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11 - Hunted

The sun warmed Cleo's back as it beamed down through a clear blue sky, drying her dewy fur. The frosty leaves crunched under her paws, freezing her pads with their chilly bite while they still had the chance before the frost swiftly melted away. She rubbed her paws over her arms to try and warm them, but any lingering chill was slowly lifted by the caressing rays of the fall sun. It was deceptively colder than it looked to be at first glance. A stark reminder that the warmer days of the cooling season were soon coming to an end.

"They didn't come back," said Spark.

Cleo to let out a gasp as her heart did a flip, and Mischief's feet actually left the floor. Spark hadn't spoken loudly, but not one of them had said a word since nightfall. Better to not risk drawing the attention of that lurking assassin. But the feeling of being watched was no longer hovering over Cleo, leaving her to feel much more relaxed.

All things considered…

She smoothed out her bristling ruff, and Spark muttered a quick apology.

"You're right, they didn't come back," said Cleo. "But I'd really like to know what they were planning."

"I think they were just trying to draw us out," said Spark.

"Possibly. I also think they took that pachirisu's body. But why?"

"Clean up the evidence," said Spark. "They were probably pretty ticked off we'd found it, too, and wanted to let us know."

"I think it was just a warning," said Mischief. "Like 'we know you're there, so stay out of our business'. That kind of thing."

Cleo inclined her head on one side. "We?"

"Yes, there were two of them," said Mischief. "Didn't you notice?"

"How on earth do you know that? I could barely see a thing."

"Easy." Mischief shrugged. "Both attacks came from different sides. No pokemon can move that fast, right?"

"I dunno," said Spark. "There are some pretty speedy pokemon out there."

"Whoever they were, they were clearly an assassin," said Cleo. "And if they'd hit us, we'd be dead."

She glanced at her tails. The damage wasn't clear to the naked eye, especially if you weren't looking for it. But the tip of one of them had received a bit of a trim.

"Regardless, I'm glad we waited that out," she went on. "If we'd kept going we could have ended up leading them all the way back."

She kept her voice low to be on the safe side, but she was pretty convinced their stalker was gone. They were no longer under any immediate threat.

Despite being tired and hungry, they covered ground pretty quickly. Before they knew it, they were traversing the rocky slope back up to the cave mouth where the dam had been built. Despite Cleo's unsteady footwork, they made it in no time. Mischief made it to the top before she did, and grabbed Cleo's paw to hoist her up the rest of the way. An unfortunate breeze wafted through the cave, carrying with it the stench of decay.

Spark covered her muzzle with both paws. "Phew, I'd almost forgotten what that smelled like. Sure we can't find another way in?"

"It'll take us a while," said Cleo. "I say we just grin and bare it."

Mischief was already turning a little pale. Cleo gave him an encouraging nod and moved on ahead of him, letting Spark lead the way.

Voices echoed from behind them, growing louder as they followed Cleo into the cave. She paused to look back over her shoulder, and Mischief visibly tensed. Moving towards them were three tall shapes, two of which were wearing bio-luminescent orbs around their heads. The light bounced along the damp walls, dazzling Cleo's eyes.

"Well whaddaya know, it's Cleo!" Skipper stood between two breloom, clutching a huge boulder in his webbed claws.

Both breloom were carrying their own rocks, and both sported the Guild's sun on their scarves.

"Oh!" Cleo gave them a warm smile. "I guess you're clearing the river?"

"Aye, that we are!" Skipper nodded. "It'll take a wee while. First we gotta build a new dam to hold th'poison back, then we can clear th'mess! Afore ye know it, th'old river'll be back t'flowin' clean as ever!"

"Oh good!" said Spark. "'Cos I'm pretty thirsty. I was licking frost off my paws this morning."

Skipper let out a deep, throaty laugh. "Ahh, right enough! Ye get in there! Tinker's been worryin' himself sick, he has. Wondered where ye all got off to. I take it ye dinnae go where he asked, aye?"

"Not quite." Cleo continued through the cave, following after Spark. "But I'm sure he'll be satisfied with what we've found out."

