So here is the chapter two of Rings of Distortion! Get ready for a...double upload!
R&R!
By the time the trio reached Gem town, they were exhausted.
Yvette the Torchic was desperately trying to ignore Xavier, but she couldn't help it. Even while talking to Zachary, she would glance at the Treecko at least twice or thrice during their conversation.
Xavier didn't like Yvette either; in fact, the Treecko took a liking to the Croagunk and the latter felt the same. The two became friends they moment they united and formed a group.
Eventually, they reached the guild…or at least closer to the guild than before.
Xavier let out a gasp as he saw the hundred stairs in front of him, ready to be climbed upon. He shuddered by thinking of how much more they had to walk, and he almost collapsed if it hadn't been for Zachary handing him a bottle of fresh water.
"Here, drink this," he said as he pulled a normal sized bottle out of his sling bag. "It'll help."
"Thanks," Xavier replied, utterly grateful for the two strangers he hadn't known.
He chugged down the bottle of water in a matter of seconds, proving his thirstiness to his two companions. Yvette hmph-ed at this and simply walked up the several steps, as if trying to prove that she was tougher than the two.
It took about fifteen minutes of climbing for them to get to the top of the very small hill, but the sight they saw was amazing. In the middle was a tent, resembling an Azumarill, while at either side were two, average sized buildings that were about three storeys tall distanced from the enormous ten by a dome-shaped passageway.
"Here we go…" Zachary said as he swallowed; Yvette did the same, but she tried her best to hide it.
"Let's do this!" Taking in a deep breath, Zachary grabbed them both and rushed inside the tent despite the cries of protest.
"WAAAH!" the Treecko squealed as he went inside. The room inside was dark, with no visible light, and Zachary simply walked ahead.
"Well," he said, sounding disappointed, "I thought that—whoa, back off!"
Xavier's heart skipped a beat as he saw two eyes gleaming in the darkness, exuding a sinister feeling as the eyes grew larger, signifying that the creature was closing in on the trio. Xavier's instincts took over and his body stiffened, ready to release an attack and drive the pokémon away.
"Welcome!" a feminine-yet-masculine voice boomed. "You have two choices: state your business, or get out of here!"
Yvette perked up. "We're here to make an exploration team!"
"Is that so?" The eyes scanned them for a while before the creature spoke up again. "I don't know. You three seem to be a bit coy to me."
"'Coy'?" Yvette snorted. "We aren't coy, missy! You better talk about yourself first!" she fired.
The creature only chuckled. "Hahaha! You've got some nerve, ya tot! Alright, follow me," the pokémon said, and a ball of fire magically appeared out of nowhere, stunning everyone. Xavier looked closely and saw that the 'ball' was in fact a fist enveloped in fire, and it illuminated the area, revealing a Hawlucha to be the mysterious pokémon.
Although from weird memories, this Hawlucha looked tougher and bigger than others of her kind. She had a better physique and seemed to be taller than one metre. She had a determined look on a face, as well as one that said that she wouldn't take jokes kindly.
"Whoa," Zachary uttered, astounded by the Fire Punch. "How did you learn Fire Punch?"
"Aw, it's nothing." She talked about it so casually, as if she meant that it was a normal thing for anyone. "Anyway, we could use with some new chums around here. Follow me, lads."
"YES!" Yvette cheered, jumping up and down as they followed the Hawlucha deeper inside the guild.
They soon moved into an illuminated hall. Xavier analysed the new room, which was the first floor of the guild. Aside from several doors and ladders leading to other rooms, the only things of note were several bulletin boards displaying the guild's policies, and what he assumed was a receptionist at a desk near the back of the room. The receptionist, a Lopunny, was busy going through several papers. Then again, maybe she was a secretary, or something. Xavier didn't know much about these jobs and their titles, but he figured someone would fill him in later anyway.
"For starters, lemme introduce me," the Hawlucha said, starting a conversation. "The name's Vicky. The Guildmaster's second in command and the door guard. If anyone has any problems or doubts with this place or anything, come to me." She laughed. "Oh, I do more than just fight. I've been the Guildmaster's informer for years, and companion too…" she trailed off, later clearing her throat. "Now, if you'll follow me, we're going to meet the Guildmaster and talk about you special cases here, but I can take some time off the meeting. Come along, I'll give ya'll a tour of this place. Chop-chop!
"Now this," – she pointed to the passageway to her right – "is the building where all members of the Guild meet for the mornings and doing missions or stuff of those sorts. There are three floors there: the Assembly room, the Dining Room, which is on the second level and the Common room on the ground level. The Assembly room is on the first, where you will, as the name suggests, assemble for mornings or important announcements. Now, the Assembly room is also important for accepting missions, so I'll just lead you there."
Vicky then took a left turn and took them to the first building, showing them the Vicky gestured to the wall at the far end of the room, which several Pokémon were currently gathered about. The wall was divided into two sections, each covered in scores of papers, "As you can see, the left side of the job wall is called the job board, where you can accept simple jobs to complete. These jobs usually involve escorting someone, retrieving an item, or rescuing someone. On the right is the outlaw post, where we take requests to hunt down and capture wanted criminals. At the end of a successful job or outlaw hunt you'll receive some money or bounty as payment, and usually get some other form of reward. However, the guild is still a business, and since you work for us, that means that the guild will receive a large percent of your earnings to cover expenses, understood?"
