Ah frick, I didn't quite get this done before I left for my aunt's house...oh well...
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Shroud of Darkness
Chapter 06: A Breath of Fresh Air
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I'll be honest, the next few days weren't very interesting. Ian and Mido left after a few hours, seeming a little more happy than they were previously. Dr. Bronson was checking on me every other day at this point, making sure I was ready to be on my own. Not to mention I rarely needed Ellie to help me up and down the hallway anymore. Mido was checking in on me what seemed about twice a day, making sure I was alright. He still had taken to calling me Sky, which I didn't really mind. While I could feel memories starting to come back, they were all still murky and unclear.
About midday a few days later, I found myself being escorted along by Ellie to the front entrance. The room was large, had a few seats scattered around the walls, some short, small tables, and a larger, broader counter-like thing made of split logs. Behind there was Dr. Bronson, and Mido and Ian were seated nearby. I was escorted to a seat nearby, as Bronson came around the corner of the counter.
"I do believe I have done everything I can do for our amnesiac friend," he began, "so I believe that it is time for him to leave here."
I gave a concerned look as Ian nodded and Mido gave the brightest grin he could muster.
"I...are you sure?" I asked.
"Oh of course," he responded, seating himself next to a table, "I feel the best thing for you now is to have some time out and about."
I gave a cautious nod.
"Now, before we do anything, I will need to ask you two a question," he said, turning to my new friends.
"I'm listenin'," said Ian.
"We need someone to release him to. Since no nearby relatives have been found, I believe you two will be the next best option." His tone became more serious now. "Do you agree to be his caretaker?"
Ian gave himself a moment before giving a resolute nod.
"And you, Mido?"
"Y-yeah, yeah I can!" stammered Mido.
"Very well, then," said Bronson. He reached for a weird little board next to him, which had a rolled-out piece of what was probably parchment or papyrus. The papyrus had some bizzare markings on it, what I could only assume to be some sort of writing. "I need you three to sign this," he said, pushing the board and a strange stylus towards us.
Ian took both, analyzing the writing before marking the paper further with those weird symbols. He then passed it to Mido, who took a very brief glance at it before adding a few sloppy symbols. Then, the set of items was passed to me. Up-close, the markings made even less sense. I couldn't tell one thing from another, and it all just looked very confusing to me.
"Uh...I...don't know what I'm doing here..." I admitted.
"Just sign the page," said Bronson. Ian gave me a strange look.
"Well, yeah, but...I..." I said, trailing off.
Mido silently pointed at a blank part of the page. I nodded slightly. I took the stylus, and holding it in a very awkward position, I carefully placed a shaky X where it was blank. I then returned the two to Dr. Bronson, who gave me an odd stare before reviewing our signatures.
"...Hmm...I think everything looks right," he said after a long pause, "Everything appears to be in order." He placed down the page. "With that, I now release Jacob to the care of Ian and Mido. Have a safe travel, and do not forget your belongings."
Ellie then came up, lugging a small bag with her. I could see the end of a bone sticking out of the top. Mido grabbed the bag and hefted it up. I grabbed my crutches and stood myself up.
"Well, I think we'd better be off then," said Ian, extending his wing towards Dr. Bronson, "I thank you for caring for our friend."
Dr. Bronson accepted it and shook his wing...arm...something.
As we left, I gave a small wave behind me to those who had given me such kindness. With a step out the door, I felt a new life stretching out ahead of me, brimming with possibilities. I was also charmed by Ian's comment. Friends, then? The word gave me a grin. Yeah, I nodded to myself, I could do with a few friends.
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The world outside seemed quite different from inside the clinic. Many buildings stretched along dirt path, packed down hard as a rock from the many feet it had seen over the long years. Placing down my crutches onto the ground, I looked about. Buildings in varying sizes were scattered about the path, as well as a number of trees, bushes, and other such greenery. Posted on a rickety wooden post were signs that pointed in varying directions. The signs were filled with those same weird symbols that I could safely assume was writing, though they looked unfamiliar to me.
Off in the distance, I could see more trees over the tops of the buildings, an occasional building of some sort, and some hills off to the left. Farther past all that, I could see a lake far off to the right, and beyond that, some low mountains here and there. Downhill right, I could also see a small diversity more of buildings, trees, and such.
