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Chapter 38
Blight
After an hour of flying over the vast, seemingly endless ocean, Team Vendetta had finally come to their destination; the west coast of the land the Fellowship dwelled in.
The three had considered the idea to keep flying until they reached Nestati City, but then they realized how the trip was completely non-stop. Not wanting to risk having their sole flyer drop out of the sky from sheer exhaustion, Terron and Novus were very quick to decide that it was best if they simply reach the coast and stop there.
The second Zekra touched the sandy shore of Shiron, she immediately shifted back into her Zorua self. Terron and Novus were very quick to end up collapsing on Zekra's back from the sudden form change. Thankfully for them, there didn't seem to be a single Pokémon on the beach, as it appeared deserted.
"Nuuugh, you guys are squishing meeeee," Zekra whined, feebly trying to crawl out from under them, but to no avail.
With a groan, the two managed to get off her, feeling slightly sore from the ride. They both looked at Zekra, finding that she was still laying in the sand, appearing as though she was about to pass out at any moment.
"You okay?" Terron asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Zekra said carelessly. "I'm just a little worn out is all."
"That's not a surprise, seeing as how we flew for so long," Novus commented. "Even those who harbor the dragon and flight affinity do not have the stamina to fly for so long. Well, except for a few, but that's beside the point. You did a very impressive job, Zekra."
"Heh, thanks," Zekra said with a quiet chuckle before bringing her gaze over to Terron. "And great job with not panicking about flying so fast, Tear. I don't even think I could feel you shaking in fear. Heheheh."
"Whatever," Terron scoffed. "It's not like we could have landed anyway; I didn't see any islands anywhere. So it was either deal with it, or have you land in the ocean for a pit stop. And I was not going to put up with that idea, since you'd probably get us wet somehow."
The Zorua chuckled under her breath at the remark, and then let out a small sigh of what appeared to be relief.
"It feels so good to be back here and away from Shirra," Zekra said. "I mean, yeah, this place kinda reminds me of Shirra, since it's a beach, but it's still nice to know that we're back to where we really should be. I just kinda wish I knew exactly where here is."
"Well, that's what we'll do when we find a town near here," Terron replied. "But, we'll do that later. I think we could all use a rest from flying for a little while."
"You got that right," Zekra stated. "I think I'm going to take a quick nap. Like… for five minutes. Yeah… give me five minutes…"
And then, before anything could be said, Zekra dropped her head onto the sand and her eyes closed. Terron and Novus stared at her in unsure silence, watching her slumber peacefully. Not knowing what else to do, they simply waited for her to awaken once more, so they could discuss what to do. They sat next to her, waiting in silence, so that they wouldn't interrupt her sleep.
Terron looked around him as he waited, taking in exactly what his new surroundings looked like.
Though the trio had lived alongside a coast for roughly a month, the coast they now came to was quite a bit different. For one, the sand wasn't as white and wasn't filled with seashells of all sorts . The sand was black here, and wasn't as fine as the grains of sand they had become accustomed to. It was almost like mud, somehow, and there were far more boulders sprouting out along near the seashore. Then also, there was not a seemingly infinite number of tropical trees scattered across the beach. Instead, there was only a large cluster of trees a ways from the shoreline, forming a bit of a wall that seemed to stretch on for a distance.
Still, it was a refreshing change from the ocean, which was nothing but blue for miles and miles. They hadn't spotted any other islands on their entire flight.
After what felt like half an hour passed, Zekra still hadn't woken up, and neither of Terron nor Novus wanted to be rude and snap her back into the real world. Terron rested his head against her side, getting tired of sitting down, but Novus seemed to have another idea. He got to his feet and started to walk toward the large forest.
"Hey, where you are you going?" Terron asked curiously, whilst trying to keep his voice reasonably low.
Novus stopped in his tracks and turned his head toward the Cubone.
"Since I see that we might be here for a while, I figured I'd go find us something to eat," Novus answered. "Perhaps I'll even gather some fallen branches to use as firewood."
"Did you want some help?" Terron then asked as he got up. "I mean, I can carry everything for you, since I've got hands and all."
"I thank you for the offer, but I can take care of it by myself," Novus replied. "Besides, I believe it's best if someone stays behind with Zekra, in case something happens."
"In case something happens…" Terron repeated oddly. "But, there's no one here. No one's going to try and attack her."
"Better safe than sorry," Novus shrugged. "I would say simply to wake her up, but I do believe she needs rest for a while. So, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I've been living on my own for a very long time."
"If you say so," Terron said somewhat uneasily.
The Quilava gave a nod in response before continuing on his way. Soon, he disappeared into the mass of trees, no longer visible to the Cubone.
Terron released a small sigh as he sat back down and used Zekra as a head rest once more. He continued to be concerned about whether or not Novus would be fine in the potentially hazardous environment on his own, but he managed to stifle those worries by remembering Novus's words. The Quilava would be alright. He knew how to take care of himself. He was, after all, an instructor at one point in time. He had to be rather powerful and skilled to have such a profession. Surely, any feral Pokémon that chose to fight back against Novus wouldn't be too much of a challenge.
The Cubone started to look away from the forest, but then, he saw something in the corner of his eye; a blur of movement. He quickly turned his head to face whatever he saw, but found himself staring at nothing except a few empty rocks in the distance . Terron grabbed his two bone clubs from his pockets and kept his eyes peeled for any sort of presence in the area. He had a feeling that whatever he saw was probably just his imagination, but the more paranoid part of him said otherwise.
"Tear, why do you look all tense?"
