Chapter 75: Overt deception
Dawn
Ransei
Greenleaf
A mere hour ago, the blackness of the night sky seemed absolute. Now the golden disk of a sun rose, light filtered through the gnarled branches of Greenleaf's numerous forests and clung to the invisible drops of moisture hanging in the air. The mist surrounding the royal gardens sparkled silver and the world held its breath in anticipation of a new day. Standing on a wooden bridge and peering at her distorted reflection in the pond, Platina beheld several magikarp splashing about in the clear water and pondered on her actions. Sleep did not come to her easily, she constantly fretted, wringing her hands under the bell shaped sleeves of her kimono and waited for the nobles of Ransei to figure out their poorly crafted excuse. Thankfully, the night passed without incident and leaving the heavy breathing forms of White and Sapphire buried between ornate swathes of silk and a thick futon, she slipped past the guards and whiled the latter part of the night in quiet solitude. A few days later, Lord Mitsuhide will arrive at Greenleaf and escort her to Nixtorm...then her life as she knew it...Would be over. On the rippled surface of the pond, she saw her reflection's expression twist into one of sorrow, however, no tears slid down her pale face. Lips turned into a frown and her eyes weighed down with what she could only describe as sadness. Around her, the world remained eerily silent and the subdued chill gave way to warmth as the sun rose higher and higher. Flower pokemon opened up, diffusing a heady, floral scent over the gardens and somewhere, an insect buzzed. The undergrowth rustled and in the distance, she heard the feeble chirp of a bird as it woke up and demanded for food.
A half moon, washed white by the light of the sun, struggled to be seen against a half dark sky. She shivered. Steadily the noise grew louder and the tiny hairs at the back of her neck stood up. Platina resisted the urge to rub the back of her neck, all this pent up tension unnerved her and she decided to go back to the palace and try to catch some sleep. A steady stream of smoke rose from one of the chimneys; the servants were up making preparations for the day ahead. Letting out a deep breath, she watched as a cloud of steam wisp away from her mouth. Folding her hands back into the proper position, she fixed her posture, whipped around and blinked. Instead of seeing trees and the stone fortification of Greenleaf's castle peeking through a dense growth of leaves and branches, she came face to face with a saffron tinted silk scarf, the blue lining of an under kimono and a string of jade, comma shaped beads dangling from a pale individual's neck. Aromatic smoke wafted in the air and the person, after inhaling heartily, flung the pipe behind him and a bolt of brilliant blue electricity fried it. Mutely, she observed the black dust fall to the ground and create an ugly patch on the otherwise immaculate garden. Platina shuffled backwards, whoever this person happened to be, he was a little too close for comfort. Instead of giving her space, the male noble extracted a fan, thrust the tip of it underneath her chin and forcibly angled her face up. Blinking rapidly against the brightening light of dawn, her eyes finally adjusted to see an adolescent with raven hair smirking unpleasantly at her. This person, a junior warlord by the way he held himself, had no manners and she entertained notions of reporting his behavior to Motonari. As she opened her mouth to fire something, he drew back, folded his arms behind his head and introduced himself.
"Hanbei..." Hanbei suppressed a yawn, "junior warlord to Lord Hideyoshi who reigns over Ignis. I'm here to discipline Warlord Motonari and check on the conditions of our alliance. And in doing so...I discovered something very interesting." The male yawned once more and slouched over the decorative railing of the wooden bridge, he tapped on the surface of the wood and raichu flashed into existence next to him. "First of all, I am surprised at how Nixtorm's future empress lied in order to gain access to Ransei." Platina fought to keep her shocked expression under control as Hanbei lazily ticked off his theories one by one. "While I am convinced of your status as a member of Nixtorm's branch family, I doubt the validity of your so called retainers." The adolescent spared a moment to cough and hack, covering this mouth with a handkerchief. Pulling the cloth away, he grimaced at the spots of blood decorating the cloth and stuffed it back in the pockets of his pale blue pants. "...Anyway. Warlord Motonari does not have any half-brothers; his father took care of any unfinished business before dying. I do not know the identities of these strangers, however, I suspect that they either bribed you to bring them here...Or threatened you. Most likely, they have ties with the commoner who is currently held in Valora's jail cells." Hanbei smiled satisfactorily, leaned closer and Platina flinched at his brilliant deductions. "That look on your face tells me everything. Although you trained them well, both the humans and their beast partners look a little uncomfortable to be amongst elite nobles, unlike you, they lack natural grace. Oh...the spiky haired one? Green is it? He seems to be the only one who experienced this sort of thing." Hanbei propped one hand underneath his chin and grinned.
