x
Chapter 39
Wishing for the Best
When Terron awoke the next morning, he found that the great bonfire had completely burned out. In its place was now a pile of ash that grew smaller with each breeze of wind that passed. Novus was standing on the rim of the ditch that once held fire, staring absently into the cold soot below. Zekra was still slumbering besides the Cubone, curled up against his side to keep warm.
Blight, on the other hand, was nowhere in sight. However, Terron didn't panic over the thought of this, since the Greninja had said that he might not be around in the morning. Terron wasn't quite sure why he wouldn't be with the team at that time, but he tried not to think about it too much. He needed to try putting some trust into Blight like Zekra was doing. If Team Vendetta was going to work with that Greninja for what could quite possibly become months, then they'd need to not question everything he did. For the most part.
"Good morning," Novus spoke to the Cubone. "If you want some breakfast, I'm afraid we don't have any. You will probably need to ask Zekra to hunt for prey in the sea when she wakes up."
"Well, I'm not that hungry thankfully, so I can wait," Terron said as he sat up and stretched his arms. "Did you see Blight leave when you woke up, though?"
"Sadly, I did not," the Quilava replied. "He was already gone by the time the first ray of sunlight shined upon me. However, the footprints he left in the sand suggest that he went into the sea."
"Huh, maybe he went to get something to eat," Terron said. "Even if a few hours is an awfully long time to go hunting…"
Terron pondered in something for a moment.
"Novus, what do you think of Blight?" he then asked. "Do you think it's right to trust him?"
"I thought you trusted Zekra in her decision," Novus said instead.
"Well, I do," Terron quickly said. "I think she's got good judgment over things like this. But I just want to know what you think, since I don't think I ever asked you. And, because yeah… I don't know what to think myself really."
Novus gave a slow nod.
"I understand," the Quilava replied. "Well then, here's what I have to say; I do not trust Blight. I truly don't. However, that only comes from the fact that he hasn't given me a reason to trust him. I know he kept his word when he assisted us for a brief time back on Shirra, but that was rather insignificant compared to what he is helping us with now. Thus, I need a reason to believe in him. An honest reason that will prove he is truly not lying. It's the same thought I share about everyone else. I don't trust anyone from the start; they need to give me a reason to believe them. I do not believe in blind trust.
"Do you remember when I first met you and Zekra? I immediately found you untrustworthy because I was attacked and then retaliated against Zekra. But, then you gave me a reason to trust you, and I began to ignore the doubt that had been in my heart. Perhaps the same will happen with Blight. Perhaps. But, until then, he is someone I will not share my secrets with. You and Zekra can all you want, but I won't until the mercenary has proven he is honest."
"Huh, I see," Terron said, trying to take everything in.
"Yes, so hopefully that answers your question," Novus replied. "As for what you think you should believe, well, that is ultimately up to you. I would recommend that you follow what I do, but I get the feeling that you will probably end up putting your trust in the Greninja far earlier than I will."
"Maybe," Terron chuckled. "I guess I'll see. But alright, thanks. I think I have a better idea of what to think now."
"If you insist," Novus said.
The Cubone looked over at the Zorua, finding she was still asleep. His stomach growled, bringing a small amount of discomfort to him. With a sigh, Terron shook Zekra with both of his hands.
"Hey, wake up," he said as gently as he could. "It's morning already."
Zekra let out a low whine, but didn't complain otherwise. She shook her head as her eyes opened, and yawned. She blinked a few times before glancing over at Novus and Terron. She was quick to notice what was missing from the scene.
"Hey, where did Blight go?" she asked.
"We don't know," Terron shrugged.
"Oh, I see," Zekra said, not quite sure how to respond. "Well, he'll come back. He said he would."
"Yeah, hopefully," Terron replied. "Anyway, do you think you can get us something to eat? Novus and I would do it ourselves, but you know, then we'd have to go in the water."
"Heh, I'm not surprised you'd wake me up just for that," Zekra smirked. "Fine, fine. I'll go get us something like the awesome predator I am. You guys want anything in particular, or just whatever?"
"Simply anything edible," Novus answered. "I'm not a very selective being."
"Yeah, same here," Terron said carelessly. "Just don't get something like a Qwilfish."
Zekra's smug smile only grew as she got to her feet. Then, without another word, she bolted for the ocean. The second she dove into the waves, she changed into a Sharpedo and disappeared from the group's sight. While they waited for her to return, Terron and Novus took the remaining wood they had gathered from yesterday and constructed yet another campfire. By the time the two had finished creating a near exact copy of last night's fire, they saw Zekra coming out of the receding water. However, she was not alone with her fresh prey; there was a certain Greninja in her company.
Terron and Novus watched the two come and pile up the small amount of corpses near the bonfire.
"I found Blight," Zekra said pleasantly. "He was just in the ocean, practicing these cool, underwater killing tricks. But then he saw me, and he decided to help me out with getting all of this stuff."
"Killing tricks…" Terron repeated slowly.
"Yeah!" Zekra said eagerly. "Like, he could kill six Pokémon in one minute just by swimming past them really quickly and slicing them in half! It was awesome!"