Terron looked back at his friend, only to find that she was awake now and staring at him with a confused gaze. He began to feel slightly more relaxed, knowing that she was awake and could help if anything went wrong. But despite this, he still felt rather on edge.
"I thought I saw something," Terron answered as he went back to eyeing his surroundings.
"Like what?" Zekra asked as she too glanced around.
"I don't really know. It was just a blur or something," Terron said with a shrug.
"Ah, so you're just being paranoid," Zekra said simply. "Got it."
"I'm not being paranoid," Terron scoffed. "I'm just being cautious. Because really, what else could I have seen? There aren't any wild Pokémon out on this beach. There's no one here. It's just us."
"Well whatever you say," Zekra replied before she noticed something. "Hey, where'd Novus go?"
"He went to go get us some food since I think we might end up camping out here," Terron answered. "He left a little while ago."
Zekra nodded slowly. She got to her feet, showing no signs of fatigue, and looked over at Terron once more.
"Well, I think I'm going to go do the same thing," she said. "I'm sure there's some delicious Pokémon living in the water."
"You sure about that?" Terron asked. "I mean, you did just do a lot of flying. It's alright if you rest for a bit."
"Nah, I'm good," Zekra said with a smile. "That nap was all I really needed. Plus, I might as well help out somehow. There might not even be any ferals where Novus is looking, but you can bet there's some in the ocean. And well, I'm the only one of us who can get them, you know. So yeah."
"Alright," Terron said. "I guess while you're doing that, I can go gather some firewood. Just be careful, alright?"
"Heh, don't worry about me. I can turn into anything, remember?" Zekra said, wearing a rather smug grin on her face. "I think you should be the more careful one."
Terron dismissively waved her away with a paw, not amused by her comment. Zekra only gave a short laugh in response before making her way toward the rolling waves. When she reached the shoreline, she instantly transformed into a Greninja and dove into the water. She swam out a ways, and then before long, she too was completely gone from Terron's sight.
The Cubone glanced around again, seeing if he could spot that blur from earlier. He found that he was alone, with no trace of anyone besides his friends being in the area. There were only two sets of footprints in the sand surrounding him: Zekra's and Novus's.
Deciding to push aside his unease, Terron entered the forest, keeping his two bone clubs clenched tightly in his hands in case he spotted a feral. He supposed that he too could do some hunting if he ran into a wild Pokémon that seemed edible. But, for now, his main priority would be to simply gather firewood.
Terron wandered through the woods, walking along the mostly barren ground. He looked upon the many trees, noticing that there didn't appear to be any Pokémon among the branches, nor were there are knotholes in the trunks. He could hear several chirping noises in the distance, so he knew he wasn't alone, but he still wondered where they were. Perhaps they were much higher in the trees, towards the canopy where the leaves were so dense?
Whatever it the reason, Terron didn't find it too important. He continued wandering about the forest, and was very quick to find some fallen branches lying with some dead leaves near several trees. The branches weren't very dry, as if they had only fallen off about a day ago, but surely Novus's fire would be able to make decent kindling out of them. He put away his clubs before picking up each of the branches and gathered them up in his arms. They weren't exactly all that big, typically only being about as long as his arm, but they'd have to do.
When he had gathered about fifteen of these sticks, as well as some dead leaves for kindling, he headed back to the beach. Unsurprisingly, neither Zekra nor Novus were there. However, that didn't matter much to Terron, as he knew they were still busy fulfilling their own responsibilities. He made his way over to the spot where the team had landed after their long flight and dumped the branches in his arms onto the ground, all of them making dull clunking noises as they hit the sand.
With his hands empty again, the Cubone went back to the forest and once again sought out more firewood. Minutes passed, and when enough supplies were gathered, Terron went back to the beach and dropped off the branches. He headed to the woodland several more times, returning each time with roughly the same amount of sticks as he had the previous time. He didn't see a single wild Pokémon during any of his little trips.
It was only when he emerged from the forest for the fifth time, did he find Zekra had returned, now sitting by the pile of foliage that he had created. With a smile, Terron went over to her and came to see if she had found anything. Sure enough, upon coming closer, he saw that she had managed to find quite a bit. The fresh carcasses of at least half a dozen ocean Pokémon surrounded her, ranging from tiny Finneon to Luvdisc, and even a Gorebyss that was so much larger than Zekra herself. All of them had deep, bloody puncture wounds covering them.
As soon as the Zorua saw Terron, she started to grin. There were small strips of flesh hanging from some of her teeth.
"I got some stuff for us," Zekra said, sounding very proud of herself. "I think it'll taste pretty awesome, especially since you've got all this firewood for us."
"Yeah…" Terron said, baffled to see the number of prey she had managed to catch. "But how…?"
"Well you see, I was going to try and maybe use that Greninja's form since he did show me how to use this one ability," Zekra explained. "But then, I saw this Sharpedo swimming in the water, and I just figured I'd use that instead. And after that, it was so easy to catch everything! Even this Gorebyss!"
"You didn't catch the Sharpedo, though?" Terron then asked, not seeing such Pokémon's corpse among the others.
"Nah, not really," Zekra said. "They don't look that tasty. Plus, their skin is really rough and it hurts to chew on it. But I think we've got enough food, and that's not even counting if Novus manages to find anything."
"I suppose that's true," Terron shrugged. "Well, while we're waiting for Novus, you wanna help me set up a campfire so we can get all of this cooked?"
"Sure!" Zekra said, leaping to her feet.