Instead of panicking, Platina unfolded her arms and clapped.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The sound echoed crisply amongst the hushed noises of the garden.
"And what are you going to do about it?" Platina asked, her voice masked. "...We are already in Ransei junior Warlord Hanbei...And I doubt you have the authority to kick us out. You mentioned before that you are a retainer of the neighboring region; you cannot order Warlord Motonari around. Since he welcomed us in Greenleaf, it would be a terrible violation of manners to simply throw us out again." For once, he didn't have a snappy comeback and on ruminating over her words, he agreed that she had a point. He did not have any authority over Motonari, the best he could do was offer him suggestions.
And for some reason, the tone of her voice, soft and full of muted assurance despite her blatant lies, made his heart race against his will.
The sun continued to rise and the light brushed the rooftops and the canopy of trees with gold. Around them, the noise increased in volume and soon, they heard the chirp and buzz of insects intermingling with cheeps and tweets of birds. "You did not refute my theories so I assume they are all correct." The female standing next to Hanbei offered no response. "Your confidence is admirable...In any case, you are right; I cannot deploy you from Ransei." Another minute of silence lapsed between them and he spoke up, "There seems to be some similarities between our thinking processes." He fished a box from between the folds of his clothing, extracted a few berries and tossed them over to raichu. The electric rodent cooked them in midair, frying the raw fruits till their skin popped. Snatching them, it squeaked at its owner and thereafter delved into its meal with obvious relish. "Apart from Warlord Hideyoshi, no one else listens to me. I am his strategist and it is my goal to make him the supreme overlord of Ransei. I have utmost respect for my Lord and will do my best to fulfill his dream as long as I am alive." Platina found it strange that someone so young would talk about death, but the more he spoke, the more his complexion paled and he dissolved into another bout of coughing, pressing the handkerchief into his mouth as his body shook violently. "Excuse me..." Raichu curled its thin tail around his hand and dragged him back to the safety of the castle. "I need to get some rest." Inky blue eyes watched him stagger all the way to the castle and she narrowed her eyes in worry and disbelief.
If this Hanbei decides to blow their cover, then all her work was for naught. Even though she displayed much confidence, it failed to belie the anxiety she felt. Platina's palms were drenched in a cold sweat and after signaling at her froslass, she too, made her way back to the palace.
Mid-morning
Greenleaf
Castle veranda
A serperior lay coiled on an elevated dais, the wooden veranda sported two ornamented cushions and an array of old scrolls, papers and a laptop. Two steaming ceramic mugs sat on coasters and the aroma of freshly brewed green tea wafted amidst sweet smelling blossoms. Leaning against a post, Pearl lazily fanned himself, the early morning heat stuck to his clothes and he waved the traditional fan about in an effort to cool himself. Sitting some meters away from him, Green and Warlord Motonari delved into an excited argument, their voices swelling and dipping spontaneously. The two older males sat on cushions and talked animatedly amongst themselves and this brought a small smile on the Sinnoh native's face. Seems like the warlord fully believed Platina's outrageous claims and the following morning, sent one of his servants to coax them to join him for morning tea. At first, the spiky haired brunette refused, he wanted to sleep in and after some prompting, he roused himself up and lethargically ambled across identically fashioned corridors and stumbled in the terrace with golduck waddling after him. Green's exhaustion dissipated on seeing several, stained with age, scrolls littering the balcony. Jade irises lit up with genuine mirth and from there, the two 'brothers' discussed and shared their knowledge. Gold, incensed at having himself demoted to a slave, clenched his jaw as he brought the morning tea. Pearl smiled devilishly at the older male and ordered him to bring him a new cup of tea. Throwing the latter a venomous look which promised the utmost pain, the ebony haired male displayed some rude signs behind Green's back, grinded his teeth furiously and shuffled off with politoed.