A mental image of that description immediately became burned into Terron's mind. He could see all of the blood clouding up the water with the severed corpses slowly floating toward the surface and Blight hovering in the red water with his usual stare of indifference. If he hadn't been so used to the idea of violent slaughter, Terron knew he probably would have cringed in disgust.
"How many Pokémon did you end up killing?" Terron asked the Greninja.
"Dozens," Blight answered.
Terron felt his body shudder.
"Why… did you kill so many?" Terron then asked. "I'm pretty sure ten would have been enough…"
"Practice," Blight answered. "I need practice."
Terron didn't know how to respond to that statement. The way Blight said it sounded so empty and cold. Like it was a rather casual thing to say in a conversation rather than it being utterly disturbing to any normal Pokémon.
"Well anyway, I got you a Clauncher, Tear," Zekra then said as she picked up the creature in her mouth and tossed it to him. "It looks pretty tasty to me. And for you Novus, I got a Basculin. I figured just one Pokémon for each of us was good enough for our breakfast. And because I was lazy."
"You simply didn't collect the prey that Blight slaughtered earlier and bring it here?" Novus asked.
"I would have, but it was all soggy and all of the good stuff was coming out of the corpses by the time I-"
"Never mind then," Novus cut in, not wanting to hear the rest of the gory details. "This will do, I suppose."
The four attached their meals to the skewers from the previous night, then roasted the food over the fire and ate together in silence. There was not much chatter among the group, except for Zekra talking to Blight every few minutes or so to ask questions about his abilities. They ranged from asking about how he was able to maneuver through the water so quickly, to how he was able to strike with such accurate precision. And yet, with each question, Blight didn't give much of an answer. Though when he did say something in return, it was always met with a simple "It's the way of the Greninja".
Eventually, the team finished their breakfast and tossed their leftovers into the flames. The scraps were quick to catch fire and reduce to ash.
"Alright, you guys ready to get going?" Terron asked.
"Yep! I'm ready!" Zekra cheered. "Hopefully the nearest town isn't too far away. And hopefully they've got a map of some kind."
"You don't know where Nestati City is?" Blight then asked.
"Well, no, we don't," Zekra answered shyly. "We've never been there before. We usually just stayed on the west side of Shiron when we used to be here… and the north a little…"
The Greninja glanced toward the forest. He didn't say anything as he continued to stare at seemingly nothing.
"I know where it is," Blight then said as he looked back at Zekra. "I can point you in its direction as we fly. You can fly, can't you?"
"Yeah, I can," Zekra answered. "But, I don't know if all of you are going to be able to sit on me in the form I use."
"Show me the form you take on," Blight stated. "I'll be the judge of that."
Though confused, Zekra gave an affirmative nod. The light sprouted from her amulet and body, and soon, she became Vantis. She stood tall before the Greninja, towering over him. And yet, Blight didn't seem fazed in the slightest. He only walked over to her side.
"Flygon," he said simply. "I thought you'd say you had a Noivern for your flight form. Whatever the case, your form will fit me and your two companions. Though, you may need to carry one of them in your arms. But yes, we will all be able to be flown by you."
"Well if you say so," Zekra shrugged. "Hey Tear, you wanna be the one I hold on our flight?"
"Might as well," Terron said. "You'd better not drop me, though."
"Oh, you worry too much," Zekra said with an evil grin.
Terron let out a snort, but didn't say anything otherwise as he walked over to Zekra to prepare for yet another long flight.
"I believe we are forgetting something," Novus then said.
Everyone looked over at the Quilava, to find that he was pointing at the bonfire that still burned brightly and powerfully. It didn't take them long to understand what he was trying to imply.
"But it's in the middle of sand," Zekra stated. "It'll burn out on its own. What's going to catch fire if we leave it alone?"
"The embers can fly through the air if a breeze catches them and set the forest ablaze," the Quilava scoffed. "I may be of the fire affinity, but I do not relish in the thought of any part of the world burning down by a careless act. So, put it out. I'd do it myself, but I am useless against large fires. I cannot stamp them out."
"Alright, fine," Zekra said before glancing over at Blight. "Can you put out the fire for us?"
"I don't have that ability," Blight said plainly.
Everyone immediately brought their stunned gazes to the Greninja. His apathetic persona was not broken.
"What do you mean you can't put out the fire?" Terron asked in disbelief. "You're a water-type, aren't you?"
"I only know of one ability that uses water," Blight explained. "But, that ability will not extinguish fires. We Greninja don't use many water abilities."
"But surely as a Froakie or Frogadier, you knew more water abilities," Novus said. "You had to; you would have never survived without your sole element of water. You didn't have the darkness affinity inside you yet. So, why don't you remember them anymore?"
The Greninja glanced over at the Quilava. For a brief second, there was a glimmer in his eyes. Yet, no one could tell what emotion had just so briefly glinted in his eyes.
"We forget them when we become Greninja," Blight answered. "It's a consequence of gaining a new type."
"I didn't know such a thing happened when you gained another affinity," Novus said, somewhat skeptical. "I've never heard of that happening to other Pokémon…"
"It happens to Greninja," Blight stated as he turned away. "Zekra, put out the fire. Then, we leave."