"I think he'll just be satisfied knowin' ye still alive'n'well, Cleo."

Spark paused by the entrance and fixed Cleo with a huge grin.

"Cut that out," Cleo hissed.

Spark just chuckled and turned to face the stone slab. "Well I don't know about you, but I'm about to hit the dinner hall with the force of a typhoon!"

Cleo turned her badge in the sun-shaped lock, and the stone slab rolled to the side with an echoing groan. She urged Mischief on ahead of her and stepped in behind him. The slab crunched back into place, dulling the voices of Skipper and his team, but the stench from the river wafted in behind them.

Spark was already bounding on ahead, leaving her allies to follow behind. Mischief had once again turned silent, not glancing back over his shoulder at the entrance. Cleo found herself wondering if he was really cut out for Guild work.

The tunnel was a long and winding one, that snaked down into the belly of New City. Candles flickered along the walls, providing what little light was needed. It eventually widened out into one of the occupied corridors, and the odd yell came from a room on their right. The door was shut, obscuring the events from view, but Mischief slowed briefly to give it a curious glance.

"What's in that room?" he asked.

"The training hall," said Cleo.

"So pokemon fight in there?" Mischief caught up with her, and she noticed the colour had returned to his face.

She nodded and urged him on when he slowed again to glance back towards it. "It's an overflow room, not used very often. I guess the main hall must be fully occupied, which means they must be training heavily right now."

If that was the case, then the seviper dam must have truly unsettled Tinker. That made her only want to relay their findings to him faster. Spark, on the other paw, was focused intently on reaching the dinner hall and was well ahead of them, humming to herself.

Cleo picked up her pace to keep up with the dedenne. The corridor ended at the main hall, filled with the hustle and bustle of the market and the excited voices of hatchlings at play. Cleo managed to catch up with Spark, but as she rounded the corner into the market hall she skidded to a halt as someone else turned to head into the tunnel.

Two warm paws grabbed her shoulders, steadying her. "Whoa, Cleo!"

She looked up into Tinker's red eyes and took a step back from him. "Sorry. We were actually on our way to your office."

"I wasn't," said Spark from behind him. She jammed a thumb-claw towards the tunnel to the Guild Hall. "I'm headed to the dinner hall."

"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed," said Tinker. "Dinner isn't served for another two hours."

Spark's jaw dropped and any words she tried to form came out as a long whine.

Tinker gave the dedenne a small smile. "I do have some berries left over from breakfast in my office, if you promise not to make a mess?"

Spark perked up at that and beamed. "Promise made! I might move you higher up my list of favourite pokemon."

"I actually hope I'm pretty high up that list already," Tinker joked.

Cleo gave him a nudge. "Tinker… We have urgent news for you. Can we please head to your office?"

"Urgent news?" Tinker placed a paw on her shoulder and steered her away from the market. "I guess you found something related to that noivern?"

"Not exactly," said Cleo.

Tinker's brow furrowed and he fixed his good eye on Cleo. "I did think it was strange you would enter through that tunnel. It's rather far from the Moorlands Forest to be convenient." He paused briefly, and Cleo half-expected silence until they reached his office, followed by a thorough lecture. "I imagine you passed Skipper?"

She started slightly at that and nodded. "Yes, they told me what they were doing."

"Good. Saves me the job."

Tinker stopped at his office and unlocked it, letting Cleo in ahead of him. Spark managed to scurry past, making a beeline for the little breakfast trolley beside Tinker's desk. Once they were all inside, Tinker shut the door and settled into his usual seat.

"Go on." He waved a paw at her and crossed his legs. "Tell me exactly where your deviation from your assigned task lead you? What 'urgent news' do you have to relay to me?"

Cleo didn't appreciate the air quotes.

Before she could reply, Tinker looked up at the whimsicott beside her. He wagged a claw at him and met Cleo's eyes. "I trust he was suitably blindfolded?"