Green watched zealously as Motonari traced his finger along an ancient map. In the beginning, Ransei only comprised of a few small dwellings, the notable ones were Dragnor, situated in the north east: the first humans, crafted by Mew, congregated here. The area, sheltered by mountain ranges on all three sides, proved to be a natural fortress against the wild, draconic pokemon prowling around the areas. A large river separated Dragnor from the next big city. Situated in an elevated, mountainous region, Avia was rumored to be a city floating amongst the clouds. The citizens took great pride in their lofty palaces and walled cities built atop mountain peaks. They constructed lavish castles and were the first people to tame the local pokemon life. Bird pokemon, some as huge as dragons, protected them in return for food and companionship. The last village lay in the valleys and craters of a ring of active volcanoes. A tiny settlement which went by the name of Ignis, struggled to keep their hamlet afloat over slabs of rocks swimming atop lava. Local fire pokemon periodically killed and half destroyed the houses when people veered to close to their habitats. The worst of the pokemon happened to by an elder charizard. Eyes milky white with age, the dragonoid crawled out of its den once every few months and proceed to rain fire over the entire village, other notable nuisances were infernape, tepig, magmar and larvesta. When the larvae evolved to a volcarona, the natives tried to catch the matured moths for their vivid vermillion wings and the downy fur on its body, unfortunately, the moths could send spores of fire with a flap of its wings and frequently did so when their nests were disturbed, the fiery spores caught on the parched, minimal grass growing around Ignis and if not doused out properly, engulfed the village into an inferno. Despite all the difficulties, Ignis, its palace constructed out diamond hard ebony glass and slate, managed to be one of the most feared provinces in modern day Ransei.
"And the reigning Warlord, Hideyoshi, is currently in an alliance with Fontaine, Aurora and Greenleaf." Motonari rolled the scroll up and set it aside. "So now you now a bit more about Ransei." The olive haired man declared and observed Green calmly sipping his tea. If the spiky haired brunette tried to disguise his delight, it wasn't working, an animated sparkle danced in his jade irises. "Greenleaf came to existence much later. Some people, who were unable to survive Ignis' harsh environmental conditions, fled from the valleys and spread out, thus Greenleaf, Fontaine and Aurora sprung up. My province specializes in food production; we export rice, tea and edible plants to almost all of Ransei. Customs dictate that we burn part of our productions to Shaymin and Celebi as they are our guardian deities. I have a relic in the shape of Celebi which allows me to summon him, unfortunately it stopped working a few years back." Motonari muttered to himself and got up to rummage through a few books whilst Green grew rigid and stared into his cup. "I do not understand why that happened, for the past three years, Celebi failed to make an appearance and without him, time will take its toll on the crops and they will wither and die. As for Shaymin, he frequently appeared during harvest time and blessed us with a good harvest...And just like Celebi, the gratitude pokemon stopped showing up altogether." Motonari rubbed his chin, "Hmm...I think Shaymin stopped appearing three years ago." Oak stiffened some more and his legs benumbed. "I wonder if the legendary pokemon are having an interspecies war?" Hearing such an uncanny theory coming from the Warlord's mouth almost made Strategy's team leader snort, mythical pokemon will not fight unless one crossed the boundaries of the other.
Emitting a suffering sigh, the Ransei native turned his attention to one of his retainers and gathered several sheets of parchment off a silver salver. The retainer, a green cloth mask obscuring his face, bowed low to Green, Motonari and Pearl, he then got up and motioned for Gold to get to work. Swearing under his breath, the raven haired man grabbed a wooden pail and a rag; and dragged himself down the corridors. Dipping a brush in an inkwell, Green tried not to gawk when Motonari elegantly weaved words on the piece of paper. Greenleaf had a digital irrigation system, manned both by pokemon and humans and they used stained paper and brushes when they write.
"Do you have a lot of work?" Oak queried on seeing his falsely related half-brother's fingers flying over an abacus. The beads, made out of precious gems, flashed in the late morning sunlight.
"Hmm...I have a lot of work, but I prefer to spend my time reading." Motonari smiled at him and Green nodded in understanding. "Usually, I have to keep an account of my productions and get them ready for shipping. My retainers do most of the work for me but the final reviews must be done by me." The man penned a few figures down. "I also have to keep a percentage aside for Shaymin...This year, I shall increase the sacrifice, I hope it comes back in time for the next harvest." Motonari hunched over his parchment and wrote more numbers. "I have a library...Motoharu," one of the paper sliding doors slid open next to Pearl and another retainer spilled out of the shadows. "Take our guests to the library and make them comfortable." Motonari gestured at Green and Pearl to leave, the former dipped his head gratefully and after elegantly gulping the remains of a lukewarm tea down, the duo followed the retainer through winding passages, decorated with flowering vines, and came to a brick faced library situated some distance away from the main part of the castle. Large glass windows offered a peek of oak shelves groaning under the weight of several thousand tomes. The trio passed under a cracking stone arch, overrun with ivy and Motoharu pushed open a heavy wooden door. The library smelt like any other, of old books, decaying tomes and aged wood. Platina, who had been frowning and trying to reach a particularly thick book on the higher shelves, whipped around and bowed in greeting. Leaving the guests to their devices, Motoharu quietly excused himself, posted a snivy inside the room and assured them that he will come whenever they called. The heavy door shut with a thud and snivy curled up on a window sill and peered at them with distrusting eyes.