"Ohh, um, okay," Zekra said awkwardly, caught off-guard by the sudden shift in conversation.
The light washed over her, and then stood a Buizel where the Flygon once was. Zekra once again flinched as she felt the Deception Amulet sap away some of her health, but didn't focus on that. Instead, she shot a small stream of water at the fire, and doused it completely. Now, only a pile of wet kindling and ashes sat in the pit. With that taken care of, she changed back into Vantis and crouched down for her team to get on her.
As Blight and Novus climbed onto her back, Terron went to her front and let her wrap her arms around him. She stood up, and then after making sure that everyone wouldn't fall off, slowly rose into the air.
"Alright, which way do we go?" Zekra asked as she continued to ascend.
Blight, who was sitting in the front, grabbed ahold of her two antennae with his webbed hands. He pulled the appendages to his right, causing Zekra to quickly turn herself in that direction. She now had her back to the ocean and was facing the forest.
"I will steer you there," Blight answered. "So fly, Zekra. Fly until you feel you must rest. It will take us quite a while to reach Nestati City."
Zekra nodded slowly. With a deep breath, she sped into the direction, the world sweeping past her and the team like a blur.
Blight had been correct in saying that it would take a long while to reach their destination; it had taken them all day to finally make it to the Nestati City. By the time they had finally arrived at the very entrance of the glorious city, it was well into the night. Very close to midnight, in fact.
Their flight had been a rather uneventful one, but as with their flight to Dusk Mines, their flyer was forced to take a break ever forty minutes or so wherever she could. Whether it was on top of a mountain overlooking sprawling landscapes, along the edge of rivers, or even within various cities to get their meals, they always found somewhere to rest for a time. And on every one of these breaks, Zekra would always appear so exhausted, yet stayed strong enough not to pass out. Terron could tell that Zekra was very proud of that.
Blight and Novus leapt off Zekra's back, allowing her to gently set Terron onto the ground. With everyone now off her, Zekra gave a relieved sigh and changed back into herself.
"Ahhh, we're finally here," Zekra breathed pleasantly. "Finally, after like thirteen hours of flying. Whew! Ugh, I need to find a form that can fly faster."
"Pokémon with the blinding speeds you want are typically Noivern and Aerodactyl," Novus answered. "I'm aware that Ninjask are also very swift flyers, but they don't have much stamina, nor are they very large. So, if you want to have faster flight, find those Pokémon."
"Actually, I think I've seen an Aerodactyl and Noivern," Zekra said. "But, I didn't think that they were all that fast because I didn't see them fly really."
"Is that so?" Novus asked. "They are always soaring through the air. How did you find them when they were not flying?"
Zekra averted her gaze as a reluctant frown came across her face.
"I just found them when they were passed out in these weird woods they shouldn't be in," Zekra answered. "Up north."
"Oh, I see," Novus replied, realizing that she was talking about Erebus Woods. "Well, never mind then."
"Strange woods you say?" Blight then asked. "What are these woods? They certainly sound strange if they had Noivern and Aerodactyl living inside them."
Terron, Novus, and Zekra glanced up at the Greninja. Though he remained stoic, they could tell that he was rather curious to know more about the forest they spoke of. An uncomfortable feeling washed over each of them. However, it was Zekra who felt it the most, since Blight was staring directly at her.
"I don't remember the name," Zekra answered. "I was just there a few years ago when I got myself lost in them. Don't really know much about the woods. Sorry."
Blight said nothing. He blinked once, and then looked out toward the city for the first time since the four arrived. The three silently sighed, glad to know that they didn't have to talk more about the dreaded place.
"It's a shame that you couldn't see them when they were in flight," Blight then said. "Zorua and Zoroark can only copy abilities if they see them. That includes flight, despite it being such a basic ability of winged Pokémon. But, enough about that. This is Nestati City."
Blight went forward into the town, the three members of Team Vendetta following behind him.
The four walked through the town shrouded in midnight darkness, their way lit by the dozens of orange-flamed lanterns that lined the streets, all shaped in the form of a Lampet. Terron eyed the first they saw with a suspicious look.
"I hope those things aren't real," he said cautiously.
"Well they do look kinda soul-less and creepy," Zekra stopped alongside Terron, looking up with him at the flames. "That would be real awesome if these really were Lampent. Heh, maybe I should test them out."
"That would be unnecessary," Novus said as he walked by them. "They clearly are made of stone and glass. That, and Lampet have the unnerving habit of keeping their gaze upon you as you pass by them. These are clearly not moving. ...thankfully."
Terron glanced uneasily to the lantern again and walked after the group into the town proper.
Their feet grazed not cobblestone roads, but barren ground as they tread further into the town. Their footprints stamped into the ground, adding to the collection of hundreds of other footprints embedded into the streets.
As the team tread deeper into the town, the team was quick to find that the buildings were not built into trees nor were they crafted to bear the resemblance of Pokémon heads. Instead, they were giant, silk cocoons. It took Terron a moment to make sure he was seeing things correctly, but the buildings were indeed cocoons. They rested on the ground, greatly ranging in size, seemingly no entrance or exit in any of them. Thick strands of silk sprouted from the sides of the buildings and seemed to connect to anything they could touch, including other cocoons nearby. There were no buildings made of wood or metal; it was these silk cocoons, no doubt made from the efforts of countless bug-type Pokémon.