Without a moment's delay, she instantly shifted into a Zoroark. The two began to dig a small hole into the sand, making it reasonably wide for the fire. Once they had done that, they took a handful of sticks from the pile before making a new pile in the ditch and arranging the sticks to appear like a small tipi. They then stuffed as many leaves as they could into the empty space of the structure, making sure that they didn't knock over any of the sticks so that they wouldn't have to stack up the wood all over again.
When the structure was finally completed sometime later, Zekra transformed into Novus and released a small fireball onto the kindling. It wasn't long before the flame spread, and in a matter of moments, the flames crawled up all of the dead branches. Feeling rather accomplished, Zekra jumped out of the small hole and landed beside Terron. She found him sharpening the ends of some of the unused branches with the bladed edge of his bone clubs to create makeshift skewers.
Zekra was about to help out by taking on yet another form, but then, she and Terron noticed Novus emerging from the forest. The two stopped what they were doing as they watched him draw closer to them. On his back was a single Nuzleaf, many parts of its body charred.
The Quilava dumped the body into Zekra's pile of corpses and released a long sigh.
"There were not many Pokémon to hunt in that forest nor were there any berries I could find," Novus stated. "It was already enough of a challenge finding this Nuzleaf. I worried that this wouldn't be enough for the three of us, but it seems like you've managed to find quite a bit of fodder without me."
"Heh, jealous?" Zekra teased.
Novus let out a snort, causing a small stream of flames to flow out of his nostrils.
"You truly wish so," he scoffed. "But no, I am not. I am not a jealous being."
"Aw, lame," Zekra whined. "You really aren't any fun to mess with."
"No, I am not," Novus said simply. "But, enough of that. I see you have created a way to cook the meat. Let's do such. I'm rather hungry at the moment."
With a nod, Terron took the one skewer he had managed to finish and handed it to Zekra. He watched her turn into a mirror image of him before grabbing the stick out of his hand and poking one of the smaller corpses with it. She then took the dead Pokémon to the campfire and carefully started to roast it. As she did that, Terron went back to making more spears, as well as cutting up some of the fodder into manageable pieces. Novus, who couldn't really think of how he could help with the situation, simply sat back and watched the two work.
Quite a while later, the sun started to set, and Terron and Zekra had managed to cook most of the meat. They left some of the prey untainted, in case someone wanted fresh meat. Now, the three sat around the campfire, each enjoying their meals.
"Thank you for setting up this fire and gathering our meal," Novus said to the two children. "I apologize that I wasn't able to contribute much."
"It's fine," Terron said dismissively. "You still helped out, so don't feel so bad."
"Perhaps," Novus shrugged. "So, is our plan for tomorrow still to go straight to the Nestati Fellowship? Or did you have somewhere else in mind?"
"Well," Terron started to say as he set his skewer on his lap, "I'd like to get some supplies in the city for when we go on missions again, but I don't really know if we have enough money to buy everything. We kinda spent a lot of it on that Greninja."
"Maybe we should just buy like one or two things," Zekra shrugged. "Like maybe some real cheap stuff like some apples, since the Fellowship will probably just give us more important stuff like they did last time."
"Maybe," Terron considered. "That doesn't seem like such a bad idea."
"Yeah, shouldn't be such a big deal," Zekra stated. "I mean, you and I were fine when we first joined the Fellowship and we basically had no supplies and were so clueless about everything. So I bet that no matter what we do, we'll be fine since we're so much better now."
Terron smiled in amusement at the remark.
"I guess tomorrow we'll just go to the Fellowship first, then we'll go buy stuff," Terron then decided. "It's probably better just to focus on getting accepted back into the Fellowship."
"And how are we going to go about doing so?" Novus then asked as he held up his paw that held the dismissed Fellowship mark. "They will see these sigils. They will question why we were dismissed. Are we simply going to tell them the true reason we are in our current position, in hopes that seeing our dedication will win them over?"
"Actually… I have another idea," Terron then said.
The Cubone looked over at Zekra, finding that she was now roasting another corpse in Zeverous's form. She was quick to notice that Terron and Novus were now staring at her.
"Hey, you can use anyone's abilities as long as you've seen them, right?" Terron asked her.
"Yeah… I can," Zekra answered oddly. "Why?"
Terron held up his marked paw.
"Can you turn into Emdox and tell our brains to get rid of these marks?" Terron asked.
"Umm, sure," Zekra replied with a lot of hesitance. "I don't really know what he did… but I'll give it a shot. Can't be that hard."
The false Zoroark set her skewer down and made her way over to her two friends. With a deep breath, Zekra let the violet light cover her, where she immediately became the Xatu they once knew. She looked into Terron's eyes for a moment before attempting to telepathically enter his brain. She wasn't entirely sure what she was doing, but she didn't think it would be so difficult; she could always use other elemental powers so easily. What made psychic powers so different?
Within moments, Zekra was in Terron's mind. She couldn't attempt to understand how she had done so, but she didn't question it. Instead, she began her search for a way to get rid of the symbol.
"How's it going?" Terron asked, able to feel her presence lingering around in his head.
"I'm working on it," Zekra answered. "There's a lot of stuff in here… it's so hard to know where to look."
"Well, keep trying," Terron said. "I'm sure you'll find it."
Zekra gave a small nod as she continued to probe his mind in silence. Terron felt slightly uncomfortable with having someone in his head, but he tried his best to ignore the feeling. He simply waited, trying to keep his mind on other things.
And then, moments later, Zekra suddenly grimaced as her eyes narrowed. Terron felt as though some sort of physical force were suddenly pressing down upon his skull, like it was trying to crush him.
