Chapter 12

"Wake up, Azura…"

"Ungh…" She coughed. Looking over her was the Manectric. She coughed, and groaned. "Urf… what happened?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Why did you do it? I had to go for a swim to rescue you! You idiot!" he snarled. His eyes had a fearful glint in them.

"I-I'm sorry Mr. Luke… it's just-"

"Sorry doesn't cut it! When you act without thinking, you…" He whipped away from her. "Idiot!" he hissed as he walked away.

What's his problem? But she didn't have time to worry about an ill-tempered Manectric. She looked up into the sky, and squinted. The sun was stronger than ever. But, could it be? Was it wind?! She felt a wonderful wave of air flow across her skin, and sighed. This is so wonderful! "Luke! You are so lucky to live here!" She fell onto her back on the sand. "This is so nice!" Birds flew overhead, and she smiled. "So pretty… everything here seems so much more pretty sand happy over here! I- Luke, where are you going now?"

She ran over to where the male was looking inland. He held his bow in one hand. "I'm going to go and find my friends."

"Oh… so we're going to-"

"I. Azura, I'm sorry, but this is going to be horribly dangerous." He sighed. "I can't let you come with me."

"But I can fight! I'm good with a bow! Oh, I just want to do something!"

He sighed. "That's the problem. I've let a lot of people down, and if I can't protect you, I'll have failed you and your family."

"Where are you going anyways? I heard you mention finding your friends."

He began walking. "Yeah. We all worked together to bring happiness where it was needed."

"So you were… prostitutes?"

He scowled at her. "What?! By the depths of Giratina, no! Prostitution is a terrible thing!"

"What?! You said bring happiness-"

He growled. "I don't have time for this. They're probably going on without me."

"No, wait please! Just let me come with you!"

He groaned. "Listen, you're cute and all, but I've seen nothing that can show me you can even-" THUNK

An arrow made of frozen water whizzed past him into a tree inches away. Azura grinned. "I'm not incompetent you know."

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"There's so much mud here… ugh."

"Look who's complaining now," teased Azura. "It's just a swamp. It feels similar to the damp sand at the bottom of Undira.

"Well, you're not an electric type. Besides, how do you even walk in that? You're wearing a dress!"

She giggled. "I'm fine getting muddy. I'm just glad to be exploring, even if it's super muddy here. Although this stuff is a little gross… we'll have to wash off good after. Besides, this dress isn't that long."

"That long? That dress verges on skanky…"

"What? You don't like it?"

He rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. Aside from my arrows, now I can't use my electricity. If we get attacked…"

They trudged through the muddy swamp for a little while longer, and night was beginning to fall by the time they made it through. "Phew… I am so muddy right now… wow… look at the moon!"

They heaved themselves onto the dry land. Luke looked up. "Yeah. Pretty, isn't it? I suppose if you live undersea, it's all distorted and all."

She nodded. "I sure hope I can get this mud off though… you're right, it is kind of gross."

She watched him pull a dead leaf off the ground, and place it on a pile of twigs. He wiped some mud off of him, then shot a small lightning bolt that ignited it. "Here, try get us some water to drink, Azura. We'll boil some, then you can bathe."

"Sure." She wanted to explore a little on her own, and she walked off through the trees.

"… bugs…"

She stopped and turned around, but he had turned around already, back toward her. She shrugged, then continued walking. A nice breeze stirred the trees, and she closed her eyes, letting it flow through her bangs. She took a deep breath. The crisp air was so much nicer to breathe than the thick, humid undersea air.

*Crack!*

She spun around. "Who's there?"

But nothing moved. She narrowed her eyes, and reached for her bow. She silently cursed. Shit! I left it back there!

For a brief moment, she swore she saw two eyes staring at her from the undergrowth. But they disappeared quickly, and no more sounds came from the direction. She rubbed her eyes, and searched through the bushes, but found nothing. Hmm… Imagination? I don't think so!

But if anything had been there, it was long gone now. She shivered at the thought of some mysterious Pokemon stalking her, but pushed it to the back of her mind and continued searching for water.

She could hear a quiet trickle coming down, but she wasn't sure where it was coming from. Azura kept walking, doing her best to follow the sound of the rushing water. Finally, she stepped over a small knoll, and let out a happy chuckle. "Ah well, here it is! Hiding from me!" The Glaceon got to her knees, cupped her hands, and sipped the sweet water. In Undira, they had Kyogre to purify the salt water for them, but this water was so much fresher! "So sweet… and so cool… mm…" She washed herself thoroughly, letting the cool water relax her skin. After slipping her clothes back on, she frowned. That feeling… it's back… somebody is watching me… She filled up the canister Luke had given her, and quickly made her way back to the fire.

"Ah, Azura. Did you find anything?" She realized he had been making more arrows.

"Well, yeah. The echo of the water confused me for a while, but I eventually found it."

He nodded. "Thanks. Do you want to wash off?"

"I already did… you weren't… following me were you?"

"Eh? Follow you? Why'd I do that? Probably just some big bugs… they're a pretty common sight around this jungle."

"Oh." Bugs weren't something that sounded nice in her classes.

"I'm going to go wash off if you don't mind. The fire should be fine though… just leave it and I'll be back soon."

