Wardens Eternal

Chapter Eight: The First Job

It was well into the night when Scarlett sighed again, laying her head on her paws as she looked up at the full moon overhead. The ghostly white circle hung suspended along with the faint twinkling stars up in that night sky, almost calling to her, beckoning the vulpix to explore its mysteries. Yet at the same time, the soft glow overhead sang it's silent lullaby convincing her stress and worries to simply leave her body like how a Hoothoot's feather silently rides the winds.

With her eyelids growing heavy as she gave a final yawn before curling up again and surrendering to the night's songs of slumber, but not before catching sight of a shooting star against the black of the night. Silently wishing for good health and fortune for herself and her partner moments before she was asleep.

A few minutes later and the vulpix was sighing, almost moaning contently in her sleep as her chest rose and fell with each deep breath.

It was something that made her partner quietly chuckle and grin. Convinced that his teammate was sleeping soundly rather than nervously like she had the night before, Martian withdrew his attention and started to control his breathing, soon asleep himself. . .

Wardens Eternal

Scarlett was almost in a panic as she scrambled out into the main chamber to be there for the morning address in time. The other guild members were already present including Martian who silently gestured with his paw to calm down and take a few deep breaths.

"HUMPH! YOUR LATE ROOKIES!" A purple pokemon shouted at her and Martian, causing the other guild members around him to recoil at the sudden outburst.

"Do Hush!" Chatot immediately chastised the loudmouth, "Your voice is ridiculously loud!"

"LOUD?" The agitated pokemon snapped back, "I'M A LOUDRED SIR, IT'S WHAT WE DO!"

"Ah Shut up." Martian finally spoke up, and Scarlett shivered when the room fell silent as every pair of eyes were locked onto her and Martian in disbelief. The following silence did nothing to soften the blank stares.

"Hey, hey, hey! I'm startin' to like these kids!" The water type chuckled finally breaking the tense standoff. Some of the other guild members quietly mumbled their agreement, finally giving Scarlett a chance to let out her held breath. What a relief.

". . . Alright then, everyone seems to be in attendance." Chatot hesitantly announced before going back to his overly cheerful manner, "Very well! Let us conduct our morning address!"

"Guildmaster, the guild is in full attendance!" The colorful bird announced as he turned to the door leading to the pink pokemon's office before turning back to face the crowd.

The wooden door opened, and the pokemon in charge stumbled out swaying in every direction before stopping just behind Chatot. Martian solidly smacked himself in the face with his paw in frustration. How was he expected to respect someone who acted drunk and delusional all the time?

"Thank you Guildmaster," Chatot continued, "Pease address the crew."

. . .

. . .

"Guildmaster?" Chatot finally turned around once he realized something was amiss.

The pink Fairy-Type stood up with his eyes open but maintained a slouched posture as some drool dripped from his mouth. The great Guildmaster Wigglytuff was sleepwalking on the job. What a joke.

It seemed that Martian wasn't the only one with such opinions judging by the rest of the guild's members gossiping among themselves.

"Uh, well uh," Chatot stuttered before attempting to play it off, "Thank you for your uh. . . Words of Wisdom!"

Nobody bought the act.

"Well, ah. . ." The bird stuttered again before jumping back into his overly cheerful persona again, "Let us not forget the morning cheers! All together now!"

"ONE! DON'T SHIRK WORK!"

"TWO! RUN AWAY AND PAY!"

"THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!"

"Okay Pokemon! Get to work!" Chatot instructed before the rest of the guild members cheered and disbanded, leaving Martian and Scarlett behind.

"Alright you two, you're just beginners so follow me," Chatot ordered the young Wardens as he lead them upstairs and to a bulletin board filled with notices and all manners of requests.

"This is the Job Board, I assume you two know that there has been an increasingly amount of hostilities recently?" Chatot asked casually as if it didn't mean anything.

"Yes, I think," Scarlett replied, "It's because time is getting messed up, a lot more Pokemon are getting aggressive, almost feral."

"Time"

"Feral"

Martian could feel two sharp intrusions upon his forgotten memory at the mention of those two words in context. Something was important about those two words, something almost all consuming. Why couldn't he remember!

"Exactly," Chatot continued to explain, "Something odd is happening with the flow of time, as a result there has been a sudden increase of Feral Pokemon and criminal activities, resulting in an equal increase of jobs and requests. And, while we don't know if they are related or not, we have also seen an increase of Mystery Dungeon outbreaks."

"Mystery dungeons? As in locations that randomly change their own layout and serve as homes to feral Pokemon?" Martian asked, "Risky to enter due to the chance of getting injured or killed in battle or going feral yourself if unprepared, but provide a near constant supply of food, resources, and coin?"

"Why, correct!" Chatot confirmed, surprised on how well informed the rookie was, "While not all jobs do, most of the requests we receive require Exploration Teams to enter Mystery Dungeons to complete a certain objective. Let's see here, which one should we give you. . ." The bird drifted off examining the various requests.

"Perhaps this one? It's about your speed." Chatot suggested as he removed a paper and handed it to the young Wardens

To any Exploration team,

My name is Spoink, about three days ago I was mugged by a robber who got away with my most important possession: My beautiful Pearl! You must understand that I can't live without that Pearl, it is life itself to me! I don't know how much longer I can go without it. I just received great news that the robber who stole it from me was captured and arrested, but sadly he no longer had my pearl on his person. I heard that the thief had a stash hidden on a bluff not too far from Treasure Town. I would try and search for it myself but the bluff is a Mystery Dungeon and I dare not risk myself in such a dangerous place.

Would you kindly dear readers search the bluff for the thief's stash and bring back my dear Pearl if it's there? Please proceed with every bit of haste.

Spoink,

"Wait a minute." Scarlett realized as she reread the request before getting angry, "Are you seriously going to send us on a wild goose chase into a mystery dungeon for a pearl that might not even be there? I was hoping for something a little more, adventurous, finding treasure or something! Not clean up after some thief!"

"Quiet!" Chatot snapped, making Scarlett jump, "You rookies need to learn your place! This is your assignment for the day whether you like it or not."

"We need to Scarlett," Martian sighed, "I don't think a Spoink will be able to survive without its pearl for more than a few days. If we do this, we might just save a life."

"I didn't know," Scarlett shamefully admitted.

"Well, why are you still standing here!" Chatot demanded as he pushed the fire type towards the stairs going up, "Get, get get!"