Cleo grimaced and glanced aside. "Ahh…"

"Cleo…" Tinker lowered his muzzle into a paw and sighed.

"What does it matter? He knew about that entrance anyway." Cleo spread her paws in exasperation. "I mean, you and Skipper came and went through it while he was right there!"

"He was hardly with us at the time, was he?"

"Seriously?" Cleo spat. "You can't fault your own oversight on this?"

"Irrelevant." Tinker waved a paw and reached for a notepad. "He'll just have to remain here until we can be certain who's side he's on."

"I'm on your side."

Mischief's voice came out oddly firm, drawing all eyes onto him. Spark even lowered her berry, looking between each other pokemon in the room.

"Really?" Tinker tapped his quill into an open paw. "How can you be so sure? You have no memories. Your life is a total mystery. You're an outsider to the Guild, even to the Outcasts. You have no badge to show you belong here. So how can you so brazenly state your allegiance lies with us?"

"Because I've seen what goes on in this world and I want to help stop it," Mischief replied. "So what if I don't have any memories? It doesn't change how I feel about all this."

Tinker made a thoughtful noise and lowered his head slightly, keeping his good eye on Mischief. "The Heretics also don't like what goes on in this world. That's why they live in fear, trying to appease the Darkness. As such, they are our enemies. What evidence can you give me that states you won't go and join them, revealing the location of this city?"

Mischief stared back at him, unshaken. "My word should be enough."

Tinker chuckled. "If words could sway me, then we'd have a lot of trouble with the enemies we hold in our cells."

"Look." Mischief took a step towards Tinker. "If Grey couldn't find any clue as to where I belong in my memories, then I clearly don't have them, do I? None. Nothing. It's where I am now that counts. And that's here, in New City, on your side."

Tinker merely stared at him.

"I've seen too much out there, and I don't like it," Mischief went on. "I've seen enough to know I want to fight against it. Sure, I'm terrified, but pokemon out there are suffering. I want to help Cleo and Spark, and I want to help you. If you don't trust me, then that's your decision. But you have my word that I will never, no matter what happens to me, reveal New City to any other pokemon who doesn't belong here."

"Not even to other Outcasts?" Tinker narrowed his eyes at Mischief.

"No. I won't even breathe its name outside these walls."

Tinker's demeanour didn't change. He fixed Mischief with such a cold stare that Cleo almost felt ice forming over her fur.

"Come on, Tinker," she said. "He even told us he wants to be a Guild member. After all he's seen, he's still willing to help."

Tinker turned his cold stare onto her. "This coming from the meowstic who refuses to take an extra partner?"

Mischief looked at her then and she sank slightly in her seat. She hadn't considered that. But now he mentioned it, she wondered why she'd said anything at all. Was she willing to travel with Mischief? Yes, but what had changed?

She gave a weak shrug. "I'm happy to train him if you see it as 'fitting punishment' or something."

Mischief's orange eyes widened. "Punishment?"

Spark spluttered, choking on berry pulp. Tinker reached across to the trolley and gave her a pat on the back, which she waved off when she managed to regain her composure.

"Cleo." Tinker steepled his paws together and sat back again. "If you really see potential in this whimsicott… you, of all pokemon, who refuses to take on anyone you fear you have to carry, then surely there is something about him that intrigues you? What is it? The fact he can take down a dragon, or even Hydreigon himself?"

The room fell into silence and she stared down at her paws, unblinking.

Mischief shifted uneasily and rubbed a paw over his fluffy head. "I don't know if I can take down-"

Tinker shushed him harshly and returned to watching Cleo, waiting for her reply.

She finally looked up at him. "You're right."

A look of satisfaction crossed Tinker's face. The look he wore when he knew he'd won an argument.

"It's because I don't have to carry him," Cleo explained. "He's shown he can watch my back, and I'll watch his. He's certainly capable, and he won't drag down our team. I can't speak for Spark, but if she's happy to have him-"

The dedenne wiped her lips on the back of a paw. "Sure. Whatever. Guy can fight, I ain't gonna deny that."