But the most notable part of the city was what seemed to stand in the distance. Though Terron could only vaguely make out what he was seeing, there appeared to be a castle of sorts out a ways. It was resting in the city, towering high above everything else, shining like a giant pillar.
"So this is the city where the Nestati Fellowship is…" Terron remarked. "It's so… different."
"Ugh, it's got bug stuff everywhere," Zekra spat. "I hate bug stuff. I always get tangled up in them and think that the bugs will suck up my insides once they've got me. Uggggh…"
"The castle is the Nestati Fellowship," Blight then said. "It's at the very heart of the city. Getting to it isn't a problem, but I suggest you get some rest before you visit. You've been flying all day."
Terron turned to look at his teammates to find that they were starting to show signs of fatigue, now that they were given a moment to relax. Novus's eyes were drooping and Zekra seemed to fall asleep for a few seconds before instantly snapping back awake with a jolt, only to repeat the process again and again. Even Terron felt the drowsiness slowly creep into him, despite doing his best to fight it off.
"Yeah… that sounds like a good idea," Terron said. "Let's go look somewhere outside the city to sleep."
So with tired nods, the four Pokémon turned around in search of some makeshift shelter. Thankfully, they managed to find a large tree within a few moments. They were too exhausted to make a hole in the trunk, or even climb up the branches like Blight did. Instead, Terron, Novus, and Zekra simply gathered around the base of the tree and once comfortable, slept under its shroud of branches.
The next morning, Terron was not woken up by the bright beams of the sun. Though he could feel its warm rays shining on him at the moment, he knew that wasn't what disrupted his peaceful slumber. It wasn't even someone shaking him awake, so that they could depart for the Nestati Fellowship.
It was the smell of decay in the air.
The Cubone opened his eyes as soon as the scent filled his nose, and much to his surprise, found his teammates eating slain Rattata. Or rather, Zekra was eating a couple of Rattata while Novus munched on a few berries that were settled in front of him. In between the two were two piles; one made up of Rattata and other small prey, and another of various fruits. As to be expected, Blight was nowhere to be found.
"Oh hey, good morning!" Zekra greeted. "Finally woke up, I see."
"Where did you guys get all of that?" Terron asked as he sat up. "There aren't anyway berry trees around here, and I don't think any wild Pokémon live near here from what I can tell."
"Oh, Blight got them for us," Zekra said. "He just came by a little while ago and handed us all this stuff. He said something about it being from where he was practicing his abilities, and then he just left again to go practice some more. Or something. I didn't really ask. But here, here's some stuff for you."
The Zorua became a Zoroark and grabbed a handful of berries from the pile. Making sure that she didn't accidentally puncture the berries with her sharp claws, she then set them in front of the Cubone before changing back to normal. Terron picked up one of the fruits and turned it over in his hands, finding that it was a Pecha berry. He then looked over at the pile of corpses, noting the number of bodies.
"So he's been killing wild Pokémon again," Terron stated as he ate his berry.
"It seems to be that he's doing this every morning," Novus remarked. "He will wake up far earlier than anyone else, and then leave to slaughter these feral ones with the excuse of doing so for maintaining the mastery of his abilities. That is a rather strange routine, if I must say."
"Yeah, and he's killing so many of them too," Terron replied. "I get that maybe he can't control if he kills, since his attacks might be so powerful, but still. Why is he murdering so many?"
"Maybe he just needs a lot of targets to practice," Zekra shrugged. "I mean, if you kill something in one hit, then you're going to need a lot of bodies to practice on."
"He can't just use trees or something?" Terron then asked. "I get that maybe wild Pokémon provide better targets since they can move and all, but still. They're still living creatures that shouldn't have to die in such an excessive number because someone needs 'practice'…"
Though he didn't want them to, Terron's thoughts immediately went to the one wild Pokémon he had known so well: Impetus. He could see her in his mind right now, giving him a smile as a Mienshao, the evolution she had managed to become shortly before running off. And with that single image, what felt like a weight was placed on his heart.
The Cubone closed his eyes and attempted to block out the depression filling him.
"Well I guess," Zekra said. "But, we can't really stop him. Well, unless you wanna give him your suggestion."
"Maybe," Terron answered absently, still trying to get his mind off his other friend.
"I kill wild ones to practice for the reasons you stated. Inanimate objects simply aren't quite the same. But, I do use such objects at times, just not as often."
Terron's sadness quickly went away as soon as he heard the voice. He and his friends looked up into the tree they were resting under and found Blight sitting among the many branches. He had his arms crossed over his chest with his back resting against the trunk of the tree, as if he had been sitting there for several minutes rather than a couple of seconds.
"How do you re-appear like that without anyone ever noticing you?" Terron asked slowly. "It's really starting to unnerve me. There's no way that any Pokémon can be that fast."
The Greninja turned away from the group.
"But there are," Blight replied indifferently. "Especially if they're Greninja. But, enough of that. I have a question I'd like to ask you before we depart for the Fellowship."
