Chapter 3: Stories

I fell asleep in the Guardian's Infirmary. When I woke up my head was being bandaged by a beautiful lady.

"Oh. You're awake."

She stepped back and sat down, "How do you feel?"

"...I'm not dead am I?"

"Eh?"

"Nevermind." I said as I touched the bandaged wound.

"It's not too severe." The lady explained, "You should feel fine in a few days."

"You're the doctor?" I asked.

"Oh no. I'm just a nurse. My name is Gardevoir."

"Lucario." I returned the introduction.

"Nice to meet you." Gardevoir smiled, "I guess you're a new member of the Guardians."

"That...hasn't been decided yet."

"That's right." A familiar voice said as the curtain around my bed was drawn aside.

"Gallade." Gardevoir said, surprised.

"It's been a while hasn't it?" Gallade smiled, "Sorry, but may I speak to Lucario for a bit? There are matters that I imagine we are both anxious to settle."

"Mmm...his head injury isn't that bad so I guess." Gardevoir said as she got up. She gave me a small smile as she continued, "But you still need some bed rest. Your body is overworked and you're a bit malnourished. You seem to have been wandering for a while."

And with that she left, I assume to take care of another patient.

"Come on." Gallade said as he began to leave, "There's a garden right outside of here. Let's talk there."

I picked myself out of my bed, quickly grabbing my fedora before I followed him.

"Do you want to get straight to the point?" Gallade asked as we stepped into a rather large garden.

"Doesn't really matter to me." I said absentmindedly as I poked at the bullet holes in my fedora with a frown.

"Hm. Well let's start with this. What do you think of Miltank?" Gallade asked.

"She's quite honest." I sighed as I put on my fedora, "She tries to act strong but she's not good at it. Bit stupid at first but she's ultimately thinking about those around her. Even if she acts on those ideas before consulting anybody."

"And?"

"...She has potential." I admitted, "I only saw her hold a gun once, but she knew well enough to keep her hands steady. She was still a novice so she couldn't hide how nervous she was. But I suspect she has thought long and hard about the idea of killing somebody. And if she can pick up a gun after all that then she certainly has potential even if she really shouldn't be thinking those kinds of things."

"Amazingly accurate." Gallade smiled, "I think so too."

"Are you going to recruit her?" I asked.

"Probably not." Gallade laughed, "Her father wouldn't appreciate it. Though she apparently still seems intent on joining us. Though this time she says he wants to see you again."

"Oh boy." I sighed as I tugged my hat lower.

"Tauros is working as hard as he can to convince her otherwise." Gallade said, "I said that if she wants to she can come in to visit you anytime. That okay with you?"

"That depends on whenever or not I'm here."

"And so we've come to the main topic." Gallade smiled as he turned around, "To start with, I never really thought of what happened as a test though Unfezant wasn't wrong objectively."

"..."

"You exceeded all my expectations." Gallade said with a smile, "I would be honored to have you join the Guardians."

"..."

"Your response?"

"...I feel like I can learn something here." I said, "Everyone's agreeable and despite all odds, I've made connections here. Until I feel like leaving...I think I'd be happy to be a Guardian."

"That's a relief." Gallade smiled, "First of all, why don't we get you some new clothes. Your hat is looking worse for wear."

"So is the rest of me." I said as I looked over my clothes, "But I've grown rather attached to my clothes."

"How much longer do you think those clothes will last you?"

"..."

"Come on." Gallade said, "I'll introduce you to our personal tailors."

I caught Gardevoir's eye when I returned to the infirmary. She came over with a smile,

"It seems like you've officially joined the Guardians." She said.

"I don't know about the garb." I admitted as I looked myself over again.

"What's wrong with it?"

"I asked for black." I frowned, "They gave me dark blue. The Guardian insignia doesn't help either."

"Mmm...I think it suits you." Gardevoir said, "Much better than your old clothes anyway."

"..."

"Anyway. Since it seems like you're going to be here for a while, how about I introduce myself proper? I am Gardevoir Erhellenweiss. I'm a nurse for the Guardians. While I may be a bit inexperienced, I hope we get to learn about each other." She said as she bowed.

"I don't have much to offer besides my name." I said as I returned her bow, "Lucario Ziellos. A wanderer whose taken home under the Guardian's roof. For as long as we're together, I hope we get along."

"Shall I introduce the other nurses who'll be taking care of you?"

"I might have already met them."

"Ah that's right. Chansey did mention a nursing a wanderer last night. Chansey! Audino!"

A pair of girls came over at Gardevoir's call. I recalled them taking care of me after the Normalize incident.