Tinker gave an affirmative nod and looked up at Mischief with a smile. "All right, Mischief. It goes slightly against my usual method, but you have two high-ranking Guild members vouching for you. So, if you are certain you wish to join us, I can make you a probationary Guild Warrior." He reached into his desk drawer and handed Mischief a sun-shaped badge. "Wear it where others can see it. This badge will tell others where you belong, which is important should you enter any other Outcast settlements."

Mischief's eyes sparkled as he stared down at the badge in his paws. "Wow! Then I guess I should find a scarf like Spark?"

"The market is open. Swing by after our meeting." Tinker settled back into his seat and motioned for Mischief to sit back down. "Now. Onto business. You claimed to have important news. What is it?"

Cleo had been mildly dreading this. She licked her lips and clasped her paws in her lap. "We followed the river to see if we could find any evidence of who the targets might be."

Tinker didn't give any scathing remarks, and when she faltered he urged her on.

So between them, the trio ran through their investigation, not missing any key points from the moment they found the pachirisu and what it might mean, to the assailant who'd tried to attack them.

Once they'd finished, Tinker was silent for a moment as he processed it all, jotting down notes in his pad.

"I won't say what you discovered lacks importance." He set his quill down on the desk. "If that pachirisu wasn't an Outcast - and I won't rule that out, since its badge could simply have been removed by its parents or looted from it - then there may be some pokemon living out here who don't fall under any faction. This is something I would like to investigate further. But!" He raised a paw to silence Cleo before she could add to that. "I want you three to investigate that noivern. Time is of the essence, Cleo. If it rains, there will be no evidence left! Not to mention the Darkness could have cleared any up by now. If you hadn't come back to me with some vital news, I would be locking you up for a week until you learned a valuable lesson."

Cleo bit her lip and sank further into her seat.

"That is your assignment for the day," he told them. "Do not fail me. Now. To make sure you actually do your job this time, you will be taking this with you."

He pulled a white oblong device out of his drawer and handed it to Cleo. She frowned down at it, turning it in her paws. It was made from plastic and sported a large red button in the middle of it. A long, black antenna poked out of its top right corner.

"What is this?" she asked. "I've never seen anything like it."

"It's one of my gadgets," Tinker explained. "A communicator. It will allow us to maintain contact."

"So your keeping tabs on me." Cleo spoke around exposed fangs.

"You've given me reason to," he said. "This will allow us to maintain contact so long as you are within New City's boundaries. The signal can travel underground, but the further you move away the weaker it will become, until inevitably it can't connect to mine at all." He waved a paw, showcasing a similar and much smaller device around his left wrist. "What you have there is the original model. A prototype. I trust you won't destroy it?"

Cleo frowned at the communicator, then with a resigned sigh, she tucked it into her satchel.

"I feel obligated to warn you that we've discovered Heretics in the mountain, so tread carefully," Tinker explained.

Cleo stiffened, and stared at him, aghast. "Heretics?"

"Yes. They appear to be the targets for the poisoned river," Tinker explained. "Apparently they had a run-in with an absol and fear that may be the culprit. So please keep your wits about you?"

"I feel you're brushing over this somewhat, Tinker," Cleo said.

"I've given you ample information," Tinker told her. "Please take care, and if you run into an absol, I would like to know immediately. I can't have a troublemaker running amok in these mountains."

"I thought all absol were extinct!" Cleo said. "Hydreigon wiped them out due to sheer fear that they'd bring disaster on his rule!"

"I always dismissed that as a rumour," said Tinker. "And now we have evidence that one is running free here, unless those who told me about it were deluded? Either way, keep your wits about you." He turned his chair towards his desk and picked up his quill. "Dismissed."

Cleo wanted to press him for more information, but she'd already put a paw out of line already. More than once. So she stood and nodded for her friends to follow her, then turned from his office.

As they made their way down the corridor towards the market, Mischief joined her side. "What does it mean by 'probationary Guild Warrior'?"

Spark turned to walk backwards so she could look up at him. "It means if you put a paw wrong then you'll be stripped of your rank and put in the cells with the rest of the bad guys."