"Hey, what are you doing? Cut it out!" Terron cried.
"I found what I was looking for, but there's like a wall or something in the way!" Zekra explained in agitation. "And I can't get past it!"
"Well stop whatever you're doing!" Terron said as he clutched his skull. "It hurts!"
The crushing force abruptly ceased, and the Cubone's mind felt at ease once more. He let out a sigh as he took off his helmet and rubbed his head.
"Sorry about that," Zekra said as she turned back into her Zoroark form with a small cringe of pain. "I don't really know what happened. I mean, I saw what I was looking for, but when I tried to go near it, it was like something was blocking my way. It was really weird. Well, the whole thing was really weird since I was in someone's brain and all, but that was the weirdest thing of all."
"Huh, strange," Terron remarked. "I wonder what happened."
Zekra became very uneasy as she played with her Zoroark hands.
"You don't think… it was the plagued you that was blocking my way, do you?" she asked quietly.
Terron's heart stopped at the statement. He had almost forgotten how influential the plagued parts of Pokémon could be. Maybe it wasn't able to influence his actions, but perhaps it could interfere with anyone trying to invade his mind.
Is it trying to prevent me from joining the Fellowship again? Terron wondered. Does it know something will happen if I do?
"Thankfully for both of you, I can tell you that's not what's happening," Novus said, snapping Terron and Zekra out of their dread-filled states.
The two looked over at Novus to find that he appeared rather composed and not alarmed in the slightest. It was quite the opposite of how they were just moments ago.
"I have heard that some who harbor psychic abilities can put barriers upon a certain part of Pokémon's minds," Novus explained. "I do not understand how they do it, but they somehow block a section of the mind with a sort of mental barricade. Sometimes, they do this to block off memories from the conscious mind. Other times, they do it to make the Pokémon temporarily unable to remember a specific ability. The list goes on, and how long it lasts depends upon how strong the one who put up such barricade was. I had thought that the Fellowship leader might have put up such wall on your mind, but I wasn't quite sure."
"Huh, I see," Terron said, feeling less panicky now that he had an explanation. "Well, how do we get rid of it then?"
"I'm afraid I don't have the answer to that," Novus said in dismay. "Though, if I had to guess, you would probably have to find the original caster of such psychic energy and ask them to remove it. Of course, you know that this is highly doubtful. So, I'm afraid that you and I are stuck with these marks. Zekra could perhaps make it appear that she does not have hers through her illusion power, but you and I are not so lucky."
"So that's how it is," Terron replied.
Terron let out a small sigh as he tried to get over the fact that his plan now had a setback. He was not terribly upset, but still slightly bothered that he would need to try something else. He set his helmet back onto his head as he pondered.
"Well, maybe Novus's idea will work," Zekra then said. "I mean, if I were recruiting Pokémon, and they told me that they've pretty much done everything they could to join me, I'd be pretty impressed. Well, as long as I didn't figure out that they were turning into monsters…"
"Yeah, you're probably right," Terron said. "I guess we'll try that. I mean, I can't think of anything else to do to get them to let us join them."
The Cubone looked out toward the ocean, to find that the sun had completely disappeared over the horizon and a blanket of darkness and stars now covered the sky. He looked back at his two teammates.
"After dinner, do you guys just wanna go to bed?" he asked. "I mean, we've had a long day, and we need to rest up for tomorrow."
"Yeah, sounds fine with me," Zekra shrugged carelessly as she retrieved the meal she had been cooking and ripped off a large chunk of it with her teeth.
"I feel the same," Novus replied. "What time do you want to depart tomorrow?"
"Probably sometime in the morning after breakfast," Terron said. "The Fellowship should be operational by that point."
Novus gave a slow nod in response. And so, with that discussed, the three continued to eat, engaging in much more light-hearted chatter. They each imagined what the Nestati Fellowship looked like, and what type of Pokémon the leaders were. Was the Fellowship base built into a network of giant trees like the Fellowship they once belonged to? Or, was it perhaps something more unique, like a giant tower made of crystal? Were there ten leaders, or perhaps just two to avoid being too complex? Or, was there simply just one like another particular Fellowship? And if so, how did that leader work alone when the Fellowship seemed to demand working with others according to Novus's words?
Then eventually, the simple musings turned into telling stories. The three began a contest, where they each attempted to tell the most frightening story they could muster.
Attempted.
"… But the Charmeleon couldn't escape from the many ghosts that surrounded him. He tried to run away, but they would always be so quick to catch up to him. And soon, a Mismagius managed to catch that Charmeleon. And with an evil grin, it and the other ghosts took that Charmeleon to the depths of their twisted world… and no one ever saw that Charmeleon again," Terron finished with a smile, having been the one to go first. "The end."
"Tear… that was the worst scary story I've ever heard," Zekra deadpanned. "Really. That was just… no. I had to block out most of it because of how bad it was!"
Terron's face fell into a frown.
"Well sorry that I can't remember any stories that my parents or friends might have told me," Terron snorted. "I think I did pretty well for a guy who doesn't remember anything about his past. Let's see you do better! You're a dark-type. You should be a master of terrorizing everyone because of that."
"Tch, fine! I will!" Zekra cried, rising to her feet. "And for your information , it's the ghost-types that are masters of scaring Pokémon! Don't mix me up with those creeps! I don't go around, wearing a creepy smile, scaring everyone half to death for kicks!"
"Yes, because disturbing them with your violent ways is so much better," Terron deadpanned.