"This is Chansey." Gardevoir said as she introduced the slightly short and large woman, "She may have a bit of a temper but she means well. She knows just as much about medicine as me so you'll be in good hands with her. Just don't get on her bad side."

Chansey waved, though she still had a bit of a sour look on her face.

"And this-Oh come now."

The second nurse ducked behind Gardevoir as she began her introduction. She peeked out from behind her and looked rather nervous.

"This is Audino." Gardevoir said, "She's learning from us and usually takes care of the small chores. She's really shy and try not to bull her too much. Even if she is adorable."

Audino gave a small wave from behind Gardevoir.

"So you're the new guy huh?" Chansey said as she looked me over, "Am I supposed to be impressed?"

"Looks can deceive." I said.

"Yeah well despite what Gardevoir may say otherwise, let me warn you: I'm not Softboiled."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Umm..." Audino spoke up, "You...you still need rest."

"That's right." Gardevoir said, "You should rest a bit more. I'll bring lunch to you later."

I stayed up. Didn't feel much like sleeping though my body certainly felt tired enough from all the changes that just happened. Without anything to do, I decided to do some maintenance on my guns. That plan backfired when Gardevoir decided to check up on me.

"Are you asleep? AAAAHHH!"

Gardevoir snatched my partially dismantled gun from my hand, "No weapons while in the infirmary!"

"Don't do that."

"No! I get that you probably want a weapon on you at all times, but please don't bring them out while you're-"

"I get that." I interrupted, "But my guns are old. They don't have a safety. If you grab the gun out of my hands like that, it could fire off."

"O-Oh...Sorry."

"Can I have it back? I need to finish maintaining my guns."

Gardevoir looked a bit hesitant, but she finally agreed and gave me back my gun.

"J-Just be careful with them alright?"

"Of course."

Gardevoir bowed and walked off a bit silent, a bit sullen and a bit of both. Just when I was about to get back to work, I heard someone start laughing in the bed next to me. My curtain was pulled back as my neighbor spoke to me,

"You're something else if you can get Gardevoir to apologize like that. Most of the time she freaks out whenever we so much as flash out weapons."

I didn't answer him as I continued with my gun's maintenance.

"You're the new guy right? What's your name?"

"Lucario Ziellos."

"Hmm...Don't recognize the name. What's your loadout?"

I gave him a slightly condescending look as I held up my dismantled revolver.

"Well, yeah, but is that it?"

"Yeah."

"Really? Wow. That's kinda underwhelming."

"It's all I need."

My neighbor gave me a weird look but settled back in his bed, not bothering to draw either of our curtains.

"Tch." I frowned as I struggled with one of my guns.

"Problem?" My neighbor asked when he noticed my problem.

"I think this one's broken." I sighed as I examined my revolver.

"Really? What happened to it?"

"It blocked a bullet for me and one of Tauros' shield charges."

"Our Tauros or his brother?"

"His brother."

"Oh. Well yeah that's not surprising. Tauros is a really bulky guy." My neighbor said as he scratched his chin, "Oh hey. I got it."

He looked around before reached down for something on the other side of his bed. When he came back up, he tossed me a gun, "Here. Take it."

I caught the gun and to my surprise it was a revolver. Black and silver. Rather ornate which told me this was more a gun for display rather than battle. Still it looked like it works and while it was a bit flashy, I was short one gun. There was one problem though.

"It's a five-shooter." I said.

"What?"

"It only holds five bullets."

"Oh well, it was a gift from my son." My neighbor explained, "Told me it'll protect me, but I'm not a big fan of guns."

"Your son?" I asked.

"Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself didn't I? Name's Bisharp 'Knifehead' Blitzkrieg." He grinned, "My son's name is Pawniard! Cute little boy he is. Should be about 10 years old now."

"Knifehead?"

"Eh some kids gave me that name since I was obsessed with knives. It spread to the guys here and it stuck."

"You're a knife user?" I said, intrigued.

"And a damn good one in my opinion." Bisharp smiled, "I don't care if you have a shotgun or a sniper rifle, I'll cut you down to pieces."

"Rather dangerous to bring a knife to a gunfight."

"Well when you have a talent you have to use it." Bisharp sighed, "Though nowadays my old bones haven't been the fastest. Don't count me out though. I can still kill with the best of them."

"I see..."

"Well enough about me. Tell me about yourself."

"I'm not in the business of telling stories."

"Oh come now. You got a nickname?"

"Nope."

"Oh don't be like that."

I turned around as Unfezant walked up next to me, "What's up. Making friends with old Knifehead there?"

"Ey!"

"Something up?" I asked.

"What? No, I just came to visit." Unfezant smiled, "Still, how could you leave out your nickname like that?"

"Wanderers have no need for nicknames." I frowned.

