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40 - Trust Issues
Hydreigon drifted around the cocoon, examining it with delight. Finally he'd found it. Its black crystalline surface shimmered in the moonlight, and red veins pulsed through it slowly as if they were carrying tar. Yurlik stood a little way away with Echo and Rumble. The two noivern had been permitted entry, since neither of them could agree on who was responsible for finding the cocoon.
"I can barely believe you found this in the frozen isles," said Hydreigon. "If I'd had any idea I would have sent a weavile troop there instead."
"And how would you have got them across the ocean?" Echo asked.
Hydreigon said nothing, too transfixed on the cocoon. But Yurlik gave the noivern a scolding caw and nipped at his wing. Echo recoiled and stood seething in the corner of the room.
Rumble couldn't take his eyes off the cocoon. They followed the red energy as it trailed along the surface. No light came from it. It was almost as if the crystal absorbed the light instead, and radiated darkness.
The noivern licked his dry lips and cleared his throat. "My lord, it wasn't doing that when we found it."
Hydreigon raised his head towards Rumble. "Wasn't doing what?"
"Glowing." Rumble waved a wing towards the crystal. "If that's what you can call it, anyway. It was just… black."
Hydreigon's brows creased together and he turned his head back towards the crystal.
Yurlik strutted forwards and lowered his head in a bow. "If I could offer a suggestion, my lord. Any pokemon that has touched this has been either drained of their strength to the point of fainting or died. Perhaps it has something to do with that?"
"As if it is leeching their energy away to revive itself?" Hydreigon inched back from the cocoon, but not out of fear. A look of admiration crossed his face. "Fantastic!" He exchanged a glance with one of his pincers. "Then maybe that is how we revive it?"
Yurlik stuttered a few times as he tried to find the right words, but Hydreigon cut him off.
"Find me a pokemon to sacrifice to it," he demanded. "A pokemon from the breeding pens."
Yurlik stiffened and his feathers ruffled along his back. "If I may remind my lord that the breeding pens have already been exhausted for patrol officers?"
"Only the murkrow," said Hydreigon.
A scoff of laughter came from the corner of the throne room. Echo stood with a claw to his muzzle as he tried to stifle it, and his fur bristled under Hydreigon's stare.
"Has something amused you, Echo?" Hydreigon asked dangerously.
"No!" Echo gasped. He lowered his head and the fur stood on end around his shoulders. "Just… erm… well-"
"Yurlik acted under my command," Hydreigon went on. "But if you think it's funny…"
Echo shook his head rapidly. "It was just… I-"
"But you're right, Yurlik. The breeding pens have been exhausted too much recently, and we do need more soldiers. Throwing away the females would be rather foolish." Hydreigon raised a pincer and inclined his head on one side as he addressed it. "What do you think? Round up the outlaws?"
He moved his pincer like a puppet shaking its head and turned it towards the two noivern. Echo fell back against the wall while Rumble visibly trembled.
"Hmm… you have a good point." Hydreigon stroked his chin with his other pincer as he looked at the two quaking dragons. "But Rumble barely has any energy left. He'd be pretty pathetic to just throw away like that. I think we should go with Echo. He did question us, and it's pretty clear he's not the one who found the cocoon."
All the colour vanished from Echo's face and his jaw went slack.
Laughter growled from Hydreigon's throat and his muzzle split in a toothy grin. "Part of me wonders if he didn't try to send Rumble to his death, and his plan backfired miserably."
Echo gave himself a shake and scrambled on all-fours for the door.
"Grab him!" Hydreigon roared.
Yurlik and Rumble leapt to attention, chasing after the fleeing noivern. But Echo was fast. He yanked the door open and fled into the hallway, straight into the waiting claws of two weavile guards. Echo reeled back spewing flames at his assailants. One of the guards fell to the floor with a shriek. The other lashed out at Echo's face with icy claws, cleaving through his left eye. Echo roared with pain and his flames spluttered to an end as claws fastened around his throat.
