"Pick up the pace Sindri!" Nyne yelled back at me. It wasn't my fault the weeping willows looked so good in the light of the sun. Everything looked so different during the day. The paths were clearly defined and I could see flowers dotting the grass along the road.
"Come on, before he gets impatient," Buizel said, pushing me from behind. I hurried myself to at least catch up to our impatient friend. Nyne looked so proud to be showing off the place where he lived.
"You're really gonna love Lazuli Town, I know it!" Nyne jabbered. "It's got everything you need from the bank to the shop and even a courier service if you end up remembering you have a friend in another town or something. Baily gets things across the continent so fast you would think she's a Pidgeot instead of an Absol."
"Just let him go on," Buizel whispered to me. "He'll go forever without any input from us." I laughed quietly and nodded at Buizel. Nyne seemed like the kind of guy that could keep himself company.
We were walking down the road to the town and I felt like I could do this all day. The sun was shining brightly and there were nothing but cotton candy clouds hovering in the sky. The weeping willows had given way to broad oak trees and thick pine furs. I could hear far off sounds of people and business.
"Nyne, do you really think this is a good idea?" I asked. He stopped chattering for a second to smile at me.
"You have nothing to be worried about Sindri. People are people. Some will accept you for who you are and then there will be others who will hold old grudges against you just because you happen to be a Zoroark. But I won't let anything hurt you, okay?"
Nyne had showed such a deep understanding of my unvoiced fears that I thought he had read my mind for a second. But I nodded in return, feeling a little better that Nyne would support me. Buizel nudged my side and smiled encouragingly. He would stay by me as well, I knew that just from the little gesture.
"Okay," I sighed. "Let's get this over with."
"That's the spirit. We'll go see what we can do over at Cinccino's shop. He's usually got some of the best stuff after the caravans pass through, but even if they haven't he's still got some pretty awesome stuff. Let's see, shall we?" Nyne led us into town.
At first I thought I'd been transported to a carnival. Tents and cloth stalls were littered everywhere, giving no definite shape to the town. Many creatures crowded the streets, talking amiably and shopping at the cloth covered stalls. Few of the Pokémon even looked in our direction, busy with their own errands and conversations.
Nyne ran up to a bright blue stall with orange zig-zag patterns on the front. Behind the counter was a grey colored mouse with white, scarf-like fur on its neck and ears. It looked at Nyne with a smile in its grey-brown eyes and on its face.
"What can I do for you t'day Nyne?" he asked. "Need some sph'rs or seeds?" Nyne shook his head.
"Cinccino, I want you to meet the new recruit. Sindri, come say hi." Buizel pushed me forward, shooing me like a child. I stepped up to the counter and waved at the mouse a little.
"H-hello." He raised an eyebrow at me, but smiled anyway.
"Nice ta meet you, S'ndri. I sell everything you recruits need, so don't hes'tate to stop by." He winked at me before another customer quickly took his attention. I liked Cinccino with his clipped accent and easy smile. He reminded me a bit of Nyne.
Buizel led the way to the next stop, a small shack made of bright pink and blinding white cloth. He strolled through the doorway and Nyne and I followed. Inside was a bit Spartan in décor, but cozy nonetheless, in and of itself a contradiction. A small, yellow ball with two red and white striped ribbons on it shifted behind the counter.
"I'll be right with you~" she sang. "Just have to find my specs." Her singsong voice was a little irritating, but it was also very pretty. She was a contradiction like her tent.
"No problem, Chingling. We've got a new friend for you to meet." She giggled at Buizel and turned around. She jumped when her gaze fell on me.
"Oh dear!" she yelped, actually jingling like the bell she resembled. "Buizel… I never knew you had such… unique friends…" I felt a little hurt, but I had been expecting this since this morning.
"Chingling, I'd like you to meet Sindri. She's a new recruit at our guild and we decided to show her around. Sindri?"
"Hello," I greeted, blushing a little. "It's nice to meet you." Chingling seemed to rethink her initial reaction to me and grinned.
"It's very nice to meet you too, Sindri."