"Oh, shut up and listen to this awesome story!" Zekra spat.
Terron scoffed at the remark and crossed his arms before slouching in his seat. Novus, while appearing quite annoyed with the two's bickering, cast Zekra an uninterested, yet attentive gaze. The Zorua looked upon her two friends, a mischievous grin now forming on her muzzle. A familiar light encased her, and soon, there was a Duskull in her place. She rose a few feet into the air, still wearing her grin while the red light behind her mask rocked back and forth between her two empty eyeholes.
"Let me tell you a story my parents used to tell me when I was younger," Zekra said in her normal voice. "A story… meant to scar even the minds of dark-types like me. A story meant to traumatize all."
Terron and Novus continued to stare at her, not fazed by her words. Zekra paid no mind to this as she spun around once before outstretching her arms.
"Once upon a time, there was once this family who lived near a giant forest. Just like the forest we're next to right now," Zekra began. "They were a family of Persian, and they only had one Meowth as their child. He was such a sweet little boy. The two parents loved him very much. They spent all of their hours playing with him, whether it was running through the fields to play chase with him, or taking him with them to go visit the city whenever they had errands to run. Their lives revolved around their son.
"Though, there was one thing they always told their little Meowth. Even though he could explore wherever he wanted, he was never to go into the forest near his home. They said that it was full of such dangerous Pokémon that would kill him. The Meowth asked if he could go inside with his parents, but they also refused that. They said he could when he grew up and became a Persian, but because he was still so young, he couldn't go in there at all. So naturally, that Meowth decided to ignore his parents and see what the forest held. He waited til they were both asleep one night, and then snuck out and went into the forest."
Zekra's grin seemed to widen as her one eye became eerily bright. She silently hovered over to Terron before going behind him. She sat down on top of his skull before peering down to stare into Terron's eyes. The Cubone glanced up at her, not feeling as frightened as she probably hoped he'd be.
"And so the little Meowth went into the forest," Zekra said, her voice now lowering. "He wandered about, finding that there were no Pokémon about. But, he knew there had to be something interesting about the place, otherwise his parents never would have told him to stay away. So he kept going deeper and deeper into the forest. Deeper… and deeper… through the glades… through the twisted trees…
"The trees… those endless trees… those trees with branches that swayed when no wind blew…"
The Cubone started to shrink in his spot. He didn't like the voice Zekra was now using. He knew why this was so, but he wasn't sure if she was faking it to get a scare out of him, or because of an entirely different reason.
"He went through the trees and further into the darkness. The darkness seemed to get thicker, and every time he looked around, he could have sworn he saw pairs of eyes watching him at every turn. So, he decided he wanted to leave. He turned around and went back the way he came… but found he didn't know how to get back. He had lost his way. But he still tried. He still tried to find a way back.
"But just as he started to walk away, he saw something. Something standing there a few feet away from him. Watching him with eyes that glowed as bright as the full moon."
Zekra was no longer behind Terron. Somehow, she was now a distance away from him, still in her Duskull form. She was no longer smiling. Her eyes illuminated with such ominousness as they fixed upon him. As though there was a star burning behind her own mask.
Terron found himself slowly inching away from her.
"The Meowth looked at the thing. He stared at it for a long time, too scared to move. And then, it started to move. It went forward a little."
Zekra hovered toward Terron, lessening the distance between them by just an inch.
"And then it moved again. Closer to him."
Once again, the false Duskull silently glided forward. This time, she decreased the distance even more, so that she was only about a foot away from the Cubone.
"And soon, it was before him. It was standing so close, its eyes so bright that he feared that he would go blind. And the Meowth saw just what the thing was."
Terron held his breath as the Duskull continued to float there, her eyes void of any sort of soul. He wanted to run away, but found that he couldn't move any of his limbs.
"Standing there… in front of the Meowth…
"WAS A PLAGUED ONE!"
Without warning, Zekra sprang at the Cubone, her form changing as she swooped through the air. Terron screamed in fright at the sudden attack, and before he could even attempt to figure out what form Zekra had taken on, he felt her ram into him. The two went tumbling backwards along the sand, until their momentum finally ceased. Terron snapped open his eyes and found Zekra holding him down, having taken on Zeverous's form. She smiled at him with such an evil, sly grin, the illusion light in her eyes shining with amusement; there was no longer any eeriness.
Terron felt a powerful rage flare up inside him. He grit his teeth and tried to get up so he could punch her in the face, but Zekra kept his wrists pinned down. She started laughing hysterically so much, that Terron thought she might actually fall over.
"You should have seen the look on your face!" Zekra cried joyously, once again sounding like herself. "Hahahah! You were buying it so much! And when I 'attacked' you… Hahaha! You really looked like you were going to faint!"
"Get off me, Zekra," Terron growled.
But Zekra was too busy laughing to give the Cubone any mind. Or, perhaps she was smart enough to understand what Terron would do, if she released him.
"What an utter waste of a story. It almost had the potential to be a decent tale."
Zekra abruptly stopped laughing as she glanced behind her. Staring at her from his seat by the fire, with a very dissatisfied scowl, was Novus.
"What do you mean? It scared Tear! That was the whole point!" Zekra cried. "They're called 'scary' stories for a reason you know!"
"Yes, but the story should also have a purpose," Novus stated flatly. "Your story simply built upon scare tactics. There was no build up to the supposed Plagued One in those woods. You simply added that in to terrorize Terron. Besides, the story never ended, thus there was no moral to be learned. I know how the true story goes, and it makes a wonderful story, but you completely ruined it by replacing the true horror of the story with a forced abomination. Then you abruptly ended it. It was very dissatisfying."