"Alright." Luke left through the same direction she did, and she sat down on a small log. These woods were starting to creep her out. Maybe it was because some bloodsucking stalker rapist could be following her, or maybe she just wasn't used to being above the surface yet. She heated up the tin canister she had filled, and watched it bubble. Being an ice type, she wasn't fond of being anywhere near fires, but warm water still was nice, especially since a breeze had picked up… Again… There it was again! Somebody was stalking her! But who? And why? Then she saw the bushes move across from the fire. She dashed around the fire quickly and picked up her bow. She used Icicle Shard to quickly zip by the fire and rushed to the bush that was shaking. She felt her hands grip something warm, and heard a snarl. The bush blocked them from light, and she couldn't see who was attacking. She whacked whatever it was with her bow, and was quickly thrown backwards near the fire. She got up again, but it had vanished yet again.

She threw her bow down in frustration. "You! Whoever is out there! Beat it! I don't know what you want, but leave me alone!"

Then something shiny caught her eye. She squatted down. "What do we have here…?" On the ground was a small stone, with a braided rope going through it, almost like a necklace. She picked it up. "A necklace…?" It glittered an orange-ish tint like the sunset igniting the horizon that she and Luke had briefly watched earlier.

She quickly slipped it into her dress for safekeeping, and frowned. "I sure hope whatever is following us leaves us alone…"

"Azura?" She heard Luke calling from a distance. She ran out of the bushes and sat back on the log.

"Luke, I swear something more than just bugs are following us… look what I found!"

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"Well, yeah. I know what this is…"

She leaned over. "What is it?"

"This… this is a yellow eye…"

She blinked. "Yellow eye?"

"Yeah. It's a treasure… there are all sorts of them… black eye, crimson eye… pretty much every color…"

"What are they used for?"

He thought about it. "Hmm… if I remember, there was a legend about a legendary named Ho-Oh… I don't know if you're heard of her."

"The rainbow bird pokemon?"

"Yeah. She's been gone for a long time; in fact, so long that no living Pokemon has seen her. Legend has it that she was a disciple of Arceus, who commanded her to form these crystals out of these many feathers. She obliged. I still cannot recall what they are used for, however… one of my friends was very knowledgeable in this regard, however."

"Okay. So should I keep it?"

He handed the stone back. "Well… it's quite rare really. I anticipate your stalker may come back for it. Just be careful, Azura."

"What about when we're sleeping?"

He shrugged. "I don't know… put it somewhere it can't be found… like…"

"Umm, where? I have a little satchel, but not much else…"

Luke sat down and leaned against a tree. "Put it in that dress of yours. Nobody will check there."

"Alright." She slipped it onto her stomach, and pulled the dress back down over herself.

"I'll be alert though. Just scream if you think anything is suspicious."

"That's… reassuring. Goodnight Luke…"

"Mph."

The two of them sat there in silence. "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever had a mate?"

He was quiet for awhile, then responded, "No. Never."

"Have you ever wanted one?"

"No. If you're trying to flirt with me-"

She gasped. "No! I'm not trying to flirt with you… you… well, you always seem rather... grumpy."

He shrugged. "When you've seen what I've seen, it's hard to view the world as a kind place."

"But… look how beautiful the moon is! It must be a gre-"

"No! I've seen things you wouldn't believe, Azura. If you had seen what I have, you'd be scared too."

She rolled to her side to look at him. "What have you seen? What does that mean?"

Still looking up at the sky, he began speaking quietly. "I believe I have lied to you."

"What?! Like… what are you-"

"Hold on. I've told you the truth about my intentions. But I think that it's time to tell you my real name."

"What?! Real name?"

"I'm Thrymr."

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"There were four of us." Azura and Lu- no, Thrymr had sat around the fire. "We each had special names for each other, named after different moons. My true name is Luke, but I've been called Thrymr recently. Faolor, or Epime, was a Vaporeon, an Eeveelution like you. Lynn, also known as Pallene, was a Ninetales, and her mate, Silver, became Siarnaq. We were all 'benevolents', as the townsfolk called us. We stole food and money from the wealthy, and donated it to the poor. It was our goal to spread happiness in this sense, and spread kindness."

She thought about it. "A Vaporeon? My family and Luna's were the only eons…"

"Yes, eons are still quite rare. But Epime was a special Pokemon, even for an eon. He possessed natural power over water and was a talented swordsman. He was always quieter, but was kindhearted. Think the near opposite of you; quiet, but was comparrionate. Siarnaq the Absol was also rather unique. He fought with a scythe and quite honestly looks scarier than he is. A dark type carrying a giant scythes is nothing to laugh about. And then of course, there was Pallene, the lone fire type female of our brigade. She was very intelligent, and knows a lot about artifacts. She typically fought with a spear, and was quite skillful with it."

"Wow… you four… sound all so strong!"

He shook his head, eyes darkening. "Not strong enough. We were captured eventually, and sent to the top of a tower for execution. We managed to escape and tried to destroy the tyrant, Palkia-"

"You fought Palkia?!" Azura had read about Palkia for homework one night. A legendary who imprisoned his brother and controlled space… "You fought him and lived?"

He slowly unbuttoned his cloak and showed her the scar she had seen on his chest earlier. "I was stabbed here in the battle with Palkia, trying to stop it from hitting Pallene. It narrowly missed my heart. I remember passing out, then, next thing I know, I'm awake at your doorstep."

"You… you're that powerful?" She tried to grasp what he was telling her. A group of mere Pokemon who could take on a legendary… "But… he escaped?"

"I believe so… it is time to retake this land which is so drowned in sadness…"

"What has Palkia done though?"

"He has-"

His eyes were wide, and she felt an arm around her stomach and cold metal against her throat. "I believe you have something of mine."

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