"And what would that be?" Terron asked.
"Those marks on your paws; they're Fellowship marks," Blight said as he brought his gaze back to the team. "You're ex-Fellowship members, aren't you?"
Terron grimaced as he looked at his hand that held the sigil. Blight had seen them after all. Terron had secretly hoped that the Greninja wouldn't notice the marks, but he now realized that wish was futile, since Blight was probably one to be very attentive to details. Still, Terron did his best to remain stoic.
"Yeah, we are," he said, finding there was no reason to deny that fact. "We got dismissed about a month ago."
"So you did," Blight replied. "Dismissed members wishing to go back to the ones who abandoned them. What an interesting sight to see."
The Greninja uncrossed his arms and tented his fingers, as if pondering in the subject more.
"Why do you want to know?" Terron then asked.
"Because it makes me wonder what information you could possibly want from the Fellowship if you were already their members for a time," Blight answered. "Surely you would have found it while you were members. Unless there is something you're not telling me, of course. That's a distinct possibility."
Terron didn't respond to the statement. He had nothing to say that wouldn't give away what their plan was. Thankfully for him, Blight didn't push for more information. The Greninja leapt off the branch and landed before the three. He pointed toward Nestati City.
"It's time to get going," Blight stated.
With a nod of agreement, the four headed back into the town. Upon entering, they were quick to find that the giant cocoons had a single, large hole in each of their fronts. It took the team a moment, but they came to realize that those holes were actually the entrances to the buildings; the cocoons had been closed up completely when they first saw them at night, when everyone was no doubt asleep. While the team didn't wander into any of the makeshift buildings, they were able to peer inside them from afar for a moment or so. Though they did see many stores within those cocoons, they found nothing in particular that interested them.
The team also came to discover that streets were much more occupied than during the previous night. But, not by too much. The streets were still mostly vacant, save for a few Pokémon strolling about them every few minutes or so. However, as they tread deeper into the city, they found that the roads quickly grew much busier. What used to be only six Pokémon wandering down a particular road had turned into twenty. Then forty. Then fifty. It continued to grow in numbers the closer and closer they got to the great castle at the very center of the city. Many of these Pokémon were bug-types, though there were quite a few other types as well. The team was not surprised to see this, as they had suspected that the city had an appeal to the bugs, with the cocoons throughout the place.
After walking for quite a time, the group eventually reached their destination: the Nestati Fellowship. Terron and his friends had to stop for a moment to take in the sight of the Fellowship base.
As they had seen from a distance, the base was a giant castle. Much unlike the rest of the town, it was made entirely out of granite. There wasn't a single strand of silk anywhere on the great structure, as if it were completely untainted by the town's influence. Standing in front of the castle was a large and powerful river whose depths couldn't be seen. From what the team could tell, the river ran straight through the city, went right past the base, and then continued out of the town to keep going to the ocean. Yet this river was a bit of a problem, since it was acting as a sort of obstacle to the castle. Thankfully, the Fellowship seemed to realize this, and had a wooden bridge built over the river to allow entrance to the base.
"Well, this is the place," Terron announced. "The southern Fellowship. I kinda wondered what this place looked like. It looks pretty cool."
"Eh, it just looks okay to me," Zekra shrugged. "I personally liked our Fellowship better. I liked all of those trees."
"Well, it doesn't matter too much," Terron said carelessly. "Not like we're going to stay here long. Hopefully, anyway."
"If we are accepted, I think we should stay here for two months maximum," Novus then said. "If we cannot find anything at that point, then it will show that there was nothing to be found. And if that happens, we'll need a new plan."
"Yeah, I guess that's a good enough time," Terron said. "I guess we'll go with that. But for now, we've got things we need to do."
Taking a deep breath, Terron crossed the bridge, listening to it creak beneath his feet as his companions followed behind him. He stuffed his paws into his coat pockets as he slowly made his way into the entrance, feeling anxiety slowly come over him. He had no idea what to expect, now that his plan was actually moving along to this point. He didn't know what the leader or leaders were like and how they would react to him being a former Fellowship member. He didn't know if it would be roughly the same or drastically different from Aurora Town's Fellowship. He didn't know what kind of missions he and his team might have to do. He didn't know if they could keep avoiding Mystery Dungeon missions without the leaders getting suspicious, if they did end up joining. These were only a few things he worried about.
But somehow, Terron reminded himself that everything would be okay. Somehow, he'd make things work out. He had made it this far, so surely he could keep going and succeed with what he and his friends truly wanted to accomplish. Yes, the Plagued Ones would be stopped. Their existence would be terminated in time. All Terron had to do was keep pushing forward and eventually, somehow, he'd be able to truly see that happen before his eyes.
Team Vendetta and Blight entered the base, and soon found themselves standing in the interior of the Fellowship, hundreds of Pokémon walking around them as they went about their day. As they had imagined, the inside looked exactly like the inside of a castle, with its large main hall that seemed to go on forever and would later intertwine with other halls. The floors were lined with carpet and the windows of the walls were made of stained glass that seemed to depict the ancient legendaries locked in combat or other mortal Pokémon that Terron suspected held meaning to the ones in charge of this Fellowship.