Zekra began to snarl, but Novus's unimpressed expression didn't change.
"Allow me to tell a story that conveys horror the proper way," the Quilava said. "Perhaps you'll learn something. Have a seat; I'd rather not tell this story with you two fighting amongst each other."
Zekra glanced back at Terron, and with a low growl, she released her claws from the Cubone and returned to her true form. Terron got back to his feet, wiping all of the sand on his coat as he shot Zekra a nasty glare. She returned it with a quick flash of a twisted smile before making her way back to the campfire. Terron followed her, but was very sure to sit far away from the impish Zorua.
When the two were both seated and relatively calmed down, Novus went into the ditch and stood in front of the bonfire. He turned around to face the two, wearing his ever-solemn persona.
"Many centuries ago, the great beings known as legendaries still lived among the mortals," Novus began. "It was a time of peace, where all creatures were in harmony with one another. The mortals did not speak with the great beings as if they were companions and not godly creatures… but they could still converse with such deities if sought out and found. The great beings still heeded the requests of the lowly mortals. It was truly such a wonderful world to live in.
"But one day, a blight was brought upon the world. A foul disease that polluted everything it touched. And, it was no ordinary disease. It was a terrible sickness that spread about the land like a wildfire, twisting everything and anything it could touch. No one was spared from its grasp. Mortals fell victim to it, perishing instantly. So, just as they always had, the mortals of the land prayed to the great beings, asking them to stop the blight that was infecting their beloved world.
"Of course, the great beings honored this request. They had no reason not to. After all, it was their purpose in life to protect the lowly mortals in times such as this. The Great and Mortal beings gathered and sent forth a Darkrai, the incarnation of nightmares and fear, to investigate where the blight had first come from. Becoming one with the shadows, it went forward to the horrendous place, where the very trees had become corrupt and twisted into such gnarled forms."
Novus paused a moment and seemed to glance off to the side, as if to consider something.
"It never returned from such place. Wondering what had happened, three more Mortal legendaries went forward in an attempt to find the Darkrai. Their names were a Raikou, Entei, and Suicune. Together, the three entered the twisted domain as the other beings watched from afar, waiting. Wondering. Trembling in the thought of what could have caused a great being to disappear, even if it was a mortal legendary."
"Mortal legendary?" Terron asked.
"It is term used to describe the least powerful of the great beings," Novus explained. "Mortal legendaries, I call them. They are legendaries who are very similar to us mortals, in that they will eventually die, even if their lifespan reaches dozens of centuries. They bleed, they cannot reincarnate, and they cannot leave their physical body at any moment and return to it unlike the other great beings. Yet, they still possess such god-like power within their fleshy, mortal bodies. There's a few other differences about them, but I'll explain that another time."
"Huh, I see," Terron said. "Okay, go on."
"The great beings waited for the trio to return," Novus continued. "They waited for a year. But… they never returned. So, in a cowardly act, the great beings abandoned the quest of trying to stop the source of the blight and fled from the sight. They fled, hoping that they could find another way to end the madness. One being, of course, recommended that they send one of the more powerful beings to the feared place, such as Yveltal. Hearing this, they tried that, and sent forth Rayquaza. They decided that if Rayquaza was slain, then surely he would reincarnate later, and they would question him once he was born anew a time later.
"Several more years passed. Rayquaza never returned. The Great and Mortal legendaries grew alarmed by this, unable to understand why this was so. Surely, he would have come back by now. If he had died, then surely he would have returned, whether in spirit or in a reborn body. But, he never did. The beings did not know what to do. They could not ask for help from the Ethereal Beings, for they greatly feared what would happen, should such vital deities vanish from the world. Time would collapse perhaps. The many dimensions in the universe would surely unravel and become intertwined with others, creating havoc. So many horrifying thoughts flooded the beings' minds. So, they forever fled from the place where their brethren had fallen. They vowed to stay away from it at all costs as they searched for another way to end the blight. Surely, there had been a way to end the plague.
"Surely… surely-"
Novus suddenly became still. His eyes darted around frantically into the darkness that surrounded the group. Terron and Zekra, who had been so entranced by the story, quickly snapped out of it once they saw something wasn't right.
"Novus? What's wrong?" Terron asked uneasily.
"I saw something moving in the shadows," Novus stated, becoming very tense. "It was just for a brief moment, but I saw a creature. We are not alone."
The Quilava quickly ignited himself with the very flames burning within him, trying to illuminate the area even more so than the bonfire was. However, the light showed nothing. There was no one but the three on the beach. Even still, Novus didn't seem any more relieved. He gazed back at his two friends.
"Prepare yourselves," Novus instructed. "We may have a battle upon us soon."
Terron grimaced as he wearily took out his bone clubs from his coat. He really didn't want to fight right now; he wished for some time to relax before he would go about battling again. Though, he supposed this was inevitable, since tomorrow might require him to fight somehow too.
"I don't believe that's necessary."
Terron, Zekra, and Novus quickly looked to their side, to find that there was someone sitting near the fire, staring into the glowing embers with a dull gaze. The three had no idea when the Pokémon got there, or how it managed to do so without them noticing, but they did know one thing; who this Pokémon was.
It was the Greninja.
"You…" Terron gasped as something dawned upon him. "You were that blur I saw earlier today… that was you…"
The Greninja blinked once before locking his sights onto the tense team. His eyes flickered with the light coming from the bonfire.