"Chingling links moves together and is your gal for learning new moves," Nyne piped in. "She's a whiz on teaching just about every move there is." Chingling blushed.
"Oh stop it! You'd better run along before Throh shows up. He's still cross with you." Nyne chuckled, but headed for the door anyway.
"Thanks Chingling. See you later!" She waved us out of the shack and we crossed the road to the next stall. It was a penned area with a round, cream colored tent in the middle. Small Pokémon played behind the fence, running every which way. A pink, bovine Pokémon watched over them.
"Yo! Miltank!" Nyne yelled. The cow strolled over to the fence.
"How goes it boys?" she said sweetly. "Find any eggs for me to take care of?" Nyne shook his head and gestured to me.
"I got a new friend for you to meet." Miltank looked me up and down lazily, but she didn't say anything.
"Where in the nine levels of Hell did you find a Zoroark?" she asked Nyne. I took offense to that. It's not like I was some demonic creature that crawled out of nowhere. Buizel puffed out a bit after she bluntly insulted me.
"You could show a little decorum Miltank," he scolded. "She's a new recruit at the guild and is going to be around for a while."
"Fine, fine. I'm sorry for seeming rude bu- Nathan I swear if I have to spank you I will! –but it's a bit of a surprise. After all these years with your kind just up and gone, it's weird to see one of you just pop out of nowhere. Pichu, I will tell your mother about that if you do not stop it!" She seemed to have her hooves full with the children, so we went away.
At the next tent, a simple dark blue and red spotted thing, Nyne seemed hesitant to enter. But Buizel went in, so we had to follow anyway. Inside was nothing but a few benches and a large hole in the floor with a ladder leading down into it.
"Hey! Vileplume!" Buizel yelled down the hole. "Your presence is requested!" Grumbling noises came from the hole before a large, red flower popped out, followed by a dark blue body.
"What is it Private Buizel?!" he shouted in a very military like manner. "I've got soldiers training down here."
"Yes sir, I understand that sir. But we've got a new recruit at the guild and we're showing her around before we send her out on a mission. This is Sindri."
"A new recruit, eh? Listen here girly, I don't trust your kind, I don't like your kind. Seeing as Sirius chose to give you a chance, I will too. But if you ever betray that trust, I will make your life a living Hell." I never thought I could be scared of a four foot flower, but I think I nearly pissed myself. For being a flower, Vileplume was scary as Hell! I felt the butterflies as I flickered in and out of the background.
"Vileplume!" Nyne shouted. "That wasn't necessary. She's the most timid person we've got here in town." Vileplume looked at me in disbelief, but turned to Nyne after he apparently appraised that.
"Fine. But Dark-types are not to be trusted. I've warned you." With that, Vileplume jumped back into his hole and started commanding the people he had down there. Buizel grabbed my hand and tugged me out of the tent.
"Sorry 'bout that Sindri. Vileplume is usually a pretty okay guy, but I didn't know he had old prejudices like that. No wonder Sneasel never went to his boot camp." Nyne scoffed.
"I don't think you met them, did you? Sneasel and Skitty are partners and they're working towards finding things to help them evolve. And Nina never introduced herself."
"She had to go visit her grandma today, Nyne. She had to get out of there early." Nyne nodded. Buizel avoided a pothole in the road when he led us across the street to a green tent with a stone sidewalk in front of it. Sitting in a chair out front of it, a blue Pokémon with a cream bill and a red gem on its forehead lazed in the sun.
"Mornin' Golduck," Nyne greeted. The duck lazily opened one eye and grunted in response.
" 'Lo boys. Whatdya need today?" Buizel shook his head.
"Just showing Sindri around town today." Golduck nodded at me before resuming his nap.
"Nyne! Buizel!" a girl's rough voice shouted. The tented stall next to Golduck's was decorated with red fabric and yellow circles. The blue crocodile with the light yellow stomach inside it was waving the three of us over excitedly.
"What's new, Missy?" She beamed at Buizel and set a rather large, round topped box on her counter.