Mischief's eyes widened. "But… I'm not a bad guy!"

Spark grinned and turned away, waving a paw. "Then you've nothing to worry about, have you?"

...

It took less time to reach the Moorlands Forest than Cleo anticipated. She put it down to having to lug Mischief back to New City with her the last time they'd been there. The forest was deathly quiet, and it was oddly unsettling. Finding the spot the noivern had fallen wasn't a difficult task, either, given the huge blood stain marring the foliage. It confirmed Tinker's words, too. The body was gone.

"I don't like this at all, Cleo." Spark spoke in a hoarse whisper by Cleo's ear. "Do you think he just… got up and left?"

Cleo shook her head slowly as she looked around at the trees. "I doubt it."

She didn't elaborate on that. Given the state the noivern had been left in, it would have been nothing short of a miracle for him to just get up and fly away. If he'd survived at all, then he'd probably still be lurking in the forest. But there wasn't so much as a rustle. No murkrow in the trees. It was odd, to say the least. She'd expected some level of disruption to their task. After a member of the Darkness had been slaughtered like that, surely Hydreigon would put up more of a defence in the area?

Cleo moved away from the site, retracing the noivern's flight path. He'd come from somewhere, and for a noivern to be out during the day was an anomaly.

"Uhm, hang on." Spark tapped Cleo's whiskers, causing the feline to shake her head sharply. "Wouldn't any clues generally be back there?"

"Perhaps, but I didn't see any," said Cleo. "If he dropped anything, then it's obviously been taken."

"I'll have a look." Mischief turned to head back to the bloody patch.

Cleo watched him curiously. He'd shown no averse reaction to the scene. No sign he remembered it. He was as unsettled as they were. She didn't really want to leave him on his own, either. Not when he was still learning about the world. A sudden murkrow swoop from the canopy and he'd be reduced to ribbons.

Cleo bit her lip and forced her back on the whimsicott. She had to learn to trust he could look after himself. He'd proved himself to be a worthy fighter already. So she pressed on, retracing the noivern's flight path.

Where was he coming from? No… where was he going? And why be out during the day?

She paused, perched on the thick, snaking root of a mountain ash. She couldn't see the crash site anymore, but she could see it in her mind. She could hear Mischief rustling through the leaves, and caught the odd glimpse of his fluffy back shimmering in the daylight. The noivern had flown right over it. He'd been heading… north.

"He was going home," she said as the idea formed in her mind.

"Huh?" Spark twisted to look at her.

"He'd been heading home," Cleo repeated. "The noivern. He came from this way." She pointed a paw behind her. "He'd been heading back towards the Shadow Lands. He just happened to spot us and target us. He wasn't looking for anything."

"All right," said Spark. "Let's say you're right. Then why was he out during the day? Heading back with some haste, maybe?"

"Exactly." Cleo tapped her chin with a claw. "That would explain why he was flying about during the day with escorts. A noivern's sight isn't as good during the daylight. They're better at twilight. So he must have been heading back home in a hurry. Maybe he found something and desperately had to deliver that information to Hydreigon, but he got sidetracked. He thought he'd pick off three Outcasts, not realising one of them could… well…" She trailed off, her eye wandering to Mischief as he picked up her trail to rejoin them.

"And with good reason," Spark added in a whisper. "I think you might be right, Cleo. But what did he find? Maybe it's important."

"It might be. I say we keep retracing his path until we find it."

Mischief rejoined them and spread his paws in a shrug. "I didn't find anything. Just a few feathers." He paused and inclined his head on one side. "Noivern don't have feathers, right?"

"I dunno," said Spark. "What colour were they?"

"Spark!" Cleo hissed, jerking her shoulder and almost upending the dedenne.

Spark clung onto her ruff and scrambled back into it, a cheeky grin on her face.

"I think we're on the right track," Cleo explained to Mischief. "We've worked out that the noivern might have been heading home. So if we follow the way he came, we might discover the reason he was here in the first place."

