Hey readers, Lamp here. I know it looks bad to have your third chapter up late and inconsistent, but I do prioitize my real life problems over virtual ones. Sorry if anyone may have thought it was over or anything. Make sure to give me any feedback you deem necessary!
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It was early dawn, and most of the city was quiet, save some early birds. Then, there was an explosion. One that woke the deaf, and caused a tremor to run through the town.
Jolted awake by the noise and quake, Randolph rolled out of his straw bed, rubbing his head groggily. Hearing faints yells from outside, he quickly clothed himself and dashed outside the forge. He looked around and saw several neighboring Pokémon rushing outside as well. Some were pointing to the castle, and he searched for what they looked at. By the faint morning light, the castle was illuminated slightly. Randolph froze up, and his eyes locked onto what the people were pointing at. On the side of the great castle of Seafree was a huge blackened hole. Flames licked out of the hole hungrily, almost as if they were alive.
Distant screams filled the Glaceon's ears, and with feeling a rising dread, he dashed down the road towards the castle. Countless Pokémon poured out onto the street as he made his way, and he struggled to get past them. Just ahead, he could make out a clearing. He broke for it, and reaching it, paused to catch his breath. He gathered his bearings and found himself at the gate to the road that led up to the castle, and on the pathway, there was quite the scene uphill.
Randolph strained his eyes to see what was going on, but he soon caught on. A hoard of Resistance warriors was moving back down the path, and a squad of the castle's soldiers was driving them back, weapons at the ready. All of a sudden, the rebels seemed to coordinate something, because the group sped away from the castle some distance, leaving three Pokémon to fend off the troops. It's Tiberius, Chip, and Toby!
The three all had their swords drawn and were slashing and parrying attacks from their enemies. The fleeing group of rebels was safe for now, running away behind the iron wall the three made. Drat me for not bringing a hood! Randolph plunged into the crowd and stole a cloak off someone's back, and before he could get caught, he dashed back to the gate with the hood up, waving his arms and screaming for the rebels to come his way. His voice rang out, "Over here! I can help!"
The warriors acknowledged the cloaked Glaceon and quickly came over. A few of them showed wounds, but were struggling on. "We need to get to the tavern or one of the other safe houses, but they're too far in our state," an unwounded one said.
Randolph surveyed the area, and pushed through the crowd to an alley. In the alley was a cart full of straw and a pitchfork. He dumped the straw, and wheeled it back to Resistance soldiers. "Put your wounded in here," he said while grabbing the pitchfork. "I'm going to help the three up there." Without waiting for an answer, he turned back to the road, and sprinted up the raod coming in from a diagonal angle, pitchfork pointed forward. The combat got closer, and at his odd angle, he drove the pitchfork into a castle guard. "Throw your swords and run," he gasped to the three fighters.
Without hesitation, Tiberius backed up and launched his sword into the head of another guard, while Toby and Chip flung theirs with no target in mind. This earned a clutter of weapons and panicked voices as the troops tried to dodge the flying blades. The four of them high tailed it, and proceeded to tumble out of the main gate. With great strength, Chip began closing one of the gates, Toby and Tiberius to the other. With effort, it shut with a slam, and they wormed their way into the crowd, earning shouts and screams from the bystanders.
Quickly, they made their way back to the tavern, where the four encountered several rebels hanging about. After a brief chat with one of them, Tiberius stepped in, motioning the others to follow him. As Randolph passed, he patted him on the back, saying, "Good thinking, Randolph." Despite the close encounter they had just gotten through, the Glaceon swelled with pride for a brief moment.
Once safely inside the tavern, Tiberius gasped, and slumped on a wall. He removed a garment he had on his upper body, revealing a large slash across his chest. His pants came out raggedly, and he pulled Chip down to his level, whispering something to him. Chip nodded, and facing up, commanded, "Someone get Asclepius!"
An uninjured warrior dashed through a door in the back of the room. As they did so, Randolph's eyes drifted around the tavern, then let his eyes rest on a corner of the bar. He almost missed it, but there they were- the dangerous looking group. Their eyes stared with a vicious glee. Spooked, Randolph turned to Toby and asked him about them. "Them? Those are the Wardens… none of us are too sure what they are, or if they're even Pokémon. But they serve a clear purpose, and that is to fight. We've seen their weapons a few times, but never in action."
Before the Glaceon could ask more, there was a bang from the backdoor, and turning, he saw a Delibird with a pack making his way to Tiberius. With a sick sensation, Randolph saw that the Typhlosion's wounds weren't closing any faster, the entire front of his chest was soaked with blood, and he bore a woozy face. Tiberius moaned, "Hey Doc…"
Not bothering to respond, the Delibird quickly dug into his pack, and pulled out a small bowl and various plants. One of the roots he pulled out, and giving it to Chip, he said, "Make T-bone eat this." He pulled out a grinding rod, and began mashing all the plant material together. From his bag, he pulled out a crystal the size of a small rock, and began the slow process of grating it into the plant mash.
While this was going on, the root seemed to take an effect on Tiberius, and his tongue flopped out of his mouth. A faint smile crept across his lips. The Delibird's voice came again, ordering, "Go wash his wound and chest off with clean water." He was carried off, and the 'Doc' continued grinding the crystal into the mix.
All the while, Randolph stood just outside the action, still sick to his stomach at the sight and smell of the blood. The crystal had been thoroughly ground in, and the bowl's contents had taken on a green color, the Glaceon noticed, and along with that, it became shiny.
Within a few minutes, Tiberius was brought back by Chip. He was clean for the moment, but as the seconds went by, fresh blood stained his chest. The Delibird approached him with the bowl, and began scooping up handfuls of it and spreading it on the large wound. Even with the numbing plant In his system, Tiberius growled and kicked. The much larger Pangoro held his body firmly, and prevented any more spasms while the Delibird did his work. After the green mixture had made a layer on top of the Typhlosion's chest, the doctor stepped back.
