimed, pointing with her wing.
Suddenly, the barking of the Stoutland grew louder again.
"They're coming this way!" Meyers snarled, turning and galloping in the direction that Bean had pointed to.
After a few moments of running and staring wildly at the cliffside, Rayzor noticed a tunnel in the side of the cliff that had been somewhat obscured by haphazardly placed tree branches and bushes. "There!"
He ducked through the hole, feeling Meyers squeeze his way into the tunnel behind him. They crawled for a few seconds, and the tunnel widened back out again.
Meyers squeezed out next to him and lay completely still, his golden eyes trained on the hole they'd come through.
On the other side, harsh, muffled voices reached them.
They found us. Rayzor's hands trembled with fear. This was it. They would crawl through and rip them to shreds.
He waited for the noise of them scrambling through the tunnels, but instead… the voices faded away, the howls and barks moving away from them.
"Thank the stars," Bean whispered, squeezing her eyes shut and letting out a heavy sigh.
Rayzor let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and turned to ask Golurk if he was alright. The empty space at his side made his heart drop again.
"Golurk? Where's Golurk?" he gasped, looking around wildly. The cave was empty, except for Bean and Meyers.
The shadows under Bean's eyes lengthened. "I- I thought he was following us…"
Rayzor gritted his teeth and blinked away the hot tears that threatened. He couldn't be angry at Bean or Meyers. They had been running just as fast as he was, and he hadn't even noticed Golurk wasn't following.
Instead of anger, he felt overwhelmingly guilty, for the friendship they'd never be able to make now. Golurk was still out there. The Stoutland would catch him, eventually, and even if he didn't, the spirit would get lost in the woods, wandering through a land he had never experienced before.
"Rayzor, honey…" Bean fluttered down from Meyers's head and placed a comforting wing on his arm. He didn't respond. "We… we didn't notice. We can wait here, for the Stoutland to leave, and then try to find him-"
"Hello?" a whisper snaked through the air that made Rayzor's heart stop. A large, chiseled hand melted out of the shadows, and Golurk followed close behind it.
"Stars!" Rayzor shrieked, and even Bean gasped.
Meyers nodded sagely, as if he had known Golurk would come back.
Rayzor rushed to his side, wanting to hug him but still somewhat hesitant. Despite their kindling friendship, Golurk made him nervous, in some strange way he couldn't explain. He settled for grabbing one giant hand with both of his.
"What- what happened? Where did you go? How did you find us?!" he babbled.
Golurk's eyes flickered and he gently guided himself and Rayzor back to where Bean and Meyers were resting. "I- I'm not sure. It was kind of odd. I could… feel the shadows? Like they were something I could touch. And so I did, and I- slipped into them." He struggled to explain the sensation.
Meyers snorted. "Well, kid, if you hadn't noticed, you're a ghost. Of course you can do… whatever the blazes it is that ghosts do."
"Oh." Golurk seemed surprised, as if he hadn't considered it before.
"So, you used the shadows to hide from the Stoutland!" Bean said, adjusted her glasses. Her eyes glittered with a thousand unasked questions.
"I think so," he answered. "But then I stopped to snap a tree branch so that they would stop tailing you, and I lost you. But I assumed you went through the tunnels, because you talked about it before. And you were heading straight for the mountainside."
Rayzor thought of how the barks and howls had strayed away from them, giving them enough time to slip into the tunnels.
"That was very brave of you," Bean said, puffing up her fur. "Truly, I must thank you, Golurk. If it wasn't for you, they might have caught up to us."
"Saying 'it's nothing' will not serve you well right now," Meyers grumbled when Golurk waved an embarrassed hand.
The moment was interrupted when something snapped outside their hiding spot, echoing down the tunnel, and the entire group tensed.
"We should move," whispered Bean, climbing back onto Meyers's head.
Rayzor gulped and looked back at the darkness behind them. It seemed to expand forever, and if they stepped into it, it would swallow them whole.
Bean and Meyers were already slinking further into the cave, but he found himself not wanting to step forward.
Something nudged him forward, and he turned to see Golurk giving him a gentle tap on the shoulder. Comforted, he gave him a tired smile and followed Meyers into the dark.
"I spy… something brown."
Rayzor snorted. "Wow, I wonder what it could be…" Nothing but dirt and rock and ice had surrounded them for the past couple hours.
"Guess," Golurk insisted.