"I'm sorry," Rumble muttered in his ear.
Echo hissed and jerked his body, sending the weakened noivern to the floor. But before Echo could scramble away, Yurlik's strong talons clasped around his tail.
"You're not going anywhere," said Yurlik.
Echo turned his sneering face towards the honchkrow, but his retort died on his tongue as Hydreigon's imposing shadow fell over him. The huge dragon glared down at him, and somehow his pincer wore the same expression.
The noivern stuttered over his words as he cowered into the floor.
"I wanted to be Boomer's successor," he finally choked out. "I wanted you to make me into your ace!"
Hydreigon stared at him for a moment. Then he reared his head back. "Then consider your sacrifice an important step in furthering my kingdom."
Hydreigon grabbed the noivern by the scruff and launched him into the crystal. Echo struck it with a yelp and sank down against it, letting out a pained hiss. He dropped to all-fours again and ducked to scamper through the door, but at Hydreigon's command the two weavile rushed into the room and grabbed him by each wing. The two guards thrust him back against the crystal and Echo let out a terrible howl of fear and pain. His body jerked and contorted as he fought against the weavile and the cocoon's leeching power.
The two weavile flinched, looking away. An eternity seemed to go by before Echo's howls finally tapered to an end. The noivern slumped to the floor and the two guards stood back from him, twitching their claws with uncertainty.
Hydreigon watched the cocoon in silence. The pulsing red energy had grown more frequent, but nothing more had happened beyond that. As he turned away from it, the two weavile flinched back and tried to avoid his gaze.
Hydreigon turned to address Yurlik. "I need outlaws. Take what is left of your flock and group up with the mighteyena. Take some assassins too, and head into the Border Woods. Bring me as many outlaws as you can find." He turned back to the cocoon. "I can't keep sacrificing my own troops. I have no idea how many lives this needs to awaken."
The weavile let out sighs of relief as they followed Yurlik from the room. Rumble wasn't far behind. He gave one last glance back at Echo and followed the weavile from the castle, leaving Hydreigon alone with the deadly cocoon.
...
Cleo perused her map as she sipped at a glass of freshly squashed sitrus juice. The sun beamed down at them, taking a moment to warm Stonehaven before it set behind the grey clouds. The drone of voices surrounded them as the village's denizens went about their day. Cleo's map lay spread over a small round table, taking up most of the room since almost all of them had finished their meal. All but Spark, who licked pastry flakes from her whiskers before whisking her paws over her face.
Cleo stretched out a paw to dust the dedenne's crumbs from the corner of the map she'd been inspecting. "We've come a long way."
Faith looked up from her cup. "Hmm?"
"We have been travelling for a few days," said Mischief. "But only through the forest. How big is it?"
"I don't just mean the forest," said Cleo. "But yes, if you think about it, we have come a long way. But… I've been trying to work out where the Fairy Garden is on here. If we say here," she jabbed a claw into the heart of the Endless Woods, "and Stonehaven is here, just below the Moorlands Forest… that's at least a five day journey."
Faith nursed her hot berry juice in both paws and sat back in her seat. "Our current journey would have taken much less time if it weren't for all the problems we ran into."
"It's a nice village," said Mischief as he gazed around at the stone buildings. He'd perked up a lot during Mulch's tour. "Part of me doesn't want to leave."
Cleo bit her tongue. She didn't want to put a dampener on one of the whimsicott's rare happy moments. As nice as Stonehaven was, they couldn't stay. And she feared it wouldn't be long before it fell under attack especially with Hydreigon's troops desperate to apprehend Mischief.
Faith closed her eyes in a smile. "We can make the most of it while we're here, okay?"
Mischief returned her smile and nodded.
Harlequin made a small groan and looked around at the passing pokemon. Stonehaven's residents didn't seem too unsettled by Harlequin's presence, but that didn't stop them from throwing glares and suspicious glances their way. The zorua was visibly anxious, shuffling their blue paws on the table. Half of a pomeg pastry lay unfinished before them, abandoned to the assassin's nerves.