The Delibird took out a heavy roll of bandage material, and began the process of wrapping his patient's torso. Randolph became more reassured by the doctor's treatment, and he spoke, "Hey, um, doctor, I know a few values of herbs and plants, but what does the crystal do?"
The Delibird finished his wrapping, and turned to look at the Glaceon. "It's Asclepius, but everyone calls me Doc. As for the crystal, it possesses certain properties that I believe were essential to my operation."
"Ones that couldn't be achieved with plants?"
"No, I could've gotten the same effect with another mixture, but this crystal, in particular, has the property to neutralize infection and evil residue without damaging Tiberius," Doc stated.
"That's not…" Randolph paused. "That's not magic, is it?"
"Not on the level you may be thinking of," the Delibird glanced up. "I'll give you a small summary of this caliber of magic. The magic you might think of is fantastic spells and spell caster related things, which doesn't exist except for in myth. Our world's magic is based on nature and rules."
"Sorry, what?"
"Nature, and rules. They are the two ways that we experience the magic. They are shown through items imbued with magic that have rules to them, and certain Pokémon who have harnessed the power of nature," Doc said, and pulled out a dark red crystal from his bag. "This crystal is imbued with magic rules that tell it to heal burns, abrasions, and numb pain. The crystal's only purpose is to perform those functions since that was the type of magic imbued upon it."
Randolph nodded, and watched as Doc put the crystal back into his bag. "What about Pokémon who have learned to harness nature?" He got a sharp look at this question.
"There are many names for these Pokémon. Wizards, druids, shaman, mages, monks, bards, sorcerers… you get the point. Their specialty is to have developed such a strong bond with nature that in turn, they become part of nature a bit. With that bond, they can access special abilities corresponding with whatever part of nature they bonded with. For example, someone who bonded in a lake or ocean may be able to breathe underwater or turn liquid into ice. Or someone who has bonded near a volcano could control temperature around them or be able to stand the heat of lava."
"Oh, I see. Do you know any?" The sharp glare returned upon Randolph's question, and he closed his mouth.
The Delibird stood, packed his belongings, and turned. "Nice meeting you," he said solemnly, then walked back out through the back door.
A large paw came down on the Glaceon's shoulder, and he looked up to see Chip smiling grimly at him. "You might be wondering why Doc's moody about the topic of wizards, huh," the Pangoro said. Randolph nodded. "Well, a while ago, Doc got outperformed in his own field by a Shaman called Dancer. Where Doc took an hour to put a broken bone in its place and bond it, Dancer could heal the bone properly in half the time. He doesn't seem the type, but he got extremely offended and began holding a personal grudge against any he met, despite their rarity."
"That doesn't seem fair that he judges all wizards based off only one experience," Randolph said, rubbing his face. "You never know who'll come along."
"That's a good heart you got, Randolph," Chip smirked. "But there is one sorcerer who I'd rather not try and befriend."
Curiously, the Glaceon asked who it was.
"The sorcerer who I'd rather not see again is an Entei, self-titled Warlock. Warlock is a good example of what I'd call a corrupted wizard. Tiberius says that during his process of bonding, he exposed himself too greatly and too long to a volcano, which had detrimental effects. His body became more nature than Pokémon, magically. The effects were as such: He could call up great tongues of flame and shake the earth, but in return, he would be mortally injured if exposed to fire, and the sun would burn him," Chip said solemnly.
Randolph scratched his chin thoughtfully, saying, "So… Warlock, a wizard who could shake the earth and call up a great fire. Did you hear the tremor this morning? And did you see the hole in the castle? Do you think-?"
"Tiberius. He wanted to have more power on his side during the night, so he called on Warlock. I was very skeptical about it, and you know, the night doesn't last forever, so when we turning the tide of battle, the sun came up. Once the sun came up, Warlock screamed and exploded, causing the tremor and hole in the castle. None of us think he's dead, he has just wandered off for a little while, taking time to heal."
"Speaking of time to heal, do you think the government and army are going to give us a chance to do that? It's possible that loyalists could have seen the huge group of rebels heading in here."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, Randolph. But it's maybe noon right now, and everyone is resting. You look like you could use it as well." Randolph gave Chip a sour look.
"Don't give me that, you really need it! Don't worry about outside either, the wardens will fend off attackers for a time, and alert us all."
"I mean, I guess I could use a rest," the Glaceon said, his sleep had been fitful the night before. "I'm just a little uneasy."
"No worries, I'm laying out a mat next to all the other resting warriors," the Pangoro said quietly, motioning to a few rows of sleeping or resting Pokémon. "My mat is big, and you'll feel safe, so come sleep with me. Come on," he said, grabbing Randolph's paw and pulling him through the sleeping fighters. Chip went and got his mat, which proved to be pretty big, and laid it out. He sat down, and unfurling a large blanket, patted the spot next to him.
Randolph hesitantly sat down, then lay down under the blanket. He looked over to Chip, who was getting settled. After a minute, they were both laying on their backs, looking up at the rafters. Quiet snores and mumbling almost lulled Randolph to sleep, but he was snapped out of it by the Pangoro looking over and saying, "H-Hey, it's a bit cold, can ya scoot closer to me?" The Glaceon scooted closer. "A bit more?" Closer. "One last scoot?" Randolph scooted until his back was pressed up against the belly of the Pangoro.
"Strange for you to ask an ice type for warmth," Randolph snorted, and nestled down into the mat. "Though I'm not truly cold-blooded," he yawned, and enjoying the Pangoro's warmth, he nodded off, not even noticing the big black arm wrapping around his stomach.
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