But most noticeable of the castle was how everyone in the Fellowship seemed to go upstairs. There were no staircases, much unlike the Aurora Town base. Though a good number of Pokémon inside held the bug affinity and could simply fly or crawl up the walls, there were still quite a few who didn't. In order to fix this, every wall had a net-like web with at least four Pokémon capable of producing silk sitting on it high above the ground. Then, whenever someone came along who needed to go to the next floor, they'd attach several strings of the silk to the Pokémon and pull them up to wherever they needed to go. Terron wondered how they would ever hope to lift a large Pokémon such as an Onix, but he was quick to find that there were none of those Pokémon in the Fellowship. Everyone here was less than seven feet tall from what he could tell.
"Uggggh, bug-types. They're everywhere," Zekra groaned. "I'm really hoping we don't have to stay here that long. The beds here had better not be made of webs…"
"Heh, I'm sure they've got real beds or hay at least," Terron said with a grin. "Now, let's just figure out where the Pokémon in charge of this place are. Blight, do you know?"
"No," Blight replied. "I don't know anything about here. I only know of where this base is located in the city and where the city is on the map."
"Hm, fine," Terron said. "Guess we'll ask anyone hanging around here. Let's go-"
Before the Cubone could finish, he was interrupted by the sight of a Skarmory flying right over his head. He saw it gaze at him for brief second before landing right in front of him, smiling pleasantly. Terron stopped and stared up at it, confused by its sudden appearance.
"Hello there," the Skarmory greeted, her voice friendly, yet collected. "Sorry to butt in like this. It's just that I heard that you wanted to see the leader of this place and that you didn't know where to go. I'm right, right?"
It took Terron a moment to respond.
"Yeah, we do," Terron answered.
"Well then, I can take you to her if you'd like," the Skarmory said, her happy expression becoming brighter. "I just saw her. So whaddya say?"
"That'd be great," Terron said with a smile. "But huh, there's just one leader here?"
"Yeah, apparently," the Skarmory shrugged. "I heard that she had a team once upon a time, but then they all left after they made this base, leaving only her. It's strange, but I don't really pay much attention to it. But anyway, let's get going. I'll show you where she is."
The Skarmory leapt into the air and slowly flew away from the group before stopping a short distance away, waiting for the four to catch up to her. Though Terron was still slightly taken aback by the Skarmory's sudden appearance, he didn't hesitate to follow after her. He and his group joined the Skarmory and soon, the five were making their way through the Fellowship base.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself," the Skarmory said as she glanced back at the four as she flew. "My name's Dagger."
"Dagger? As in the human weapon?" Novus asked curiously.
"Ah, so you know what a dagger is," the Skarmory said with an amused grin. "That's not something I see too often. But yeah, that's my name. My parents were very interested in human myths, so they decided to name me after something from their culture. I like the name; it makes me think that I can take someone out in one hit. Just like the actual daggers if done right from how my parents described them. Course, I've never actually seen a real dagger, so maybe you can hit anyone anywhere with one of those weapons and they'd actually get taken out in one strike. They're like claws, aren't they? Except, metallic I think. So are they like my feathers?"
Dagger shook her head.
"Oh, sorry; I'm rambling again," Dagger said. "I have a tendency to do that sometimes."
Terron paused as he thought of something to say to such a remark, but found he couldn't think of anything. Dagger's scatter-brained behavior completely stumped him.
"It's fine," Terron decided instead. "Nice to meet you, Dagger."
"Nice to meet you too," the Skarmory replied.
The five then continued to traverse throughout the Fellowship in silence. After a while, they all managed to come to a wall at the end of a hall, where Dagger explained that the leader was far above their heads in another room near this wall. Terron was about to ask for the bug-types to pull the group up, but Dagger instead offered to carry the four up there on her back. While no one minded the offer, Zekra seemed to jump at the opportunity and was very quick to leap onto the Skarmory. Her dislike for being touched by silk strings was probably the reason.
Everyone piled onto Dagger, somehow being able to fit onto her. Then, the Skarmory spread her wings and took the four to the higher areas of the Fellowship, their combined weight not slowing her down in the slightest. They ascended higher and higher, watching the many halls pass by them as they clung to the Skarmory the best they could.
The five continued to soar through the air until at long last, they had reached the entrance of an elongated room at the very top of the base. Dagger landed upon its carpeted flooring and bent down as her passengers crawled off her. Not long after they all got off Dagger did a Shedinja come drifting out of a nearby wall and stop right in front of the five.
"Hmm, more visitors," it mused. "Quite a bit today."
"Yeah, we want to see your leader," Terron said. "Is she available to talk to right now?"
"Perhaps," the Shedinja replied. "What's your reason for being here?"
"We wanted to talk to her about becoming members," Terron answered.
The Shedinja's eyes wandered over each of the five Pokémon, but its gaze stopped directly at Dagger.
"You're already a member of the Pledge Mountain Fellowship," the ghost stated dully. "You don't seem like the kind to abandon one Fellowship for another."