"I finally got your box open. Wanna know what was in it?" Buizel nodded and Missy pulled the top off. Buizel reached in and pulled out a gold ribbon that flashed in the sunlight.
"Woah! I'm gonna have to haggle with Cinccino for this one. Thanks Missy!" Missy smiled and flashed her fangs.
"It's my job ain't it? Is this the new recruit that's got everyone in a tizzy?"
"A tizzy?" I asked, not expecting that word from a crocodile. She nodded.
"I'm Missy. It's nice to meet you." Her smile looked lethal with all those sharp teeth.
"Sindri," I replied. Missy seemed to be over-the-top nice.
"Well, we've gotta go see Tyra and Chandelure yet. Good luck with any other boxes you have!" Missy waved us away and Buizel walked down the street with me and Nyne right behind him. Next was a tent with purple fabric draped over grey swatches.
Inside was pretty large considering that the outside made it look much smaller. Behind a wooden counter was a floating chandelier with a purple fire inside. It reminded me of Wisp a bit.
"Hey Chandelure. How's business going?" Nyne asked. The Pokémon bobbed up and down.
"Very well. Especially good considering you guild apprentices keep your treasure in my bank. How's my son doing?"
"Wisp is doing very well. Him and Ivy get along like the best of friends." If Chandelure could have smiled, he would have. But his face was kind of frozen in a mask of neutrality.
"Good, good. Is he still calling her Grovyle?" Nyne laughed and nodded.
"Yep. He refuses to use her nickname, though sometimes I catch him callin' her Ivy when he's distracted." Chandelure laughed breathily and shook his… um… face.
"You need anything today?"
"Yeah. Sindri needs access to my account. She's gonna be part of the guild and my partner from now on." Chandelure bobbed in a nod and turned in a circle. I looked down at Nyne with a confused expression, but he ignored it. "Thanks Chandelure. See you later!" We left and went back out to the street.
"What's all that about?" I asked, making Nyne stop walking. "Who said I was your partner?" He smiled cheekily.
"I did. I don't have one and Buizel's already got one."
"I still would have appreciated you asking me first!" I didn't really know why I was mad. It made me feel better that Nyne was partnering up with me. Something about him just assuming irked me. I felt angry, but I knew I didn't really have a reason to be.
"Sorry, I thought it'd just work out." Now he sounded hurt. Stupid me and my stupid big mouth. I wanted to apologize for my outburst, but something stopped me.
"Well assuming just makes an ass out of you and me!" I was still angry for no reason. So, instead I stalked off down the road and crossed my arms in front of my chest. Nyne and Buizel were so shocked that they didn't even follow. As I fumed, I ignored the astonished looks and the pointing. I knew I was a freak around here and getting bristly at it wasn't doing me any good.
Even though the town was pretty easy to navigate, I'd already gotten myself lost. The tents all looked different and there wasn't much traffic in this area. A large, black and blue colored lion growled at me as I passed and I returned the favor with a snarl. I was just burning on the inside, but I didn't know exactly why. Nyne was just trying to be nice by partnering up with me. So then why did his assumption make me so mad?
"You look lost." I turned to the voice that had startled me out of my thoughts. It was from a large, green reptile with a violet belly and large spikes on her back. "Need help?" I sighed and approached her green cloth stall.
"I'm just trying to cool down," I answered. She smiled and nodded.
"What's got ya mad?" I screwed up my face.
"I don't really know. Nyne told Chandelure I was his partner, but he never even asked. I got mad and yelled at him for making assumptions… but I actually want to be partners with Nyne. I don't really feel comfortable around anyone else from the guild. But I got mad and I probably hurt his feelings…" The large lizard laughed and toyed with a key on a chain.
"Sounds like Nyne. I bet you're just stressed and need some time to adjust to Lazuli Town. Why don't we wait here for him? He's bound to come by soon."
"Thanks," I said and hopped up to sit on her counter. "I'm Sindri, by the way."