Claws clicked over the cobbles close to them and Cleo looked up as Meredith approached their table. There was no sign of Tinker. The delphox had come alone. His smile washed over them, and Cleo felt her fur settle along her back.
"Well!" Meredith stopped beside Faith and folded his paws behind his back as his warm gaze passed over each of them. "I bring some good news. Much to my surprise, I might add. Those strange roots you brought with you have worked, and much faster than I ever expected."
Harlequin licked their lips and fixed him with a cold sapphire stare. "I told you they'd work."
"Sorry, but I can't just take the word of an assassin." Meredith returned Harlequin's stare with narrowed eyes but then his expression softened. "But it does appear that you… seem to be… how do I word this?"
"Changing?" Spark offered, followed by a soft laugh from Faith.
Meredith stiffened and glanced away for a moment. "Yes, although wording it that way sounds a bit abrasive."
Harlequin looked away, sneering at the stone wall of the pastry cafe.
"We haven't treated everyone yet," said Meredith. "Your antidote was met with scepticism from our nurse, but some pokemon overheard our conversation. One had even heard of milkwort root and corrected my embarrassing mistake of calling it 'milkworm'!" He chuckled and shook his head. "After he offered to try it, a couple of our more sickly patients jumped on board. They had accepted their fate and were slowly waiting for death. But after a mere hour of taking the medicine their neurological symptoms seemed to vanish entirely and they were able to stomach eating some root vegetable soup! Prior to that they'd just been drinking sitrus juice to keep their energy up."
Cleo stared up at Meredith with her mouth hanging open. Spark wore a matching expression, but Faith simply smiled. Cleo had been rendered speechless. She'd claimed to believe the roots would work but she began to realise much to her despair that part of her had doubted it.
"Needless to say," Meredith went on, "all of our patients are now receiving this treatment. We have hopes that even those in comas will recover in due time. Our nurse has high hopes that most of her patients will be fit to leave the ward tomorrow morning. As such, we're planning to throw a party tomorrow afternoon, and I want to invite you." His gaze rested on Harlequin. "All of you. I would be honoured if you'd all attend as guests of honour."
Harlequin was speechless. They just stared up at Meredith, their ears pulled back slightly.
"That sounds lovely!" said Faith, beating Cleo to the punch.
"A party?" Mischief wiped crumbs from his mouth. "I don't think I've ever been to one before. Not that I remember anyway."
"Oh they're so much fun," Faith told him. "I think you'll enjoy it!"
"Really?" Mischief looked up at Cleo, his eyes sparkling. "We can go, right?"
Cleo looked from Mischief to Meredith. Doubt was clawing in her chest. "It sounds great, Meredith. But… are you sure you don't mind throwing a party? I mean, supplies must be pretty tight."
"Not at all." Meredith shrugged his shoulders. "We haven't thrown a party in quite some time, and this is sure to lighten the mood which has been a bit sour with all the sickness. We used to have parties regularly, but this will be the best we can do in present times. As such, it will go on from early afternoon just into sunset."
"Sunset?" Spark gasped. "Isn't that a little risky?"
"Not the way we do it," Meredith explained. "One of the things Stonehaven is reluctant to let go of is tradition. Pokemon here, myself included, have grown up on stories of Stonehaven parties that went all the way up until midnight! The lights would be seen from high in the mountains, inviting travellers to join in with our joyous occasions. Of course, we cannot do that now." He gave a small sigh and turned his attention back to Cleo. "After the party I will give you all the supplies you need to continue on your journey. Really, I cannot thank you enough."
The last words had been aimed at Harlequin. Cleo thought for a moment that the zorua was about to topple of their chair.