"What is it that you want to accomplish at all costs?" the Greninja asked. "What was it, so that you turned to someone such as myself to assist you in leaving Shirra? That caused you to abandon an entire family without a second thought?"
"Something," Terron answered as he clenched his grasp upon his club. "Now, why are you here? Don't try to change the subject."
The mercenary seemed to glance off to the side, as if to ignore the question. Terron was about to give a loud retort, but before he could, the Greninja was once again glancing back at the Cubone.
"The ones who once took care of you hired me to assist you," the Greninja answered. "They told me to accompany you to wherever you went, until you completed your goal."
Terron did not expect to get such a straight answer so quickly. He tried to say something, but found the shock he felt overwhelmed him. His thoughts almost seemed to cease. The Sylveon and Glaceon had done this for them? The two cared so much about the team, that they no doubt spent a small fortune to have someone protect them? Even though the Eevee evolutions had no idea what the team was truly trying to accomplish?
"I ask again what this goal is," the Greninja said.
Terron knew this wasn't a question; it was a demand. Though, there was no hint of hostility in the Greninja's voice.
"How do we know that you were truly hired by our former caretakers?" Novus asked instead. "Simply giving your word does not mean you are speaking the truth."
"If I was not hired, then why would I follow you three?" the Greninja asked in return. "You three are of no use to me at the moment; you no longer have anything of worth. You are worthless to me. You just happen to be of value now, because two Pokémon paid me to find you of value."
Novus cast a suspicious glare at the Greninja, but it was only returned with the usual indifference of the mercenary.
"I don't care if you don't find me trustworthy," the Greninja then said. "Your opinions do not matter to me. However, I ask again, to tell me what you so desperately wish to accomplish. That way, I may know when I can leave you three, knowing I have fulfilled my task."
Terron frowned uncomfortably as he started to consider his options. He wasn't entirely sure if he trusted this mercenary and his words, but he knew that the Greninja wasn't going to leave. He was bent on getting an answer. Then, if the Greninja's words to be believed, he'd never leave the team alone until their goal was reached. Though the thought of having an extra addition to his team did appeal to Terron, he wasn't sure if he wanted this Greninja as that new team member. There was something foreboding about him, but Terron couldn't tell what it could be.
He considered the idea of somehow trying to get rid of the Greninja right now, probably by knocking him out, but Terron knew the chances of that were slim. Though he was only one Pokémon, this Greninja was a mercenary, someone who held a plethora of skills to survive just about anything the world threw at them. Even against a trainer who had studied the ways of battle for years, a Zorua who could change into just about anything in a second, and a Cubone with a versatile amount of weapons, that Greninja still had a strong chance of being able to avoid each of their attacks with his impressive speeds.
Even still, the Cubone tried something.
"We… don't really need your help," Terron said, finding his voice to be much weaker than he wanted it to sound. "We're fine on our own. Can't you just… go back to our old caretakers and give them back their money or something?"
"I'm afraid I don't operate that way," the Greninja said with a shake of his head. "I do not give refunds, nor do I abandon a task once it is given to me by a client. I keep my word."
"Even if we don't want you to be with us?" Terron asked.
"Yes," the Greninja answered. "Your opinion doesn't matter to me; I am simply doing what my clients paid me to do. You can try all you want to rid yourself of me, but I'm afraid that doing so won't help you. I will assist you, until your goal is met. You can't convince me otherwise. Not with bribery, nor with violence, nor anything else you can possibly think of."
Terron grit his teeth, trying to think of something else to say.
"We need to get some information from the Fellowship," Zekra suddenly said. "Something that we think they're hiding. That's what our goal is."
Terron and Novus both shot Zekra stunned glances, surprised that she had explained, albeit somewhat vaguely, what their plan was. They wanted to take back what she had just said, but it was too late. The Greninja had heard her.
"And how do you plan to go about obtaining this information?" the Greninja asked.
"By… pretending to join the Fellowship so we can search it from the inside," Zekra answered.
"So that is your plan," the Greninja said simply. "Tell me; what will you do with this information, once you obtain it?"
"… I can't tell you that," Zekra replied with great reluctance. "Sorry, but I can't. But that's all you need to know; help us get our information. Then, you can leave us behind and go find other jobs to take."
The mercenary continued to look at Zekra, saying nothing. An uncomfortable feeling wafted through the team as they waited for the Greninja's reaction. There was nothing else they could do.
"Very well then," the Greninja then said with a calm tone, turning his gaze away from the three and back into the fire. "After you find this information you seek, I will leave you three. My clients did not say I must work with you until you reach your true goal, and I find no reason to continuously work with you, when you obviously do not wish for my presence."
He got up from his seat in the sand.
"I can tell you want to talk amongst yourselves, so I'll provide you that as I hunt," the Greninja then said. "You have five minutes before I return."
And then, he disappeared into the darkness, just like that. Though Terron wasn't too sure if the Greninja had actually left them alone, he did feel the urge to speak to Zekra grow immensely. He looked away from where the mercenary once was, and brought his attention to the Zorua.
"Why did you tell him about what we're going to do?" Terron asked her with a hint of annoyance. "Why? You know we can't trust just anybody with what we're doing."
"Because he seemed trustworthy to me," Zekra replied dismissively, as if the entire situation was not too much of a big deal to her.
"How? How did he seem trustworthy?" Terron seethed. "I mean, he just shows up out of nowhere and says he going to help us. Then not only that, but he says that he's doing this because the Sylveon and Glaceon paid him to help us. How do we know that for sure? He never gave us any real proof. He never gave us any real reason to trust him. Do you trust him just because you think he's awesome and want his abilities? Is that what's going on?"
