Eliza didn't intervene. Perhaps she should have. But Sol was volatile, childish, and eager for any excuse to lash out. Eliza was trying to understand why, and as she watched and listened from a discrete distance, she began to fit the pieces of a theory together.
Sol's following never strayed far from her wagon. It was a long trip and the Riolu, to them, was the most interesting thing around. The traveling group had swollen to what was now akin to a full blown caravan, and Eliza couldn't go anywhere without hearing someone gossiping about the 'seer'.
Sol's reaction to all this surprised Eliza. She neither hated their near constant presence nor did she revel in the attention. If anything she found the whole thing amusing. Pokemon would come up to her in the wagon, asking for stories or their futures read, and Sol would usually oblige. She would also exaggerate when she wasn't outright making things up, but again, Eliza thought she did this for her own amusement, not out of pride or wanting to make herself seem more impressive.
Eliza greatly disapproved. Sol was lying to these people and making up fortunes on the spot, but it was mostly harmless and did lift their spirits a little. It wasn't like Sol was getting anything from them or that her intentions were cruel. Eliza supposed she could let it slide, and through watching her Eliza was able to get a better idea of just who Sol was.
Sol didn't treat anyone else with the hostility Eliza had endured, though the Riolu did lose her patience at times. What was really interesting was her reaction when someone brought up Dusknoir, which happened quite frequently.
Her expression would freeze, she'd pause whatever she had been saying, then try to direct the conversation back to something else. If they pushed, she'd mutter something vague could that mean anything, then say some variation of what basically boiled down to 'I'm tired, go away'. And they would listen, for a little while, and Sol would stare off into the distance with cold eyes and a hardened look on her face until eventually her fans would wander back and the process would begin again. The rumor was that Sol blamed herself for Dusknoir not coming back from the Hidden Land. That he sacrificed himself to save her and she couldn't bring herself to speak of it.
But Eliza remembered the story Sol and Eevee had told her, and she remembered Sol's tirade the first time one of her fans had brought the topic up. Sol was angry. Eliza thought on what she knew, what she had been told, and what she had overheard. Very slowly, she began to piece it together.
Sol had been saved by, trusted, and looked up to Dusknoir. Then he had betrayed her and everything Sol had believed about him was proven horribly untrue. Sol had been apprenticed to an exploration guild. From what Eevee had told Eliza and had been overheard from Sol's frequent monologues to the masses, said guild's leaders were either incompetent or corrupt, at least from Sol's point of view. Throughout her team's adventures, they had encountered several legendary Pokemon, held in myths to be the wisest and most powerful of them all. Then, to quote Sol, they were 'complete assholes' that needed saving from their own ignorance or stupidity.
A theme was becoming apparent here. Every authority Sol had ever met had failed her quite spectacularly. And what had happened the first time they had met? Eliza had immediately tried to take on the role of an authority figure. It was obvious now why Sol was acting so hostilely towards her, even after her and Riley seemed to patch things up and get along alright. Sol was waiting for the other shoe to drop. To her mind, Eliza was bound to screw something up beyond repair and Sol would be left to fend for herself.
The outside way of life had twisted Sol to where she could not show respect. Eliza felt both pity and outrage. This never would have happened had Sol been raised in the clan. The outside world was harsh, cruel and corrupting. Would Sol even be permitted to reside within the clan? The Theynil weren't ones to turn away someone in need, but if Sol did something stupid, something she did a lot of, it seemed, Sol could be deemed a threat to the clan. She'd be tossed out immediately regardless of whether her life was in danger. Clan before self, many before one.
...
There were two... Sol didn't know what to call them. Creatures, beings, things. It didn't really matter what they were, Sol supposed, only that there were two of them and they were damned annoying. One of them was little more than a black smudge, darting and jumping so that it was barely ever in sight. That was fine on its own. Distracting, but fine.
But the other one was the real problem. It was made out of ... light? Or maybe shadows. No, both. Neither? Sol couldn't figure it out, which was fine. She was feeling lazy, lethargic, and couldn't be bothered with much of anything. The light/shadow thing chased the black smudge thing through a maze of corridors, the walls made entirely of shelves packed with boxes and indistinct objects. Again, that was fine. Except for one small detail. Thing insisted on toting Sol around on its back while it ran after Smudge like a possessed beast.
Smudge was far ahead, rooting through the items packed on the shelves, keeping some and tossing the rest on the floor. Thing closed in, Smudge ran off around a corner, and the whole process repeated itself over and over.
Thing kept looking back at Sol as it ran. It's face was blank and featureless, but it still stared at Sol whose head rested on its shoulder. Then it would look back at the Smudge, sometimes gesture at it, trying fruitlessly to get some point across.
Do you see? Do you see?
No, I don't. Now put me down.
Smudge ran, Thing ran, Sol wanted to be left alone. Thing was obviously struggling to keep up with Smudge with the extra weight it carried. Sol wondered why it didn't just put her down and continue the chase on its own.
...
Sol wasn't waking up. Eliza took the Riolu's shoulder and gave her a firm shake, lifting her up and inch in the process. Her head lolled back and she didn't respond. Eliza shook harder. Nothing.