They turned to head further into the forest, and Cleo swatted aside some over-sized ferns to clear the path for them.

"You know what's funny?" said Spark. "If this were a salamence, no one would even be questioning it."

"Agreed," said Cleo.

"Because salamence are less dangerous?" Mischief asked.

"No, because salamence are diurnal," said Cleo. "The noivern's mistake here was to be out during the day, when anyone could have… spotted him…" She trailed off, her eyes widening. "If we hadn't spotted him, he probably wouldn't have attacked us."

"Because he didn't want to be seen," Spark added.

"Mischief, you're a genius!" Cleo scrambled through the foliage, a renewed vigour in her step.

"Erm… thanks?" Mischief skipped after them. "What did I do?"

"You gave me an epiphany," said Cleo. "This makes me almost certain he found something of importance."

"Like, maybe, more peaceful pokemon?" Spark offered.

"Possibly." Cleo had to speak through gasps she was scampering so quickly. "If so, he might be linked to the absol somehow. They might have been working together and poisoned the river."

"You might be leaping to too many conclusions there, but I'm not disputing it," said Spark. "But maybe-"

A deep rumble cut through the air, and the canopy above them rustled. Cleo froze in her tracks, and Spark went tumbling from her shoulder with the momentum.

The dedenne rolled over the foliage and sat up, shaking her tiny head. "What the-?"

Another rumble, deeper this time. Not unlike the wailing of some large, aquatic pokemon sounding out to its pod. Cleo's heart hammered in her chest like a piston. She placed a paw on the trunk of a tree to steady herself and exchanged worried glances with her companions.

"What pokemon makes a noise like that?" Mischief whispered.

"A big one," Spark replied.

"It's coming from deeper in the forest," said Cleo. "It sounds big, but I think it might be much further inside than we are."

"Oh, good." Spark nodded and scrambled to her feet. "That means we're safe."

Cleo adjusted her satchel and strolled past her.

"Hey, hang on!" Spark squeaked. "You're going towards it?"

"It might be what we're looking for." Cleo turned her head to look back at her friends. "Let's go?"

Mischief toyed with the badge on his new orange scarf, while Spark stood at his feet twitching her whiskers at the air. The noise sounded again, further away this time, but Cleo could feel it rumbling in her chest. A deep, primal urge to move as far away from it as possible screamed inside her.

"You're not coming, are you?" she asked her friends. "Come on, we're Guild Warriors. This is what we do."

"All right, fine." Spark scurried back up onto Cleo's shoulder. "But I have you know I'm from a long line of pokemon that were hunted before they saw their third summer. I don't like this one bit."

"Neither do I," said Cleo.

She fell into step beside Mischief and they pushed through the foliage towards the strange noise. It didn't sound again, but every leaf that rustled in the breeze set her fur on end. One rustle after another.

Wait… there wasn't any breeze.

Cleo's tails stiffened and she turned her head towards a tangled knot of shrubs. She could have sworn she'd seen the leaves twitching, the remaining heavy red berries jiggling. But all she could see inside it was a thick shadow.

Too black a shadow.

She leapt backwards with a cry, and Mischief parted from her, twirling in the air as light as a seed. A cannonball of black fur sliced between them, and something purple glinted in its jaws, narrowly skimming Mischief's hip. They vanished like smoke into the brambles.

Cleo strained her ears to listen for any rustling. Their assailant barely made any noise, the rustles difficult to tell from the breeze that had decided to sweep through the trees. The black pokemon kept themselves downwind, too, making it impossible to pinpoint them. Cleo kept her ears tightly curled and flexed her claws, bracing for them to swipe again. Spark had bailed her shoulder, climbing into the nearest tree with amazing agility. The dedenne perched on a bough, her nose twitching as she gazed into the brambles.

"Move it!" she squeaked.

Cleo dashed towards the bush their assailant had previously leapt from. But the black blur wasn't aiming for her. They lunged at Mischief who leapt aside once more, scattering white cotton spores at his attacker. The pokemon staggered and landed in a squat, shaking their head to remove the irritating spores.