Cleo watched Meredith walk away, back towards the Guild Hall. She glanced down at her paws clasped over her map. A party… it would be a good opportunity to ask Meredith if he would help them defeat the Wildfires. That way, they might find out if he was the pokemon they were looking for. But if not, then she wanted to move on quickly, not hang around for another full day. But she wasn't about to decline his invite to Stonehaven's celebrations, especially since he'd invited them as a thank you for their help.
"Oh a party!" Faith clapped her paws together. "What fun! I can barely wait. Think of all the new pokemon we'd meet!"
"I can't picture a party." Mischief scratched his fluffy head. "What are they like?"
"A bit like the Dazzle Dance," Faith explained. "There's music and dancing, food, and lots and lots of pokemon to talk to!"
Cleo sucked in a sharp breath and clenched her paws. "Are we sure it's not wasting time? I mean… if Meredith isn't the pokemon we're meant to find-"
"Faith has a point," said Spark. "And not just because she mentioned food. We'll be meeting most of Stonehaven. What if the fire-type is in this village and we miss them? We can't turn away an opportunity like this."
A smile spread across Cleo's muzzle and she relaxed. "Yes. Yes, that's a good point."
"See it as an opportunity to relax for a bit," said Faith. "After all we've been through we deserve a little break like this. If we don't find the fire-type then we leave here rested and equipped to continue our search."
Cleo chuckled and sat back in her seat. "All very good points."
Faith squirmed with glee and clapped her paws. "Oh, how exciting! I might meet some pokemon who are looking for the Fairy Garden and don't even know it!"
Cleo's mood brightened and she looked around at Stonehaven, now painted with the start of sunset. A village full of pokemon… and if they learned of the Fairy Garden then perhaps the threat of Darkness wouldn't be so daunting. They could move and find a new home safe from it.
"You know what?" Cleo turned back to Faith. "I hope you do get the chance to tell someone about it."
"Yup!" Faith leant forwards with enthusiasm. "And even if it's just one, just one little spark can turn into a huge invigorating storm of joy!"
"Yeah we can!" Spark declared.
Faith laughed and gave her a gentle pat on the back.
"And speaking of storms," said Spark, "it looks like one might be heading our way."
Everyone looked towards the horizon. The grey clouds had turned more heavy, and were painted red above the mountains.
"Oh dear," said Faith. "I hope it doesn't put a dampener on the party."
"The weather does have its timings." Cleo slipped from her seat. "We should probably find shelter before it rains."
A grunt came from Harlequin that might have been agreement. They leapt from their seat to land behind Cleo, but their mind seemed to be elsewhere.
"Are you okay?" Faith asked.
"He thanked me." Harlequin's voice came out hoarse and they looked up at the sky above Faith's head.
The mawile inclined her head on one side, prompting Harlequin to elaborate.
"He thanked me," Harlequin said again, shuffling their feet on the cobbles. "No one has ever thanked me for anything."
"Not even Enigma?" Spark asked.
Harlequin shook their head and looked away.
"I don't believe it. No one's ever thanked you before?" said Faith. She placed a paw on Harlequin's shoulder, which Harlequin didn't flinch away from. "How does it feel? Good?"
Harlequin rubbed their forepaws together and gave Faith an awkward sideways glance. "Yeah… it does."
"That's great!" said Faith.
"And if you're gonna be helping other pokemon," said Cleo, "then you've got many more 'thank yous' waiting for you."
Faith nodded eagerly.
Harlequin let out a sigh and their shoulders slumped. "I'm not sure how else I can help. I don't exactly have much experience outside of, well… poisons."
Spark looked up at the zorua and shrugged. "You'll find your niche."
Mischief folded his paws behind his back and smiled at Harlequin. "Don't worry. I don't know how I can help either."
"Seriously?!" Harelquin scoffed, rising to their feet. "You took down a dragon! You can even take down Reshiram! You're strong! You can defend your friends!"
Mischief's smile fell and he looked away. "Yeah, but it comes at a price."
Harlequin grimaced and lowered their head. "I didn't mean it like that."
"Erm… can we change the subject?" Spark asked. "We're kinda dragging down an awesome mood here. I say we take a walk, clear our heads, and find somewhere to sleep before the rain kicks in."