"Oh, heh no no, you're mistaken," Dagger said with a laugh, seeing the implications of being with Team Vendetta. "I was showing these guys how to get here. I'm not really with them. You should know that; I was just here a few minutes ago to bring a message."
"Then you should get going," the Shedinja said, not finding any humor in her statement. "These four do not need you anymore."
"Yeah, I guess," the Skarmory said with a shrug as she glanced over at the team. "Well, this is where I say goodbye to you guys. I need to head back to my Fellowship anyway. Good luck with getting admitted! I'm sure you'll be fine!"
And with that, she dove off the hallway and disappeared from sight. The four only briefly looked back at where Dagger had been before bringing their attention back to the ghost bug before them. Its bored expression had still not changed.
"So, you wish to speak to Madam Chrysalis about joining our Fellowship," the Shedinja stated.
"Yep! That's right!" Zekra confirmed.
The ghost continued to peer at all of them, as if they were all puzzles it was trying to decipher. Moments of silence later, it slowly drifted backwards towards a set of double doors that blocked the entrance into the room that presumably held Chrysalis in it.
"Wait here while I ask her," the Shedinja said. "Don't go anywhere."
Then, it phased right through the doors, and the team was left alone. They all waited in silence, seeing that there wasn't much else they could do. Then, a couple of minutes later, the great doors opened and the Shedinja came swooping back to the four.
"She'll see you now," it told them.
Before anyone could thank the bug, it then vanished back into the wall that it originally came from. Though the four were confused about what to think of the Shedinja, they chose not to dwell on it too much and went inside the room. It was not as large of a place as they had expected, but that mostly came from how they were so used to the massive hallways of the base. The room was completely empty and mostly void of decorations, save for the light blue tapestries the hung near the windows.
A lengthy orange carpet ran from the entrance to the very end of the room, revealing a Volcarona sitting on a throne made of what appeared to be volcanic rocks.
Terron took in a deep breath, and with his friends, they all drew closer to the Volcarona. She eyed them from her spot, her aqua eyes seemingly frozen in a permanent expression of disinterest. As they stopped before the great bug, Terron noticed something that he hadn't before about her; knotted around one of her horns was a black neckerchief. He found it to be an odd thing for her to wear, but he didn't dare voice his opinion.
"I was told that you want to become members of my Fellowship," the Volcarona spoke, her voice brimming with regal authority. "I assume it's all four of you who want to become my members."
"Yeah, that's what we'd like," Terron said with a nod.
Chrysalis bent forward and stared at the Cubone for a moment.
"Why were you discarded from the Aurora Town Fellowship?" the Volcarona asked. "Don't bother trying to hide it; I can see it on your paws and I know those sigils belong to Len's Fellowship. So why? What made Len and his team rid you from their precious little place?"
Terron felt his heart stop and his mind seemed to go blank. He had no idea how he wanted to answer that question. He could easily tell her the truth, but looking at Chrysalis now, with her stern gaze fixed on him, he was deeply worried that she wouldn't find that to be a worthy reason for recruitment.
"We were kicked out because Len didn't think kids should be working in the Fellowship," Zekra then said, surprising both Terron and Chrysalis by her statement.
"Is that so?" Chrysalis asked as she turned her head to the little Zorua. "Tell me something 'child'; for how long were you in your Fellowship before you were dismissed?"
"About a month or so," Zekra answered.
"So I see," the Volcarona said simply. "A month. And what happened to you, after Len decided that you were no longer fit for our organization?"
"We were sent to this island," Zekra said with a bitter frown. "And we were supposed to live there with this family until we grew up or whatever. But, we didn't like that, so we escaped after staying there for like a month, and now we're here."
"You're saying that you went against Len's request just to ask if you could become a part of my grand Fellowship?" Chrysalis asked with an almost disapproving tone.
"Yeah, we did," Zekra replied, keeping her resolution strong as she glared at the Volcarona. "We hated not working for you guys anymore. Even though it was really tiring to be in the Fellowship, I still liked it a lot. I liked working with my team and going on missions. And, it's just that you guys are the only ones who… do something that no one else does in all of Shiron. You know what I'm talking about, right?"
Zekra seemed to look back at Blight without attracting his attention. Terron wasn't quite sure why she was doing this, but he didn't think on it too much.
Thankfully for her, Blight didn't seem to be confused or mildly interested by the vague information Zekra was trying to talk about. When she saw this, she looked back at the Volcarona. The leader leaned back in her seat, but kept her eyes locked onto the Zorua.
"I can vouch for these two in saying that they truly did have such a strong commitment to the Fellowship when they were still members," Novus then said, stepping forward. "I may have not joined their team until shortly before they were dismissed, but I can say that I watched them from afar the whole time they were members. I saw how tirelessly worked, day after day, week after week. Yet never once did it ever seem to cross their minds to quit. Even now, they have done so much just to come to you. It required so much planning and courage to leave the ones who looked after us. It was rather difficult and painful, but they did it, because they truly wanted to join another Fellowship."
"You truly believe this, Quilava?" Chrysalis asked.
"Yes, I do," Novus said with a small bow of his head. "I would not say these words if I ever doubted them for even a moment."
"So you say," Chrysalis said absently.