"A rock. Wait, no, this speck of dirt." The Bisharp kicked at the ground, sending packed earth scattering under his feet.
"Nope."
Rayzor narrowed his eyes and stared at him with suspicion.
Golurk waved a hand innocently.
"I know," Bean said. There was a forced cheerfulness in her voice that didn't seem right in the frozen tunnels. They were all shaken from the close scrape with Inivctus's squadron, but Bean was always the one to take charge of the morale of the group and attempt to give it a boost, even if it was a little forced. Now, she was trying to balance the endless maze of Twist Mountains with the emotional instability of her young traveling partners.
Rayzor gave them both a suspicious look. "What else could it possibly be?!"
"He's giving you a hint," she teased, glancing at Golurk. He put his hand down.
"Huh?…"
"It was my wristband," he said, shaking his wrist.
Rayor gasped and stuck out of his tongue. "Hey, no fair! Nobody said we could spy things that are on us…"
"Ooh! I spy something blue and white," Bean chirped, and Rayzor and Golurk looked over Meyers's head in surprise.
The tunnel had narrowed, and before then stood an impressive display of ice. It had surged up and frozen around the walkway, so it gave the appearance that they were walking through an icy gate.
Rayzor grumbled when they passed through it and were once again greeted by dull, brown walls. The only difference was that it was significantly colder than before, or at least Golurk thought so. There was no light from down the tunnel, as had become customary.
Nobody said it out loud, but they were hopelessly lost. With every dead end, their tomb only solidified around them.
Golurk thought of how easy it would be to just slip into the shadows like he had before, and walk right through until he found a way out, but the idea of leaving the rest of them behind made him feel horrible. Pondering the darkness around them, he found himself lost in thought.
If he could walk through the tunnels with ease, then he could help the rest of them escape, maybe! He could come back for them once he found a way out. But what if he couldn't find them again? Maybe it could work, but he wasn't sure how.
He decided the best Pokemon to ask was perched on a Druddigon's head. She listened to him fumble through his suggestion, her glasses reflecting her thoughtfulness.
"Well, it certainly could be the answer," she mused. "But you have to remember we can't walk through walls. You'd have to go and find every fork in the tunnel and then lead us to it."
"True," Golurk muttered, tapping his wrist thoughtfully.
"Oh-! Careful, darling!" Bean shifted her focus to chirp at Rayzor, who had just stumbled around a sphere of ice embedded in the ground. He frowned and muttered something about it being strange before shaking it off.
Golurk watched as he wrapped his scarf around his hunched shoulders. Bean and Meyers looked uncomfortable, too, constantly shifting to produce heat. He wished he had a way to keep them all warm. Even if he couldn't get them out, at least he could make it a comfortable, albeit slow death…
Something crunched under his foot, bringing him back to reality. Another ice cube- sphere, really- had shattered under his weight.
"Strange shapes," Bean observed, staring at the shards. "Too perfect to be natural. I wonder…?"
Before she could finish her thought, something whizzed out of the darkness and streaked past them.
"Watch out!" Rayzor squawked, leaping backwards and pressing against the wall.
The ice shackles solidified around Golurk's ankles, and he shouted in surprise, trying to uproot the sudden trap. He attempted to lift up his feet, but they stayed frozen to the ground.
Rayzor cried out and ran towards him, but something swept him off of his feet and he landed in the dirt with a heavy oof! instead.
Violet flames leapt to Meyers's jaws, casting distorted shadows on his face and the walls. His snarl echoed down the tunnel, but nothing came forward to meet it.
"You're trespassing," said a flat, placid voice from somewhere.
Golurk jumped. Some of the ice around his ankles cracked. "And you broke one of my traps. And it didn't even work. You're too heavy. And the other one was too light."
He decided not to be offended by that, though Rayzor let out a huff from the ground.
"I didn't see a sign," Meyers growled, letting the flames creep around his fangs.
Bean's eyes scanned the darkness furtively, watching for their hidden attacker.
"Are you blind?" the voice scoffed, from Golurk's right, now. "That's what the ice garden's for." They didn't say it out loud, but he could practically hear the word obviously echoing through the cavern.
An image of the twisting white sculptures jumped to mind. They'd looked too organized to be natural, but there hadn't been anything to deter them necessarily.
"They were territory markers," Bean breathed, shivering as the temperature dropped.
"Astute observation. Now get out or I'll make you all ice sculptures."
Almost as quickly as they'd come, the ice shackles melted away and Golurk stumbled backwards.