For a while, the three of them did not speak to each other, wary of the little grass type staring at them. Pearl took down a book, read the first few pages and promptly fell asleep whilst Green, his movements calculative, amassed a tower of thick books and skimmed their contents one by one. Platina aimlessly wandered about, her froslass trailing her all the way and the two males failed to see the distress etched on her pale face.
Late evening
Greenleaf Castle
Gardens
Motonari receded into his private study after his retainers dropped a mountain load of work on him. The young Warlord wolfed down his dinner and attempted to escape to the libraries with Green. The more Oak got to know him, the more easy he felt. Due to their similar natures, the olive haired man forgot any bad blood between them and despite numerous admonitions, constantly talked about Greenleaf and its archives. He knew a lot about agriculture and farming; the man memorized both ancient and modern techniques and used them to increase crop production. Having pokemon harvest some types of crops will eventually allow them to pass some of their attributes to the said harvest. For example: If lilligant harvests tea leaves, the pokemon will eventually imbue it with a special aroma. Motonari related his tips and as he talked, his modulated accent slipped into a lazy drawl. After dinner, when the Warlord shunned his duties and invited Green and Pearl to stroll the plantations with him, his retainers swarmed over with angry faces and heaped him with work, not to mention Hanbei, with dark shadows underneath his eyes, strode into the mellow lighted dining room and wordlessly pulled the older man away by the ear. Once dinner finished, the Dex criminals were politely escorted to the outer gardens and Green suspected that the nobles still regarded them with caution.
Sitting on a raised stone platform near the pond, the members, with the exception of Gold; silently beheld the dying rays of the sun struggle through the branches of the trees. A slight breeze ruffled their clothes and brought about the perfumed scent of flowers. Sapphire, happy for the private reprieve, gleefully splashed her bare legs in the water whilst next to her White fretted and pleaded her to act more lady like. Platina, her head full of thoughts, absentmindedly petted her empoleon while staring at a patch of blackened grass. Meanwhile, Pearl leaned against his irritated commander and counted the evening stars as they emerged against an electric blue sky, his leader brooded and gazed at the dancing insects as the bugs emerged from their lairs and rendered the air with a soothing buzz.
A bamboo tube filled with water and hit against a stone.
Magikarp swam undeterred in the pond.
The moon on the dark water's surface rippled unceasingly.
Night closed in. In the distance, workers and pokemon hurried around to light lanterns and candles. Several snorts from fire pokemon lit the stone lanterns dotting the compound and one of them erupted with a ball of flame, casting a circle of orange light in the garden.
The buzzing of insects grew louder.
Volbeat flitted about.
A thousand orbs of golden light flashed in the undergrowth.
"Where is Gold?" Unable to bear the silence, Sapphire sat cross-legged next to Platina and asked. "I haven't seen him anywhere."
She did not receive a reply, instead Green inquired as to what the next step of their plan was. Roused out of her deep thinking, Platina responded: "...Since you and Warlord Motonari developed a good relationship in such a short amount of time, you can suggest him to take you Valora. Tell him you want to see the cities in person..." The female abruptly stopped and nodded.
"He will be suspicious...And I feel bad to ask him for a tour when he is so busy. More importantly-"
"You feel bad?" Pearl interjected and straightened up from his crooked position "Whoa! Remember we're here for senior Re-"
"Shut up Pearl!" Green hissed poisonously and the team around him stiffened collectively. "I...Know why I am here. If we don't proceed with caution, it will lead to our detriment. Motonari gave me a history lesson today. Instead of asking him to take us directly to Valora, we could do a detour...It'll seem less suspicious." Oak exhaled and tapped the edge of a fan against his thigh. "Although we will waste a lot of time, it might work in our favor." Platina nodded furiously at his suggestion. "Another thing I wanted to mention...Shaymin blesses Greenleaf's crops and Warlord Motonari says the pokemon stopped coming. This is quite concerning to me because if the other nations notice their missing deities, they might instigate a war...Platinum, what do you think?" To his astonishment, the girl replied that Blue knew all the details and there is an algorithm (derived by the ancients of Nixtorm) to determine how long a legendary pokemon will stay and contribute their element into a new world. Blue, Silver and Platina got together and calculated the estimated time and according to their assessments, the legendary pokemon should fly out by the middle of this year, before any long term degradation takes place in the Poke-world. Strategy's leader froze at her words...How dare the pesky woman steal his thunder and even neglect to inform him of such a critical piece of information. He grinded his teeth angrily and wondered what to do with her when he got back.