"Because it's closer, I think it'd be good to get to the Post Office," said Ian.
"Alright," responded Mido, shouldering the bag.
"Might as well," I said, "it would be nice to see my family at some point."
And so we followed Ian off left, uphill. The incline was gentle, so it wasn't too difficult to scale, though I did nearly slip once or twice. Shortly, we arrived at a large building. It was very yellow, where there was an opening of some sort. The back part of the building was white, though a few blue spots were visible as well. As we got closer, I noticed a bird with a large bill fly out of the opening. It looked...familiar...ah, they looked much like the building itself, or rather the building looked like them. Out in front of the building in question, I spotted another sign, this one very considerably larger than the ones by the clinic. Various pieces of paper were posted on it, all filled again with that unfamiliar writing. Various Pokémon were gathered around it, babbling to one another and reading the papers on the sign.
"Well, here we are!" said Ian. He turned to me. "This is the Pelipper Post Office. This is where mail comes in, goes out, and where you can find anonymous requests for rescue missions. I think this would be a good place to start looking."
I took a moment longer to continue to be amazed by the sights. "Wha-oh, I...yes."
Mido turned his attention towards me briefly as Ian chuckled softly to himself.
"Alright, come with me, then," said Ian, waving a wing forward as he moved towards the doorway. I followed behind him
Inside, there appeared to be a few more papers scattered here and there along the walls, but nothing that I could understand. Two large, open doorways stood on the ground, and 3 more up above on the wall. Inside them...well, I never got a good look, since my attention was immediately grabbed by the large, open room I just noticed we were standing in. I saw just in time another bird, presumably a pelipper, fly out the wide opening at the top of the room. Down below, many more pellipers sat up on raised platforms and along the walls, each with their own nest.
As I gawked at all of what I was seeing around me, my two friends approached one of the nests on a lower platform, this one having a sort of desk, of which there were a few, some occupied by other Pokémon. Mido eventually got my attention, and I made my way over towards Ian, who was already talking to the pelipper at the desk.
"...if you had anything about a missing cubone?"
The pelipper looked through a few things under the desk before poking its head back up.
"I don't see anything here honey," she replied, "let me get someone to look through the back, alright?"
"Okay," said Ian.
The pelipper then took a few steps back, flapped her wings a bit and took off. I watched as she flew into one of the open holes in the wall. After she disappeared inside, I stared after her for a moment before turning to my companions.
"So, where'd she go?" I asked.
Ian responded, saying "She's checking in back to see if there was anything that got missed. She'll be back in a minute."
"Oh," I said back, resuming my gandering of the large room. Not a moment later, I saw her fly back out of the hole and land back behind the desk.
"Alright honey, I didn't see anything back there," she said with an apologetic look.
"Hmm..." said Mido.
"If you're really serious, I'd check the Guild HQ," she said, giving a moments thought before adding another thought. "But I wouldn't get my hopes up too much."
Ian and Mido seemed taken back by this statement.
"W-what makes you say that, Dia?" stammered Mido.
"Well," she began, tilting her head in thought, "if memory serves right...little one?" she said, motioning towards me.
"Oh, uh, yes?" I queried.
"You wouldn't happen to have a...skull or anything, would you?"
"Oh! I...yes I do," I responded back.
Dia the pelipper then got a worried look in her eye.
"Honey, I don't think you're gonna find your family."
Ian and Mido looked shocked. I just shrugged.
"Eh, I figured something like this might happen," I responded.
My companions then turned their shock towards me.
"You...did?" asked Mido.
"I did tell you I had a feeling that I was probably a long ways from home, right?"
Ian then took a moment to think as Mido nodded in response to my statement.
"Well..." began Ian, turning back towards the desk, "you guys think you could at least check it out or something?"
Dia shook her head, her attention still focused on me. "Now honey...if I'm rememberin' just right, ain't that your mama's skull?"
Mido looked quite stunned for a moment before dropping the bag on the floor with a clatter. I, too, was surprised by her statement.
"I...excuse me, but what?" I asked, bewildered.
"Oh, I'm so sorry if I've flipped any apple carts, sweetie," responded Dia, "I just assu-"
"Nono, like..." I put my hands up as if to try to grasp some imaginary concept, "What actually did...my mom's skull, you said? What?"
Dia gave me a very confused stare just then. "Honey, you not rememberin' that?"