"Tyra," she replied. "I run a little storage business for y'all guild teams and apprentices. A few of the townspeople store things here, but not many. So what's your story? I haven't seen any Zoroark in a great many years." I sighed and looked at her out of the corner of my eye. Her kind, dark eyes were nothing but curious.
"I don't really know. I woke up in the woods a few days ago with no memories." I shrugged. "I don't even know who I am, let alone why I'm the only Zoroark around." Tyra made a 'chyeh' sound with her teeth.
"That sounds familiar. You know anyone named Avery?" I stared blankly at her.
"No. Like I said, I don't even know my own name, let alone anyone around here." Tyra shrugged.
"Worth a shot. Here come the boys." I looked down the road to where she was pointing and saw Buizel followed by a dejected looking Nyne.
"Hey girls!" Buizel shouted. "Good to see Sindri didn't get irreparably lost. How's it going Tyra?" Tyra laughed and thumped the counter.
"As good as a Combee in honey. Nyne, if I have to start dumping your stuff to make you realize you need to stop making assumptions, I will. You ask before you tell others personal things." Nyne mumbled something that sounded like an apology. He looked up at me and I blushed.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you," I apologized. "I don't know why I got so angry…" Nyne let out a breath and smiled.
"I deserved it. But will you be my partner?" Tyra shoved me off her counter and I nearly landed on top of Nyne.
"Of course she will. Despite your poor sense of tact, she likes ya." I was glad that Nyne couldn't see me blush. Tyra really had nothing to stop her from saying what she was thinking, did she? Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of Nyne's tails betray his happiness by wagging vigorously. Pushing back a laugh, I smiled instead.
"Hey Tyra, do you know why not many people seem surprised by Sindri?" Tyra smiled and nodded.
"Sneasel and Skitty came through town before you and told the shopkeepers that you and Nyne had an interesting new friend. I figured you befriended a stranger, but imagine my surprise when Skitty said she was a Zoroark." Tyra laughed at herself and set a key down on the table. "That's for you Sindri, for when you need to store something."
"Thank you," I said gratefully, picking up the key quickly.
"We should go Tyra, have a good day!" Nyne said, turning back towards the main part of town, or I assumed so. I still had no idea how to navigate the town yet.
Nyne led us back to the guild hall where the boards with the flyers were. Few of the guild apprentices were left in there, but more than a few teams of other Pokémon were looking the boards over. There was a team of three small dogs with black patches of fur on their backs. Another team consisted of a small white fluff with leaf wings and a tealish dinosaur with a large green bulb on its back. A large purple snake with an intimidating design on its hood hissed game plans to a yellow Pokémon with a long mustache and a very large tail.
"We'll see what's going on in Lyria's Den today. That dungeon should be easy for you to get through Sindri."
"Dungeon?" I asked. Nyne blinked but explained anyways.
"Yeah. These places called dungeons pop up all over the place. They change every time you go in, but they all lead to the same end. They've got some real cool stuff in there. Even though they change, they still retain the same stuff until the sun sets. That's when we figure they reset and magic up some new sets of items and feral Pokémon."
"F-feral Pokémon?" I just had to ask.
"Well, when you spend too much time in a dungeon, your brain goes all wonky and you revert back to your base instincts. The Pokémon in the dungeons all run on instinct and really not much else. They'll attack adventurers if they encounter them, but the baddies in Lyria's Den are pretty easy to take care of. It's a lot of little Ralts and Abra, psychic types, which are at a disadvantage to you." I didn't feel any better about going into a cave full of feral Pokémon. I felt like I wanted to do the exact opposite actually.
"Do we really have to?' I asked. "Can't we just do something around town? Like help Cinccino, or Tyra. I like that idea." Nyne laughed at me and just wrapped a tail around my wrist.
"You're never going to learn if you never try Sindri," he said. I looked to Buizel for help, but he just shrugged and followed. A feeling of dread settled in my stomach as Nyne and Buizel led me out of the guild. I could just tell I was going to make a fool of myself.
Hey all! I would love to thank all of you for sticking with me for so long. I know I'm not updating, like, any of my stories right now, but I do have a life. It's scary. I love you all! Read on!