"You're just- letting us go?" Rayzor sputtered.
"You're too incompetent to be Invictus's goons, and I don't waste time with stupid wanderers," their attacker muttered.
Rayzor bristled, glaring into the darkness. "First of all, ouch. It's not my fault I've never been into Twist Mountain! Second of all-"
"Wait, you're looking for Invictus?" Bean cut in, guiding Meyers forward.
"I never said that!" the voice snapped in exasperation. There was a second of hesitation before they continued. "I said I was only trapping Pokemon from that stupid beaver's army. They've been too nosy for my liking lately. Digging around in the mountains like they own the place."
Meyers swore under his breath. "You were right," he growled to Bean. "They're trying to break through to human territory. But why?..."
Bean shook her head, but her posture cried concern. "That's… worrying. Well, apologies for bothering you, but we will be on our way now."
She spread her wings in some sort of show of respect, and Meyers backed away.
The voice didn't input another sarcastic comment.
"C'mon, kids," the Druddigon grumbled.
Rayzor's expression was sour, ruffled by their mysterious attacker's terrible attitude, but he followed, keeping close to Golurk's side.
They'd barely gone five steps when the voice drawled, "That's a dead end."
Bean took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying not to snap. "Then where are we supposed to go, darling? This was the only tunnel left for us to explore."
"If you're so all-knowing, why don't you help us out?" Rayzor snapped.
Golurk felt the urge to pat his shoulder and try to calm him down, but he also found their invisible overseer just as infuriating.
There was a long, stretched out moment of silence before, "And give me one reason why I'd do that."
Bean gasped as a figure melted from the shadows. "A Cryogonal!... Incredibly elusive. I've never met one before this." She adjusted her glasses and leaned forward, cocking her head.
Golurk was somewhat worried she'd get too close and have ears frozen off. The Cryogonal's blank, glowing eyes made him shudder. They seemed… remorseless.
Even Rayzor's grumpy demeanor evaporated briefly, and his eyes went wide with surprise.
Meyers was the only one who didn't seem awestruck. "Great. So the rumors of you all being stuck-up hermits is true. Let's get out of here." He turned tail and padded in the opposite direction at a leisurely pace.
Bean squawked at him, but Golurk saw just a hint of dry amusement reflected in the Cryogonal's eyes. He found it curious that she better tolerated Meyers's brevity over Bean's coddling.
"I don't know if we should leave just yet," whispered Bean as they padded away, out of earshot.
"Why not? She's obviously not gonna help," Rayzor grumbled, crossing his arms.
"We'll never get out of here without help! And she's the only living creature we've seen this entire time," the Swoobat argued.
"Good luck convincing a stubborn bastard like that," Meyers grunted. "Assisting the elderly is not a driving point for everybody."
"It doesn't have to be convincing her to help us," Golurk said.
They stared at him in confusion. He wondered if the point he was about to make was embarrassingly silly.
"Well… she said she hates Invictus and his army, right?"
"We could promise her a fight," Rayzor hissed with a little more malice than he preferred. It was unnatural on his usually soft face.
Bean frowned, tugging at her spectacles. "Well… that seems a bit harsh. We could lead her into danger like that."
"It's obviously what she wants," grumbled Meyers, making her frown deepen.
"I can still see you," the aforementioned figure said flatly from behind them.
"We're not trying to hide," Rayzor snorted. "We have an offer."
"Oh, wonderful," she drawled. "Let me help: no. Go away."
"But we know where a squadron of Invictus's is. Because we were running from them," Golurk urged.
She watched him impassively.
"If you lead us out of here, we point you back that way. Or perhaps, we'll find even more along the way. If they're invading the mountain."
"You're not going to get your revenge sitting down here," Meyers rumbled.
Golurk blinked at him, bewildered. She hadn't said anything about revenge.
It seemed to strike a chord regardless, and the air became slightly warmer before plunging back into subzero temperatures. "Fine. But I can go up myself any time. I'm not stupid. I just want you to go away." Her tone implied it was a poor excuse, but Bean seemed pleased, so he didn't say anything.
Rayzor, on the other hand, wore a foul expression, like he'd tasted something sour.
"Oh, thank you so much, dear! We're truly grateful." Bean cooed, flapping her wings. "I don't believe I got your name…?"
The Cryogonal was quiet for a few moments before speaking. "Sheer. But I'd prefer you didn't talk to me."