Zekra scowled. She looked over at the spot where the Greninja had been at for a few seconds before looking back at her Terron.
"That's not it," Zekra answered seriously. "As tempting as it is to have him stick around for just that reason, I wouldn't do it. Me having one really cool form and all of those cool abilities isn't worth putting our safety in jeopardy. I just feel like I can trust that Greninja for some reason. Like, I get a really good feeling about him. Maybe it's because we're both dark-types and I share a weird connection with him because of that, but that's what it is. And besides…"
Zekra looked directly into Terron's eyes, as if peering past his persona and deep into his core. Her gaze narrowed as a dark glint became apparent in her eyes.
"You trust somebody for no real reason too," Zekra then said. "So, why can't I do the same?"
Hearing this stunned Terron for just a moment. He opened his mouth to say something, but then realized that she was right. Her reason for trusting the Greninja was based on the same thing that made Terron trust Yimtri's words; a feeling. A simple hunch that told them that the other Pokémon could be believed.
It took the Cubone a moment to respond.
"Still… I don't completely trust Yimtri," Terron said, finding he could speak again.
"And I don't either with that Greninja," Zekra then said. "I just told him that one thing, since he wanted to know. I mean, it's not like we could have been able to avoid not answering the question; he would have forced it out of us somehow. So yeah. I explained it as vaguely as I possibly could. I'm not going to do something silly, like explain everything we need to do. No, that's just stupid. I know there's stuff we gotta keep a secret."
"I… see," Terron replied. "Okay… so maybe you do know what you're doing."
"Well of course!" Zekra said with a smug smile. "I'm a dark-type after all; we're crafty and stuff. We don't fall for lies so easily, though that's probably because we're so talented at making them in the first place, soooo…"
"Okay, okay, fine," Terron said. "Sorry that I questioned you, I guess. I'm just worried is all. I really don't want anything to go wrong. Having a traitor on our team is the last thing we need…"
"Heh, it's fine, it's fine," Zekra said carelessly. "For a second, I thought I would have to do a repeat of what Novus did to you earlier. Sort of."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Terron sighed. "We've all been questioning each other lately; we should really learn to just trust each other with our decisions."
"I wouldn't necessarily call it 'questioning' as much as I would call it 'clarification'," Novus then said, entering the conversation. "When I ask you questions, I do not do it out of mistrust; I do it out of wanting to understand your words more. It is simply trying to better communicate with you. Sometimes the two blur and it is hard to tell the difference between the two, but do know that I never question your motives. I might question your reasoning behind something, but never your overall motive."
"Thanks, Novus," Terron said with a small smile. "That means a lot to me."
The Quilava gave a nod of understanding. Terron then looked over at his other companion.
"Alright, I guess I'll trust you with this Greninja thing," he said to Zekra. "I mean, you trust me with my decisions, so it's only fair that I also trust you . I just hope that having that Greninja around isn't too much of a bother, since I'm pretty sure he's not going to leave us alone that often…"
"We'll manage somehow," Zekra shrugged. "Maybe we just won't talk about the Plagued Ones until we find out what's going on in the Fellowship. I mean, that's the only thing we'd have to worry about."
"I guess…" Terron replied.
"We'll be fine," Zekra said confidently.
And then, her gaze wandered back to a particular spot near the bonfire. Terron and Novus followed her gaze, and found that the Greninja was once again occupying the spot. In his webbed hands was a Goldeen. Its body seemed to be raked with deep streaks.
"Managed to get something, huh?" Terron asked.
The Greninja nodded before sitting down and looking upon his meal. He raised a hand into the air and then brought it down upon the corpse. His three fingers suddenly became encased in a violet light that took on the form of sharp claws that ripped through the Goldeen with ease. The creature's tail was torn cleanly torn off a second later.
"What are your names?" the Greninja asked as he then sliced off the head in a similar fashion.
"What?" Terron asked, finding the question sudden and unexpected.
"Your names," the Greninja said again. "What are they? I would like to be able to address you by something other than Cubone, Zorua, and Quilava."
"Oh. Well, I'm Terron," the Cubone said somewhat awkwardly.
"I am Novus," the Quilava said with a small nod of his head.
"And I'm Zekra!" the Zorua said with much more enthusiasm in her voice. "What's your name?"
The Greninja turned the maimed corpse over in his hands a few times, slicing it apart into several more pieces with his energy claws. He did this for a time, until he had managed to cut his prey into five pieces. The blood from the corpse smeared all over his hands and dripped onto the sand.
"Blight," the Greninja answered. "That's who I am."
"Blight… that's a really awesome name," Zekra beamed. "Alright, nice to have you with us, Blight!"
The mercenary didn't give any sort of response. Instead, he went about with eating his meal in silence. Seeing that there was not much else to talk about, Terron, Zekra, and Novus gathered together so that they could call it a night. However, just after they had all managed to snuggle amongst another and were ready to sleep, they had an interruption.
"When do you plan to leave for the Fellowship?" the Greninja asked.
"Umm, tomorrow morning," Terron answered. "We're not really in any rush, though."
"Very well then," Blight replied. "Rest for now. I may not be here when you wake up, but I will be with you when you depart. Remember that."
Terron simply gave a nod in response. And though it felt somewhat odd to be in the company of the mercenary, Terron found himself falling asleep in a matter of minutes. Hopefully, everything would go fine tomorrow.
Hopefully, having this new, forced addition to their team would not end up ruining everything.