When he got back...
"I think we should all go to sleep." White chimed in delicately and helped Sapphire up from her cramped position. "Senior Green, please get some rest, your face was stuck in that weird expression for the past half an hour." The congregation promptly broke up and with charizard's bulk stomping after them, Green and Pearl navigated to the interior of the castle and all the way to their bedrooms. Bidding his pretentious advisor a goodnight, the spiky haired commander slid open the rice paper door and an amused smile seized his lips. His sheets and futon were lain out...no doubt by Gold. The ebony haired man staggered in the chamber during the latter part of the night and due to their rule of silence, he only groaned before collapsing into a heap in one corner of Green's room. For a minute, the Kanto native felt regret blooming in his chest and it vanished on seeing a little piece of parchment sticking out from underneath the futon. The commander extracted the paper, ignored the heavy curses penned on to it and held it to charizard's tail flame.
Way past midnight, Gold, miserable due to the various aches and bruises his body accumulated over the past two days, gently slid open a door and slunk inside. A tuft of brown hair poked out from the futon in front of him and he sneered at the way charizard's tail formed a natural barrier near its master's bed. One of the lamps burned brightly and his emotions boiled furiously. Was he supposed to put that out as well? Couldn't Green do anything by himself anymore? The only things Oak did these days is spend time in the company of the Warlord and read without a care in the world. He garnered stares from the maids and some of the beautiful court ladies who blinked demurely on seeing him pass. Charizard snored and Gold jumped, the dragon curled next to its human and gave off a feeling that it protected some treasure. Licking his forefinger and thumb, the black haired man pinched the candle flame and the room bathed in the muted glow of charizard's tail fire. Carefully hopping over the wrym's leathery tail, he stood over Green's blissfully slumbering form and crouched. The breeder forcefully grasped the former's neck with all the force he could muster. In spite of being half-asleep, the professor accurately curled his sinewy fingers around Gold's throat and the latter squeezed his senior's neck and attempted to twist it.
"What are you doing Gold?"
"Trying to kill you?" The Johto native ambiguously answered and Green's fingers fell away. "I'm sick and tired of running around and tailing after you and Pearl!" He hollered and retracted his hands from his superior's neck. "Seriously, I have bruises all over my body, I haven't slept properly for the last two nights and all you and that blonde brat do is heap more work on me!"
"Gold...Quiet down." Oak commanded desperately.
"Huh?! Quiet down? Oh heck no mister! Let me say this once: I...Am NOT YOUR SLAVE!"
Amidst their shouting, the door flung open. Gold barely registered the appearance of several masked men as a flurry of razor sharp leaves tore into his clothes and hair; he got up and charizard stirred. Sluggishly, Gold tried to defend himself but in an instant, a punch knocked the breath out of him, he fell backwards and clutched his stomach in pain. Politoed attempted to jump in front of its master's writhing form, alas, a snivy, sitting pompously on one of the guard's shoulder pads, lashed out two vines and twisted one of them around the toad pokemon's throat, a thick tendril lifted the frog up and threw him across the sparsely decorated room. It crashed into a silk screen and out through another flimsy paper door. Meanwhile, the vermillion dragon woke up and roared a plume of flame. Green threw aside his blankets and sprung up, another masked person went for him and the Johto native watched, with sadistic satisfaction, as one of Greenleaf's armed guards slapped Oak hard across his face. Despite the battle going on inside the room, the men did not make a single sound. Their fists connected soundlessly, their pokemon attacked relentlessly and they moved fluidly, without wasting a single movement. Someone grabbed Gold by the back of his neck and to his horror; they forced a collar on him and tied a chain to his bruised wrists. Green, due to his closeness with Motonari, was treated with a bit more respect. Charizard's mouth filled up with flames, some of them escaping through ivory jaws; however, a curt command from his owner had it swallowing down the ball of fire.
"Imposters..." an emotionless voice droned in the dark. The guards did not bother lighting any lanterns and Gold tasted the coppery tint of blood on his lips. A veiled man hauled him violently across the carpet and his senior's mouth was gagged with a piece of silk. "No slave will dare take such an informal tone with their master." The escort rasped, tourmaline eyes glinting cruelly in the faint silver light crawling in from the windows. "My lord tasked me to guard this room and I will be happy to inform him that his prized guests are charlatans." Turning to his underling, he further ordered, "check the females' room...I believe, they need to be apprehended as well."