"You have a nickname after all!" Bisharp cried, "Well what is it?"

"This man right here." Unfezant grinned as he pointed at me, "Is Lucario 'Surefire' Ziellos."

I glared at his gun as he laughed uproariously.

"Surefire!" Bisharp cried, "Oh man, what did ya do to get that name?"

"I can tell you that." Unfezant said, "So you know about the Miltank incident at the farm two days ago?"

"Yeah."

"This guy was there and, from like twenty yards away he made a shot that ruined old Miltank's supply."

Bisharp began laughing again, "You serious?! No rifle or anything? Just those dinky little revolvers?"

"It wasn't twenty yards." I frowned, "It was more like fifteen."

"There's more." Unfezant said, ignoring me, "So this kid catches the boss' eye and so he goes to get Miltank's daughter back from Normality."

"I heard of that incident!" Bisharp cried, "So this kid was there?!"

"I should know I was there with him! Anyway, so this kid not only goes in guns ablazing, but when Miltank's daughter is kidnapped and held hostage, this guy points his gun at her. And from lower ground, about ten yards away from each other, they trade fire and he hits the boss of Normality square in the shoulder!"

While Bisharp started laughing again, Unfezant continued enthusiastically, "And what do you know, Exploud's shot knocks him flat on his back, but it only went through his fedora! And when Exploud jumps down with a gun and a piece of wood, this guy uses up all his bullets to disarm the gun and sink one shot into him. And when Exploud thinks he has no bullets left and smacks him with his piece of wood, he lays a shot right between his eyes and says 'One of my guns is a seven-shooter.'"

"You got the sequence of events wrong." I muttered as Bisharp rolled off his bed in laughter.

Bisharp gasped for air as he slowly got up with help from his bed, "Oh...Oh man that is some story right there."

"Are you done now?" I scowled at Unfezant who only smiled at me as he wiped away his own tears of laughter.

"Don't be like that kid." Bisharp said as he walked up to me, "Everybody has a story they can tell. Crazy and hilarious stories that you would never believe. That's how we all get our names. It's kind of an honorable title. An affectionate honorable title."

"Are you saying there's a story to you being named 'Knifehead'?"

"Erk...w-well some of us just aren't lucky when it comes to names."

"I'd say." I sighed.

"Think of it this way." Unfezant said, "You got a nickname before you formally joined. That's a real achievement for a nobody."

"Why are you here anyway?" I frowned.

"Just saying hi before I leave on a job. When I get back maybe I'll tell you why I'm called 'Dust Wing'."

"Don't waste your time." I called as Unfezant left.

"You're a rather sour kid ain't ya?" Bisharp noted, "How do you get hired with an attitude like that?"

"I let my skill speak instead of my attitude."

"Skills huh? You're that confident?"

"I never miss."

"Is that so?" Bisharp said, scratching his chin.

"HEY! Are you out of your bed, Bisharp?!"

"Oh god!" Bisharp cried as he dove back into his bed at the sound of Chansey's voice.

"And Audino! Did ya give the newcomer his medicine left?!"

There was the sound of something falling and some desperate scrambling.

"You're disturbing the patients, Chansey." Gardevoir called from the infirmary, "Ah, don't worry about it Audino, I'll take care of it."

Bisharp pretended to be asleep as Gardevoir walked over to me with my medicine.

"I'll put away my guns." I said as I quickly stowed away Bisharp's gun.

"It's okay, Mr. Surefire."

I stopped.

…

"You were listening in?"

"How could I not?"

"Damn you Unfezant." I muttered.

Gardevoir smiled as she poured a cup of water for me, "So you were the one who saved Miltank?"

"I was also the one who ruined their milk." I said as I took the cup and medicine.

"Lives are worth more than simple milk."

I said nothing as I took my medicine.

"Do you need anything else?" Gardevoir asked as I handed her back the cup.

"Solitude."

Gardevoir smiled and started to leave, "Thank you for saving her."

I sighed as I laid back on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. I got about five seconds of silence before Bisharp pulled open my curtain again,

"Seems like Gardevoir likes you."

"That's not true."

"Eh. Maybe not yet."

"What do you want?" I said irritated.

"Fine, I'll make this simple. How confident are you in your skills?"

"I had my revolvers for years. I have never missed a shot since I collected the original four."

"That's great. So what do you say to becoming partners with me?"

I turned to look at Bisharp.

"Like I said, I've been getting old. I don't plan on retiring, but it would be really helpful and comforting to have a partner watching my back. I don't mind taking fire for you so long as you can make your shots. I might even teach you a thing or two about knife play. What do you think?"

"...Just so long as you don't die on me." I said as I turned to stare at the ceiling, "I don't want to be the one telling your son that you're dead."