"I...mm..." I began, then just eventually nodding my head. "Amnesia, ma'am."
"...Oh...well, I think I'd best fill y'all in!" she exclaimed.
"Fill us in on..." said Mido distractedly, pawing through the bag before retrieving the skull, "...on this?"
"Well, from what I've heard, a cubone wears the skull of their dead mother and will use a bone from her body to protect themselves. That's why a cubones are known as bonekeepers, and also as lonely Pokémon. You followin' me, fellas?"
We all sat there in silence for a short moment.
"Sky...you...do that?" asked Mido hesitantly.
I shrugged a shoulder. "I guess so?"
"Now now, that's just a rumor. If it's true or not, I don't know, but it looks like that to me." added Dia.
"So...what you're saying is that we might not find his family because...he doesn't have any?" asked Ian, bewildered by this revelation.
Dia nodded gravely.
"...Maybe...maybe that's why I feel so far from home...?" I asked nobody in particular.
Mido kind of just stared at the skull in his hands with a slightly horrified look in his eye.
"Well...shoot," I said, "Now what do we d-OOOOHH!"
I was startled by a sudden embrace from Ian, him patting me on the back a little as he hugged me close.
"I'm...so sorry, dude..." he said, letting out a small tear.
I, myself, was completely taken off guard by this, and Mido seemed to share my surprise. Awkwardly, I slowly raised my arms up to return the gesture.
"I-uh, it's...I...it's alright, Ian, it's...we're good-I'm good..."
Ian suddenly released his grip on me, which knocked me off balance a little, and backed up a couple of paces.
"I, uh...yeah, sorryaboutthat..." he muttered out, scratching the back of his neck.
I spent another few seconds being stunned by what just happened before turning to Mido.
"Uh...can I...see that?" I said, pointing to the skull he still held in his arms.
"Oh, sure!" he said, practically throwing it at me.
"Oof...okay, Dia was it? You said that I wear this as a helmet?"
She stared off into space for a second before snapping back into reality. "What-oh, yesyes, sugar."
"Okay, thanks," I responded. I then muttered to myself, "I guess let's try this thing on, then."
Gripping the skull with both hands, I raised it up to my head. It didn't quite...feel like it fit at first, but a little bit of wiggling got it over my head completely. Looking out, I noticed my peripheral vision seemed hindered, giving me a slight sense of tunnel vision. Other than the noticeable extra weight the thing gave my head, it fit on nicely enough. Yet, it still felt a bit familiar, but almost not quite right...oh, perhaps that's just my memory (or lack thereof) getting the best of me again.
"You look a lot different with that on," remarked Ian.
"Does it...is it good?" asked Mido.
"I...I think so, yeah," I responded back, "I just thought I might remember something if I put this on, but..." I ended the thought, reaching up again to remove the skull.
"Nonono," protested Ian, "Keep it on. I think it looks good on ya."
"I...alright," I relented, removing my hands from the skull. I noticed just how different everything sounded from inside the skull, my own voice included.
"Well, should we take him to the base now or something?" asked Mido.
Ian gave a sigh. "...Yeah, let's go."
I adjusted my crutches under me as Mido recollected the sack with my belongings. As we headed towards the exit, I stopped and turned towards the pelipper who had helped us.
"Thank you so much. I hope you have a great day!"
Dia looked sort of stunned for a moment before nodding. "Goodbye, dear!"
I grinned under my skull as I gave one last look towards her. Another step, and she was out of sight.
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Sorry, this chapter took a while to push out. I blame...actually, I don't know who I blame.
Eh.
Anyway, quick thank you towards SnivyPro18 and to DreamCrawler for adding me to their communities.
Anyway, vacation was good. The car almost broke down, but thankfully the town we broke down in had really nice hotel rooms and about 20 different repair shops, so that was a relief. Still, it was nice to be out there where the adjacent houses are basically farms 'n all that. Did me some good, did Mom some good, slept on the couch for a few nights, had a good time overall.
I'm also becoming aware that this story is almost becoming biweekly at this rate. I apologize about that. I'll try to be better prepared in the future, and will begin stockpiling up a few chapters in advance, just to make sure.
Also, I realize I tend to babble on way too long down here, so I'll just shut up now and sign off. Proxima septimana!
- JacobDaGun