In the dead of the night, Sapphire watched a trail of dust sparkling silver under a moonbeam. The trickle of light came from one of the slats set into the wooden walls of the room. Platina, Sapphire and White shared a room together as the noble insisted that she could not sleep without having her lady in waiting right next to her. The chamber was quite big and like most of the rooms inside the castle, minimally decorated. Paper lanterns, with leafy patterns etched on the outside, provided a decorative light fixture and a luxurious velvet carpet covered the bare wooden flooring of the room. Several intricately woven silk screens showed pictures of pokemon, an elegantly posing serperior basking in a field full of flowers whilst another showed the famous plantations of Greenleaf, stretching out infinitely against a blue, cloudless sky. The Hoenn native sighed and wriggled underneath her covers, she understood that protocols must be followed; however, it infuriated her when she spied masked servants shadowing them from a distance. Apparently the nobles felt gratified if they possessed a personal slave. Azure eyes peered at the door, right now, she saw the shadowy outline of a man crouched against the white, rice paper doors; she held her breath and her sense of danger prickled. Slumbering one meter away from her, gallade woke up and instantaneously fixed its eyes at the door. The events happened in slow motion, Sapphire watched the door slide open.
She witnessed the door slowly slide open.
And the figure of one shadowy person, multiplied to a dozen behind the opaque screen.
Gallade crossed its arms, ready for combat and the other pokemon woke, Toro's ungainly shrieks rend the still air apart. Through the miniscule crack generated by the still opening door, a rodent darted inside. And the alarm bells in her head rung up a cacophony. Platina and White shifted, the brown haired girl gritted her teeth in annoyance and leapt over her bed coverings in a desperate attempt to get close to Platina.
Suddenly her view changed.
Instead of seeing a green carpet, a mass of inky black curls and a pale face buried in between fluffy lavender sheets, Sapphire only saw black. An excruciating pain radiated from the bottom of her sternum and she wanted to empty her half-digested dinner on the carpet. Her dismally lit environment buckled on each other and with a thud, she collapsed to the floor. White and Platina, surrounded by strange, hostile escorts, stood close together. The noble quivered violently, her froslass lay unconscious at her feet and empoleon was nowhere to be seen, Sapphire remained sprawled on the floor, her shredded nightgown barely covering her properly. Opposite them, a group of Greenleaf's soldiers lithely stepped closer, Platina spasmed when she caught a glint of a short sword as the attacker slid it out of his sheath. "Imposters..." he hissed, his voice dry and serpentine…"Lord Motonari was kind enough to allow you inside Greenleaf and this is how you repay his kindness. You should know young lady; we do not take kindly to pretenders." He spat the last word out and for a brief, terrifying moment, the moon light illuminated a ragged scar slashing his face into half. The guard would have been a handsome individual without his disfigurement and in the nebulous surrounds, White observed the mad spark of fury swirling in deep ebony irises. "You shall be beheaded for trespassing." The man rasped and brought a fist down.
Blinding electric yellow light seized hold of the previously dark room. Raichu, tail held high, stood in front of the shivering females and Platina gasped in recognition. The rodent, body cloaked in electricity, smashed into every able guard and sent them toppling into each other. Most of the opposition's pokemon banded together and hissed at it, however the mouse, its sharp edged tail cutting the air and discharging bright sparks, barreled towards them and crashed its skull against several grass type pokemon. The barely conscious ones retreated whilst dragging their humans with them. Articulating another guttural squeak, raichu turned towards Platina and eyed her with a vindictive gaze, raising its bolt-esque tail once more, it smacked it down and maliciously buried it in the ground, mere inches away from her feet.
"Tsk..." Hanbei emerged from the shadows and brought up a fan to obscure the lower part of his face. "I am not getting any sleep, thanks to you Lady Berlitz..." he suppressed a yawn and raichu faithfully curled its tail around his wrist. "Did you hear what the guard said? You shall be beheaded for trespassing." On hearing this, White clutched Platina tighter and her face paled. "This is a disaster; apparently one of the guards over heard the ebony haired slave talking informally to Lord Green...thus the entire assault started. Since I was suspicious of you, I commanded raichu to keep an eye out for you. He saved your life." The strategist dully informed her and Platina acknowledged the creature with a grateful tilt of her head. "Warlord Motonari will wake up soon and pass judgment, he is quite lenient as opposed to other emperors but by no means will he take this farce lightly." Hanbei's previously airy tone changed into a strict one, he straightened up and stood right in front of the two females. "I suggest you beg for your life..." he trailed off and spun around, "we can only hope that the Lord will be willing to listen to your pleas."