A zorua. And not just any zorua. The blue markings and sapphire eyes were a real give-away.

Harlequin. A feared assassin that Hydreigon reserved only for his more critical targets. They were famous for using poisons, and were often not seen. That is to say, few had survived to tell the tale.

The zorua sneered at Mischief around the lumpy, purple horn clasped in their jaws. "Well aren't you a nuisance?"

Mischief didn't get the time to reply. He found himself twisting to dodge another slice with that horn. There was nothing Cleo could do to get close and assist him. If that horn was what Cleo feared it was, then to put oneself in the way of it would be suicide.

Mischief tried to counter with an energy ball, but Harlequin dodged backwards, kicking themselves off the ground with their forepaws. Then they lunged straight at Mischief as he readied another attack. He stumbled forwards, the green energy fizzing out like static, and a clump of white cotton was torn from his back.

Cleo let out a yell, but Mischief didn't appear wounded. He pushed himself back up and darted to the side as Harlequin struck again. Electricity bounced off the floor at the zorua's feet and their blue eyes widened. They jerked their head up towards the canopy, searching for Spark. It was all the distraction Mischief needed.

A blast of sparkling light engulfed Harlequin, sending them ears over tail across the forest floor. The horn fell from their jaws as they let out a bark of surprise.

Cleo rushed to grab it, careful to pick it up by the handle. She stood over Harlequin and pointed the tip of the horn at their shaggy throat.

The zorua stared back up at her, sapphire eyes sparkling. "Do you think you've got me?"

Without the horn muffling it, their voice was unexpectedly high. It threw Cleo for a moment. Enough for Harlequin to widen their jaws and fire a spray of black energy right into her face.

Mischief shoulder-barged Cleo to the side, and the blast caught her right ear. Cleo yowled, more from the pain of landing hard on her shoulder in a tangle of lumpy roots. Thankfully the purple horn had fallen from her grip, landing a paw's stretch away.

Before she could grab it, Harlequin snatched it up in their jaws and stood over her. The point of the horn was mere millimetres from her muzzle.

Harlequin fired a glare at Mischief and Spark. The latter spluttered with electricity, her tail swishing side to side over her head.

Harlequin sneered. "Try anything and she's dead."

Spark's demeanour didn't change, but her electricity fizzled out.

"I'm not here for her." Harlequin fixed their sapphire glare on Mischief. "I'm here for him."

"Why me?" Mischief asked. "What have I done?"

Harlequin gave a mocking laugh. "Don't act like you don't know! Hydreigon wants you dead. I was told to take you out with priority. But…" They lowered the horn back towards Cleo's snout. "Since you got in my way…"

A soft sizzle came from the canopy and Harlequin's body locked up. A few sparks of electricity danced over the zorua's fur and they slumped to the ground before Cleo. The assassin was caught in a flurry of purple light, sending them rolling through the fallen leaves. The horn flew from their jaws, landing point down in the ground right before Cleo's nose.

Her breath froze in her throat as she stared cross-eyed at it. A beat of time passed before she shoved herself backwards with her forepaws. She yanked the horn from the ground and stood over Harlequin. The zorua fixed one eye on Cleo. The best they could do since they couldn't turn their head. Their limbs jerked out of rhythm, and their lip trembled as they let out a low growl.

"I'm assuming you can still speak?" said Cleo.

Harlequin said nothing, instead baring their canines in a threat to bite. It left Cleo feeling very glad she hadn't needed to prize the deadly horn from their jaws.

"Maybe you can answer some questions?" Cleo asked. "In return for us sparing your life?"

Harlequin managed a smirk and chuckled.

No… it wasn't Harlequin who chuckled.

Cleo looked up warily. She leapt out of the way as Mischief let out a series of consecutive energy balls at the fallen zorua. Harlequin flew into the air in an explosion of earth and foliage. A broken howl left their throat, silenced as they struck the trunk of an ivy-cloaked oak.