The Volcarona slowly brought her gaze to the only Pokémon in the room who hadn't spoken. Blight returned the gaze, waiting to see what she had to say.
"You do not have the Mark of the Fellowship anywhere on you," she stated. "Yet, you are with these Pokémon who do. Why is that? Who are you?"
"I am a mercenary," Blight answered. "I was hired by the ones who cared for these three, and was told to accompany them for a time, to make sure that their reintroduction to the Fellowship would go smoothly. My clients feared that the three would have trouble, despite appearing competent enough, and wanted me to make sure that they would stay safe. And so now I'm here with them, until my time to leave comes."
"For how long will you stay with them?" Chrysalis then asked.
"One month," Blight replied. "I will not stay any longer or shorter than that. Exactly one month, then they'll never see me again."
The Volcarona nodded silently as she removed the Greninja from her sight and seemed to ponder in something. Terron nervously played with paws as he waited for Chrysalis to say something. He wanted to say something to any of his teammates in an attempt to calm his nerves, but he knew better. Chrysalis probably wouldn't like that. Even if he didn't exactly think too much of her, with her rather distant and uninterested demeanor, he knew he would have to put up with it if he wanted to join her Fellowship. He had to impress her the best he could.
Terron looked over at his teammates. Zekra also seemed to be fidgeting in place, but was doing her best to hide it under a persona of patience. Novus simply stood, not appearing to make any special effort to remain calm. Then Blight seemed as solemn as ever. When the Cubone saw this, he returned his attention to the Volcarona, who continued to stare absently ahead of her.
Then finally, after minutes of silence, the leader of the Nestati Fellowship spoke.
"I will believe that you are competent, despite two of you being children," Chrysalis said. "Perhaps Len saw that, and that's why he let you be a part of his own Fellowship before he ultimately changed his mind."
Terron felt his heart fill with anticipation. He liked where this was going.
"But, I want to know if you are competent enough for my Fellowship," Chrysalis continued. "I want to know if you truly can survive in my Fellowship. So I will tell you what I intend to do; I'm going to have you four perform a task for me."
"A task?" Terron asked.
"Yes," Chrysalis said with a nod. "You can think of it as a trial, or whatever else you wish to call it. Here's what you have to do: near here, there is a cave called Oblivion Cavern. Tomorrow, I want you four to go inside and find the item I will leave at the very bottom of the cave. You will know what it is when you see it, because I will place it in a sack with my Fellowship's mark on it. If you can bring that item back to me, then I'll grant you membership of the Nestati Fellowship. Do we have an understanding?"
"Of c-"
"Is Oblivion Cavern a misery dungeon?"
Everyone brought their gazes to the Greninja who had just spoke and found that he was no longer wearing his collected guise. There was a very distinct expression of unease across his face, and he seemed to be grimacing under the cover of his tongue scarf. Team Vendetta was almost disturbed to see this. Chrysalis was not, however.
"I don't understand what you're talking about," she said.
"Mystery Dungeon," Blight clarified quickly. "Is that cavern one of those places?"
Chrysalis stared at the unnerved Greninja with a gaze even more blank than her typical one.
"No, it is not," she said. "It's a rather large cave that has a wide variety of dangerous Pokémon, but it's not quite as dangerous as a Mystery Dungeon. I haven't sent anybody into a Mystery Dungeon for quite a while."
The restlessness in Blight's eyes immediately faded away, and the team could have sworn they heard a quiet sigh escape from his concealed mouth.
"Why do you ask, Greninja?" Chrysalis asked, her gaze seemingly boring into Blight.
"Curious," Blight answered vaguely.
The Volcarona seemed at a loss for words.
"So I see," Chrysalis said simply before she looked back at the rest of the team. "As I was asking, do you agree with my offer?"
Terron didn't need to look at his friends to see their confidence. All three of them knew that this trial they were being given wouldn't be a challenge. They had faced so many difficult challenges already, whether it was being able to escape from the twisted dungeon known as Erebus Woods or being able to overcome their downward spiral of hopelessness after they had been taken out of the Fellowship. Having to find this item at the bottom of a cave could hardly be considered a challenge to them.
A smug smile formed on the Cubone's face as his answer came to him so quickly.
"You bet," Terron said, not even bothering to hide his arrogance. "Just you wait; we'll get that item back to you with no problem. Then we can join your Fellowship, Chrysalis."
"It's Madam Chrysalis," the Volcarona corrected in disapproval. "Do not call me by my name without that title, whether you work for me or not. Perhaps Len allowed you to get away with not giving him or his team a title for whatever senseless reason they could come up with, but I won't. Remember that, Cubone."
"Fine then, Madam Chrysalis," Terron said, trying his best not to sound icy as he added the title to her name. "But, we'll complete your task. Tomorrow, we're coming back with whatever you leave at the bottom of that cave. I promise you, we will."
Everyone behind Terron nodded in agreement. Then somehow, Chrysalis's eyes seemed to glint with amusement, as if she found the entire situation to be comical. She let out a quiet laugh as she slouched back in her seat, flexing her six wings.
"Then let's see if you can actually hold true to your promise, arrogant Cubone," she said. "Let us see."