Sol's breathing was steady and there was nothing to indicate that anything was wrong, so why wouldn't she wake up? Eliza bent down close to study Sol's face. She saw no movement beneath her eyelids though she continued to breath calmly and without strain. What was-
Eliza froze when she caught the faint scent of something bitter hanging over Sol. Then she burst into a flurry of motion, turning from Sol and jumping on the wall of the wagon in a crouch. The half moon in the sky didn't give off enough light for Eliza to see clearly, but when she drew upon the aura the camp exploded in a riot of colours. Every traveler was lit up like a torch, visible even through the walls of their tents. Eliza turned slowly, taking note of everything.
She didn't see anything suspicious in the camp. No one was trying to hide or lurk past the camps edge, nothing to indicate hostility or ill intent. Eliza wasn't put at ease. Still keeping an eye out, she backed into the wagon and grabbed a Chesto berry from her supplies. Eliza returned to Sol, propped her head up and forced her mouth open, then crushed the berry so its juices dripped into Sol's mouth.
There was a moment's pause in which Sol remained calmly sleeping before, fasted than Eliza would have thought the Riolu capable of, she shot upwards, throwing punches with her good arm and screaming, perhaps not loud enough to wake the dead but certainly enough to wake the camp.
"Danger! Danger!" Sol threw a wild punch that, while fast, Eliza only had to simply lean backwards to avoid it. She grabbed Sol's arm and held it until she calmed down.
"What the Hell are you doing?" Sol demanded, quickly coming back to her senses. She forcefully ripped her arm out of Eliza's grip.
"What's happening?" Eevee asked sleepily from his section of the wagon's floor. Riley had woken too and was staring at them with wide eyes.
Eliza heard shouts from inside the camp.
"Is someone in trouble?!" a voice yelled.
"Are we under attack?!"
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"
The camp erupted into a panic. Eliza peered over the wall of the wagon at the mess of Pokemon running about in confusion. This wasn't good.
"I believe someone is planning to finish their attempt on Sol's life," Eliza said, continuing to scan the crowd. Their auras were panicked, rapidly shifting and changing. Any who wished Sol ill would be impossible to detect. "Someone drugged her with sleep seed."
Eevee gasped. Sol snorted.
"No one drugged me."
"I found you unconscious under its effects. It was definitely sleep seed."
"Yeah, I know. It's the only damned way I can sleep these days, and you just had to go and freak out about nothing."
Eliza froze, then slowly turned to look at Sol. The Riolu looked annoyed but also a little smug.
"Now how about you go over react somewhere else and let me go back to sleep?"
Eliza just stared as Sol reached into her pack and pulled out a small pouch held closed with a drawstring. When she went to open it, Eliza darted her hand out and pulled it from Sol's grasp.
"What the Hell do you think you're doing?!"
Eliza opened it and sure enough it was filled with green cored seeds. Sol was still going on in the background, but Eliza wasn't even aware of the words. Her focus was entirely on the seeds in the bag and repressing the urge to throttle the ignorant, self destructive Riolu that for some unknown reason Eliza felt responsible for.
"Why?" she finally said.
"Because they're mine-"
"Why do you need them to sleep?"
"What does it matter? Just give-"
Eliza pushed her against the wall of the wagon and held the bag up to her face.
"Why do you need them?" she asked again, her voice a low growl.
Sol eyes narrowed in defiance before she hissed in frustration and finally giving as close to a straight answer as Eliza was like to get from her.
"Because when you sleep it's supposed to feel like you've slept, not like you've been fighting your way through a dungeon. Now give them back you crazy-"
Eliza slapped her. She instantly regretted it but refused to let it show, keeping her expression cold and hard when Sol looked up at her from the floor.
I hit a Cheynin, one that is not even in any condition to defend herself.
Eliza felt ashamed, something she had never felt in a very long time, but again, she refused to let it show. She held up the pouch.
"You felt like you were fighting all night because you were fighting all night," Eliza growled. "Whoever wants you dead has been trying for a while, it seems, and you've been giving them access to your head without a second thought!"
Anger. Hold on to the anger because it's better than shame.
"... What?" Sol rubbed her cheek, more rattled than hurt.
Eliza hissed her frustration through her teeth. "Someone has been trying to get into your head, and your mind has been fighting them off. Things like sleep seeds tear down one's defenses. You've been willingly rendering yourself helpless against their attacks and it's a wonder they haven't already managed to kill you!"
"... What?"
Eliza felt like screaming. Instead, she gave Sol a hard stare, got off the wagon and stalked into the camp to see if she could calm down the camp, anything to distance herself from her. She threw the pouch into the dying embers of the first campfire she came across.
Mister L: Eevee's family will be... interesting. Sol's first encounter will certainly be entertaining.
coaster3000: Sol getting hurt seems to a recurring theme. I'm glad you're enjoying it because she certainly isn't!
Blades of Fury: New moves are coming, mostly for Jak and Ren who I will return to soon enough.
Team Platium: I'm certainly glad you're enjoying this so much and your reviews are definitely appreciated. And don't feel bad about spelling errors, because I still can't spell definately, which is weird considering how often I use it. I have to go back when I'm done every chapter and fix it. Writing is a career I would like to go in, but I while I do think I've gotten better, writing is hard and I don't think I'm good enough yet, so just a hobby right now.
Calculated Whim: It would have to be six stars because Sol wouldn't put up with anything less sullying her good name. She does that well enough on her own.