Mischief launched himself at the assassin, connecting a full-body tackle before they struck the ground. He landed astride the zorua and grabbed their ruff in one paw. Harlequin stared back up at him with a look of pure terror. One blue paw twitched helplessly as they fought against the paralysis in a bid to escape.

It had all happened so fast. Cleo shook herself and dropped the horn. "Mischief, stop!"

She rushed towards him, watching in horror as his flailing paws struck Harlequin repeatedly across the muzzle. Cleo uncurled her ears, and a purple bubble formed around him. She yanked him off Harlequin's body, raising him above her head. Mischief screamed with fury, lashing out at the sides of the bubble. His flailing only made it all the more difficult to contain him. They had to do something, otherwise he'd break free before the madness had run its course.

That was… if it would run its course. The previous time could have been a fluke.

Cleo caught Spark's eye above her head, and the dedenne nodded. Cleo dropped Mischief and he stood, flexing his paws. He leapt towards Cleo, meeting a thunderwave. He crumpled to the ground at her feet. The whimsicott looked up at her with blind fury, then all mania seemed to leave his eyes right before he went limp.

Cleo let out a sigh and flopped back against rough bark. She ran a paw across her face and looked away from the two pokemon. She didn't want to look. Not again. Not after the noivern.

"Spark?" she asked. "Are they…?"

"They're both still breathing," said Spark. "You caught him before he could do any real damage. Both of them are just paralysed."

Cleo let out a sigh of relief and joined the dedenne beside Harlequin. The zorua's eyes were closed, and their chest rose and fell frantically. That didn't give Cleo much information as to whether they were still conscious. And she didn't really want to stand around in the forest pumping the assassin for questions, either. If Hydreigon had sent one after them because of the noivern, then if word got back they could have even more of the Darkness after them.

She grit her teeth and reached into her bag to pull out Tinker's communicator. She hadn't wanted to use this so soon. She pressed the button and it let out a high buzz, causing her to drop it with surprise.

"Cleo?" Tinker's distorted voice rang out from it. "Is everything all right?"

Cleo scooped it back up and spoke into the slats. "No. Not really. We… ran into some trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" He didn't sound all that surprised.

"Harlequin." Cleo let a beat pass before she elaborated. "I can explain more, but-"

"Are you serious?!" Tinker gasped. "Are you all okay?"

"We're fine. But Mischief… he lost it again. He's taken Harlequin out. I don't think I can carry them both back with me, and I really want to get some answers out of this zorua."

"I understand that. I imagine Mischief will wake up in due time. But you can't bring Harlequin back here." He paused. "We have cells, as you know. But you can't use the main entrance to reach them."

"Then how are we meant to get inside?" Cleo asked through clenched teeth.

"We have… a special gate just for that," said Tinker. "A secure location, just west of where the noivern was defeated. When you see an ancient oak, you're there."

"So a huge tree?" Cleo clicked her tongue. "You built it into a landmark? Hardly sounds secure to me."

"I think you'll find it's very secure," said Tinker. "I'll see you there shortly."

Cleo closed her eyes and sighed. A huge tree… and she imagined they'd get in the usual way, like all of New City's stone gateways. She stuffed the communicator back into her satchel and looked down at the two fallen pokemon. Mischief she could carry back no problem. But Harlequin? A dark type couldn't be lifted with her psychic.

"Don't look at me," said Spark. "I can barely lift this horn."

The dedenne nudged the handle with a foot.

Cleo shook her head and ran a paw between her ears. She didn't have much choice. First things first, she wasn't leaving that horn where anyone could find it. She examined the zorua's satchel, finding a pocket on the inside of the flap that was clearly designed to safely hold it. She slotted it back in place and looped the satchel over her own shoulders. There was no chance she was risking Harlequin coming to and grabbing it. Once that was sorted, she stooped to drag Harlequin onto her back, and grunted. The fox-like pokemon wasn't much bigger than her, and paralysed rendered them a dead weight.

Cleo let out a low growl and muttered something incoherent.

This wasn't going to be easy.

...

Please R&R! =D