Cleo raised an eyebrow at her small companion. "By 'take a walk' do you mean 'walk five steps to the guild'?"
"That's exactly what I mean." Spark turned and pointed a claw down the main street. "Let's get a wiggle on. We need to find out where Tinker's set up our room."
The cafe had been on a corner just around where the Guild stood tall in the heart of Stonehaven. The road split off across from the Guild, spreading out into the village's wide square. Two mienshao stood guard outside the Guild chatting to two young pokemon that weren't quite hatchlings any more. The guards leapt to attention as Cleo and her friends made to join them.
The two youngsters, a minccino and a trubbish, watched the Outcasts with fascination.
"I'm sorry," said the smallest of the mienshao. "Tinker has instructed us not to let you in, since…" He nodded to Harlequin.
"We know." Cleo gave Harlequin an apologetic look, but the zorua was seething. "Has Tinker set up a space for us?"
The larger mienshao nodded his head.
"There's a space for you, which should hopefully be comfortable enough," said the smaller. "It's just around the back of the Guild Hall. If you come with me-"
"No need!" The minccino stood up tall and placed a paw on his chest. "We've just finished cleaning it. We can take them for you."
"That way, you don't need to break duty," said the trubbish, his voice cracking.
The two guards thanked the pair and returned to the stone steps leading up to the Guild's door.
Spark glanced up at Cleo from beside her feet. "Why do I feel like they're gonna stick us in some shed?"
"Try to be positive," said Cleo with some doubt.
The chinchilla pokemon turned to address Cleo and she noticed the Guild badge attached to his neckerchief.
"I'm Dusty!" he said. "And this is my friend Fussy."
The trubbish saluted with a sticky paw.
"And you're Guild Warriors?" Cleo asked, a playful smile playing at her lips.
"Honorary!" said Fussy. "We're in charge of keeping the streets clean!"
"Well they're lucky to have helpful pokemon like you," said Cleo. "And this village is spotless! You'll make fine warriors when your time comes. So… where has Tinker said we're to stay?"
"Right this way!" Dusty turned to scamper between the Guild Hall and the large house beside it. He paused to dust a stretch of the alley with his tail, moving sideways as he sent the dust towards Fussy. The trubbish lapped it up gleefully then the pair scampered onward towards the rear of the Guild Hall.
When Cleo spotted where they were staying her heart sank.
"See?" said Spark. "What did I tell you?"
A wooden hut stood against the back of the Guild Hall. The smell coming from it suggested it had formerly been used for food storage. Its door gaped open, swaying in the breeze. It looked like it would be less likely to keep out the wind than it wood be to take off with it.
"There's clean hay for you to sleep on," said Dusty, rubbing his paws together a little bashfully. "I helped gather it for you."
Fussy trailed a tentacle along the floor, avoiding Cleo's gaze. "Sorry it's a bit… well…"
Cleo peered inside the hut at the beds of hay. It didn't smell damp, although the dry weather probably had more to do with that. "It'll do fine, thank you." Then she added silently, 'We've slept in worse places.'
"Yes, thank you so much!" Faith beamed.
The faces of the two small pokemon lit up and they bowed a couple of times before scampering back off down the alley. Cleo watched them go then turned to her friends.
"I suppose we should call it a night," she said. "Who will take first…" She trailed off and glanced to the side.
It was a habit. If they'd been sleeping in a room in the Guild she wouldn't have even fallen into it. But now they were in a village, surrounded by guards, there was no reason any of them should keep watch.
She gave a dry chuckle and stood aside, motioning for Faith and the others to enter the hut. "It will be nice for us to have a good sleep for a change."
Spark paused by the door and looked up at her friend. "You don't want any of us keeping an eye on Harlequin?"