"Right," they replied in unison.
"Now I don't need to take you to the Dining room now, it is plain boring." She snorted. Vicky led them back to the great hall they previously stepped in and she then informed them about the next building.
"Now that, there, is where everyone will be resting. There are many pokémon working for the guild right now, so we do have to accommodate for them and you will get the best rooms there are, but you'll have to share." She chuckled while the trio groaned. "Alright then, it's time to meet the Guildmaster."
He then took them around, showing them the mini training ground and the kitchen, before they walked to the topmost floor of the building.
"Here is the Guildmaster's room, lads," the Hawlucha informed as they collectively stopped in front of a metal door. There was a stylish 'V' cut on the door, and Xavier shifted in his spot. Vicky pulled out a key from her sling-bag and thrusted it in the keyhole; with a swift turn the door swung open and they rushed into the room.
Xavier took a quick notice of the room once he stepped in. There was a curved bookshelf filled with thick and tattered books, while a medium sized table was placed in the middle of the room. The wallpapers were a floral pattern with a blue background and the floor was carpeted with such soft material that Xavier felt like curling up immediately and falling asleep.
But something was weird. The Guildmaster was nowhere to be found!
"Oh, no," Vicky said as she face-palmed herself, "Not again…"
Xavier looked around, checking if the Guildmaster was a tiny pokémon, such as a Joltik or a Flabébé, but in vain. He then noticed that the floor was a bit messy, with a few pencil shavings near a foot of the table and the dustbin was upside down. Xavier frowned at such a sight, and then remembered that he was a neat-freak.
"And…now," Vicky muttered in a bored voice.
Right then, a blue entity swooped through the window and skilfully landed and then swirled on the floor with its yellow surfboard. The figure landed a few feet in front of the recruits and they collectively, excluding Vicky, gasped in surprise at the sudden entrance.
The Hawlucha simply sighed and said in a monotonous tone, "Well, lads, meet the prodigious Guildmaster Zairian…"
"Oh come on, Vicky," the Azumarill said as she took off her shades, "you don't have to be so jaded about it."
She then turned towards the shocked trio with a smile on her face. "Hello there!"
"Um…" Yvette nervously shifted about her spot and looked at the jolly Guildmaster. "…Hi…"
The ovoid creature was covered in primarily blue fur, with the lower half of her body being covered with white. On the blue portion were white, bubble-like spots of fur and on her head were elongated rabbit-like ears with red insides. The Guildmaster's circular, blue eyes were glinting with excitement and the tip of her short arms curled up to hold the black glasses. She walked over to the group until she was only a foot away from them.
"H-Hi…!" Xavier finally said, sounding very nervous. "We've…uh, come to join your guild!"
"Yea!" Yvette added, jumping a foot off above the ground. "I'm Yvette, and this is my buddy, Zac!"
"And now, let me introduce myself properly too," the Guildmaster said. "My name is Madame Zarian Boniva!" She said it with such animation that the three flinched once she twirled her surfboard and put on her black glasses at the same time, giving a sparking smile. "But most people just call me Miss Zarian, or Guildmaster, or both. So," she said with less force, "you said that you three wanted to join my guild?"
"ABSOLUTELY!" they promptly answered.
"Cool!" The Azumarill placed her surfboard in a corner and took out her shades. "Here is your supply bag," she said as she tossed the ochre yellow sling bag towards them, which Yvette promptly snatched in her beak. "In it you'll find a map, a few Gravelrocks and six Oran Berries. For beginners."
"Wait a minute," Yvette said as she looked up from the bag. "What about our badges?"
"Those little things? You won't get them just yet," Zairian said casually as she looked away from the group.
"WHAT?!" The three blinked in confusion.
The Azumarill simply smirked. "You see, to be officially recognised by the guild, you must first prove yourselves, in this case complete a preliminary task."
Yvette had a look of realisation and defeat on her face. "Hmm…I guess it seems fair…"
"Of course it does." The Guildmaster then got up from her comfy chair and walked towards them with a bunch of letters in her hand. "Now, let's start with something easy for—"
"No!" Yvette glared at the Guildmaster. "Give us something tougher! That'll surely let us prove our importance in the guild."
Her friends simply gulped in shock and surprise.
Zairian tilted her head and frowned slightly, but then got her composure back. "Very well then, I hope…this will be more to your liking."
Zachary took the piece of paper from the Guildmaster's hand and brought it in the centre for all to see. On it was 'MISSING' written in bold red, with the background being the picture of a cuddly creature.
"The target is to find a group of Sentret named Chaz, Darwin and Otachi," the Azumarill explained. "They're a group of explorers that went missing about a week ago. According to witnesses, they'd last been seen around Razzmatazz Forest. We have reason that may lead you to believe that they have been kidnapped, so look out for attackers. Is that acceptable?"
"Well…Alright," Yvette answered after a few minutes.
"Alright then; go down there and be safe," Zairian said.
"Hopefully…" Xavier muttered so that no one could hear him.
So there it is. Hopefully the pace isn't too fast and everything is easy to understand. I want to make it slow because they've just reached the guild and blah blah blah.
In any case, tell me what you guys think about this chapter, and by that I mean review! I'm going to see you guys next chapter, that means a few more seconds away since it's a double-upload...sigh...