His chest hurt and his breathing became ragged. Raichu spared him a worried glance and he assured it with a smile.
"Why are you doing this?" Platina's query caught him off guard and he spent a good minute coughing into his sleeve. Icy cold sweat rolled down his back and half bared chest. "It is normal procedure for visiting lords not to meddle in other region's affairs. I thank you for saving my life; however you will be severely admonished for your actions Lord Hanbei." Her dulcet tones floated to his ears and he wondered why he did this.
"My Lord believes in justice." He flatly replied and held on to the doorway. "I am simply trying to follow his example and do what is right. Move into the reception area. Warlord Motonari will be there soon." He frigidly ordered, "And take your unconscious female friend with you, I hardly have the strength to walk...Much less carry someone." Saying this, he vanished into the cold, dark night and White, tension easing from her rigid body, bolted over to Sapphire and roused her by calling her name. Outside, Hanbei sluggishly pulled himself towards Motonari's room and crumpled underneath a shade of a tree. Raichu bounded into his lap and squeaked in a panicked voice. "I am alright; I just need some more rest. After this is all over, I shall go back to Ignis and ask Kanbei to take over my job." He petted the electric type and whispered. "Mm? Why did I do that? I suppose...I-" Hanbei broke off and stared into the distance. One by one, the palace's lanterns ignited with balls of orange light. "...Let's go Raichu...we have a problem to record." Amongst his monster's squeaks of protest, he pushed himself off the slightly damp grass and set off in the direction of Motonari's chamber.
A bit past midnight
Ransei
Greenleaf castle
Groggy from sleep, the Warlord hardly registered the group of people in front of him, he saw his guards, some of them disheveled, take up stiff positions around his guests. Platina threw herself at his feet and apologized profusely, alas, her words went through one ear and out by the other. His guards did not help and caused further confusion by constantly interjecting the female noble's pleas by snarls of their own. Motonari understood that Platina lied in order to get her so called retainers inside Ransei, soon, she will be leaving for Nixtorm and the rest of her friends will try to make their way to Valora and rescue the commoner convict currently holed up in the region's impregnable castle. She hoped Motonari would help them and as the girl raised her face, the man saw tear drops sliding down her cheeks. Sitting next to him, Hanbei shifted constantly, the small movements an indication to his agitation, the young noble trained his eyes to the polished wooden floors and clenched his jaw tightly.
"Hmm...Let me just summarize..." The olive haired lord inhaled deeply and adjusted his position, he fought off vestiges of sleep and serperior, slumbering across his lap, unconsciously diffused a sweet scent that further hampered his efforts at staying awake. "I know of this commoner...Although I am obscure on the details, I heard he committed heinous crimes and thus the International Police force deployed him here, for the sake of humanity. He is your friend?" The Dex criminals nodded solemnly. "...This is a terrible breach of trust and honor Lady Berlitz...I could behead the whole lot of you for deceiving me like this." Both Hanbei and Platina stiffened and Motonari spied absolute terror on the rest of the commoners' faces. "However...I am happy to know that I do not have an illegitimate half-brother." Sitting with his head bowed, Green made no motion and the Lord lazily waved his fan. "Frankly, this situation is rather amusing..."
Amusing? Hanbei gritted his teeth and quickly glanced at Motonari who hid a small smile behind his intricately designed silk fan. Perhaps he found it laughable but for the rest of the castle, this was no joke. The palace guards and retainers adjusted their armor, trying to hide their discomfort whilst the commors, sitting in a huddled group and clutching desperately to each other, searched the Warlord's face for any signs of mercy. Platina begged for forgiveness, asking him to save their lives and Hanbei turned away. He could not watch...After all, what if her begging amounted to nothing. What if Motonari decided to publicly execute them all?
His chest squeezed painfully.
Serperior woke up and at once, silence descended on the occupants of the castle. The beast, both majestic and impossibly cruel, regarded the petrified Platinum with a mixture of apathy and disgust before slithering off Motonari's lap and curling up next to its master. Raichu, who normally disregarded other creatures and asserted itself, meekly dove into its owner's lap. The grass snake, selectively bred and reared up to be a partner for Greenleaf's emperors, radiated aura and power on par with pseudo legendary creatures. Only after it went back to sleep did the quiet hubbub restart and Motonari spoke, his voice a decibel quieter than before: "Well...I am rather fond of Green." The man smiled amiable and Oak clenched his sweaty hands in embarrassment, "so I will be lenient. Unfortunately, I detest those who deceive me and thus I will only allow Green and his slave to stay. Lady Berlitz, you will be leaving for Nixtorm...I do not wish to see you step inside Greenleaf's territory ever again...Serperior will kill you." The emperor let the quivering female process his threat before continuing to speak, "as for the others, my retainers made arrangements for their deployment back to Sinnoh..."