Cleo jolted at the dedenne's words and fired a glance at the zorua standing beside her, head low. For some reason the thought hadn't even crossed Cleo's mind. Did they really need to keep an eye on Harlequin any more? Cleo bit her lip, reluctant to go back on her words. She swallowed a sigh and followed the others into the hut.
The hay was fresh and very welcome after so many nights of roughing it. Cleo sank down into the nest and sat back on her paws, gazing through the door. A stretch of mountain grass separated them from a stone wall, set with a window that looked into the kitchen of a bakery. A few brambles that had been cut back suggested the area behind the Guild had once held a very small orchard, but as Stonehaven became more built-up over time it had been left to its own devices. It was rather trampled down by many feet, and Cleo could picture it full of playful hatchlings that lived in the Guild Hall with their parents.
Now that the village was on its way to recovery, that image remained bright in Cleo's mind. She settled on her back onto the hay and cast a glance at Harlequin sitting beside her, gazing out of the door.
"You really came through today," she told the zorua.
At first Harlequin didn't respond, then their ear twitched towards Cleo. The zorua shook their head sharply and looked at her.
"Huh? You were talking to me?"
Cleo shrugged. "Yes. I mean, if it weren't for you, this village would still be full of sick pokemon scrambling for pecha berries."
"Yeah," said Spark from beside Cleo's head. "It's not like you had to help them or anything. You're our prisoner after all."
Harlequin snorted. "You're right." They curled up on the bare ground, turning their back to Cleo. "I didn't have to help them."
"No, you didn't," said Faith. "But you did! And that's what counts."
Harlequin opened one sapphire eye.
"It was an incredibly kind gesture," Faith went on. "And it's very clear that Stonehaven appreciates it!"
Harlequin snorted again. "If they really appreciated it then you wouldn't be forced to sleep in this draughty hut with me."
Mischief huffed from the corner of the room. "It does seem rather unfair."
"Of course it's unfair." Cleo propped herself up on one elbow. "But Harlequin, listen to me. That's just how Tinker is. He doesn't trust anyone outside the Guild. Look at how he treated Sandpaw at first!"
"He doesn't trust me, either," said Mischief. "No matter how much I try to prove it to him."
Cleo shook her head sadly. "I honestly think, if Meredith had a heavy say in it, that we wouldn't have been turned away."
"But pokemon would have still been looking at me funny." Harlequin flashed Cleo a sapphire glance. "Let's face it, I'm not welcome in Outcast territory, and I never will be." They lowered their head back onto their paws and sighed. "When you lot let me go, I'll have no choice but to join the outlaws."
A brief silence washed over them, along with a brisk breeze that caused the door to clatter. Cleo's fur bristled and she lay back into the hay.
"One day, there won't be any division," said Faith softly. "But if you really feel you need to join the outlaws, Harlequin, then they'll be blessed to have you."
Harlequin raised their head, their eyes wide with surprise. It was only for a moment, as if the zorua wasn't quite sure Faith had actually meant those words. Harlequin lowered their chin back onto their paws and muttered, "Thank you, Faith."
...
Three winged shadows fluttered erratically across the night sky. To the untrained eye they would have looked like large moth pokemon trying to reach the moon before it vanished behind a cloud. Ilana waited, her feathers plastered to her body as the fine drizzle soaked through them.
Finally, the three murkrow reached her, landing clumsily beside her in the branches of the mountain ash.
"Did you find them?" Ilana asked.
The larger of the three murkrow nodded her head. "They've entered a large village, crouching in those mountains. But it's almost impossible to see anything in there now. It's in a complete black-out."
"So an entire village has avoided detection from Yurlik's deino-brained troops?" Ilana clicked her beak as an amused glint lit up her eyes.
The amusement spread throughout the tree as hundreds of murkrow eyes turned to follow the honchkrow's gaze towards the valley.
"So do we attack?" the first murkrow asked. "Drive them out?"
"No. Not yet." Ilana fluffed out her feathers against the bracing wind. "Haste is how we will lose. For now, we watch and wait. The perfect time will come, girls, then we swoop."
...
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