"My greatest apologies for taking advantage of your kindness my Lord." Platina did not dare raise her head. "And you have our utmost gratitude for letting us go so lightly."
The Warlord, tired of her profuse expressions of regret, waved his fan dismissively and locked eyes with Green. "You can stay here along with your slave if you wan-"
"I am NOT his slave!" Gold growled, in the next instant, he howled in agony and pressed his palms against numerous gashes on his face and neck. The slits oozed blood and Sapphire tore her gaze away to see Serperior awake and hissing in dissatisfaction. The ebony haired man whimpered in pain and soon, the wounds assumed a nasty, purplish hue.
"Serperior does not take kindly to anyone who raises their voices against me." Greenleaf's Warlord blandly intoned and petted the regal pokemon on its head. "You best watch your tongue if you want to survive here." A maid wove herself between White and Pearl and crouched down to a miserable Gold, she gave him a gentle smile as she worked on his injuries. "Hmm...I will assist you in your quest to rescue your friend." Motonari further added and one of his advisors, and elder man sporting wizened eyes and a grey beard, sputtered heatedly at him. "Please calm down...And listen to me. First of all, Valora is in an alliance with Dragnor...Nobunaga, the fool, thinks he can unite Ransei if he manages to get his hand on Zekrom. My region is in an alliance with Ignis and although Monkey - pardon me Hanbei - can be somewhat overwhelming and irresponsible, his courage and noble ambition is admirable. If I do help Green and his friends create havoc for Ieyasu...we shall topple one of Dragnor's corner stones. Hideyoshi will be able to take advantage of the commotion and proceed to attack." Jade irises slid towards Ignis' strategist and the Warlord saw a spark of agreement in the youth's eyes. "What do you think Hanbei? Decent strategy no?" The male nodded respectfully. "See? Kill two birds with one stone...Birds can be pests and they sometimes kill crops. What do you say Green?" Motonari directed his attention to the spiky haired brunette, "I will assist you to the best of my abilities but only you and that raven haired young man may stay in Greenleaf."
Casting a peek at his team mates, Oak snapped his attention back to the waiting noble and humbly replied: "Yes my lord. Thank you for assistance."
"Excellent..." The green haired man grinned, "All I ask in return is your constant company." Getting up from his cushion, he dragged himself out with serperior hot on his heels. Some of his retainers hurried after him whilst the rest eyed Green with envy. Strategy's team leader quailed under their strident gazes.
He didn't ask for this either.
A/N: Much thanks to all those who read and reviewed. Virtual chocolate to all! Happy (belated) Single Awareness Day people. Don't be SAD alone, be SAD with chocolate! Never mind what I just wrote, anyway, the gang split. Read and review, tell me what you think.
At Sakurafox1218: Hello to you too :) Blue needs to stay behind to keep the base safe (since Diamond is a neophyte commander) Gold and Saph wants to be there when they bust out their commander, and nothing will stop them from not going. Gold deserves it, just a shame Silver wasn't around to record his moments of humiliation. Spelling mistakes, thanks for pointing them out. I'll keep my eyes peeled for them. At HeyYouYaYou: It's AAAAAAAHH with Caps, remember Black? We are doing this for him :P At Eevee: Boo! I do that to Mindy all the time and it always gets her. Mindy says Hi as well and it's getting real warm here. I usually update around 2 – 3 in the afternoon here. Sometimes earlier and sometimes around 11 at night. Around this time of the day, I waste myself on the internet or, write like I'm possessed (no kidding). Regret that I'm encouraged you to review? No! I like to read up on what people think and on my bad days, it really lifts me up, so reviews are always appreciated. I really feel sorry for ancient people, stuff like that happens quite frequently (here) till this day. It's a shame really. And it's snowing there by you? Wow, here, winter is over, now I'll have to sizzle in this tropical heat :( I don't like muggy heat, gives me asthma and a whole host of problems.
At Guest: Gold will actually rock his baldness like he owns it. He'll probably make it shiny so he can pester Crystal/Silver to see the light shine off his chrome dome. Okay, I laughed way too hard after reading that scenario. Heh, I should make fun of my brother. At I prefer: Thank you for your tip, I'll remember that the next time I write. So no dives to the future… At Jack54311: Green, harsh? Heh, he'll survive. As for more Green milking Gold moments, the tide has turned. Misty and Red, you'll just have to read to find out.