A half night's sleep in the grass didn't do the team well. Helena dragged her paws around the baneful mountain to the side facing the gate to meet the other dukes and discuss their next plans. Before heading to the meeting spot, though, she snuck through the forest to check on the entrance to Skarmburg. She gasped when she saw that the nearly-destroyed gate was gone, replaced with a newly erected, solid stone wall!
Are we even worse off than we were yesterday? Helena thought with her jaw hanging. Even more defenders than yesterday stood atop the walls of Skarmburg, ready to Rock Slide them off the mountain. She dragged her paws to the war council meeting even slower. She was not surprised to see the other dukes similarly disgruntled.
"Three times I was awoken from my slumber!" Duke Ulysses squawked, his eyes red and his feathers ruffled. At least Helena felt amused at the fat bird's first real taste of war.
"I was reminded rather harshly of why I tend to keep to my own province," Duke Brennan grumbled.
"Swallow your pains," Ludwig snapped. "Last night was nothing compared to my cousin's ministrations when we were children."
"How many times were you all attacked?" Helena asked. The dukes replied with answers varying between two and four. "I was only attacked once," she said. "My team moved into a nearby forest after the first time for cover. You should do so too."
"And sleep like bandits? Never," Duchess Madelyn huffed.
"Not appealing in the slightest, but if we must…" Duke Qasimir lamented.
"If we endured this many attacks during the night, then surely many Skarmory must be slumbering at our present time," Duke Kendrick said. "Perhaps we should attempt another assault?"
"We are in no fighting state either," said Duke Brennan.
"We will see about a potential assault later, but keeping our siege strong and tight is our first priority," Duke Percival urged. "If our enemies will be active at night, we are going to need an active force at night as well. On all sides of the mountain. We cannot allow any supplies in or any pokémon out."
"Such is not possible in our current state. We cannot afford any further disruptions as last night's," Duke Kendrick said. "I say it is time to move beneath the cover of the trees." The other dukes protested with vague complaints of cleanliness and honor.
"If half our army refuses to adapt, endures another beating, and gives up, then we all may as well leave," Helena said.
"Nobody shall leave!" Duke Ulysses exclaimed. "I want to see the destruction of Skarmburg. If slumbering beneath the uncounth foilage is what is necessary, then we all must do it!"
All the dukes nodded firmly in agreement. "Conjure the map and let us adjust our camp positions," Duke Percival said.
Windie stood atop the walls of Denryu Castle, staring across the landscape of his lord's province. The enemy army camps still utterly surrounded the castle, but their aggressive attempts to assault the castle had stopped over the last few days. The Arcanine adorned a fair amount of bandages but nothing serious. Now he just felt empty and bored. There weren't any soldiers to take care of or noblewomen to talk up.
Windie gazed beyond the campfires and ruthless knights at the forests and ruined fields of Denryushire, imagining colorful berry fields instead. He wished he could see mills lining both sides of the river and nice wood and brick houses instead of straw huts everywhere. In his bored trance, he sometimes wondered if he was making up his memories of Kyukonais somehow, but the coffee cup he kept in his bag reminded him that that night was indeed real. He still needed to learn how Kyukonais's paradise came into existence.
Down in the courtyard, Prince Ludwren addressed his knights and Denryushire's knights. "I have before me a letter from a Solardian scout who flew over this castle in the dead of night," the Luxray said, holding up a sturdy envelope of parchment. "My son has rallied an army of Solardian knights to come to our aid!"
The castle defenders cheered. "How long until their arrival?" someone asked.
"Soon. They are besieging Skarmburg as we speak. Once it is secured, they will march straight to us, according to the letter."
The cheers died down fast. "Skarmburg has never fallen," Sir Raymond spoke up.
"Then this occasion will be the first of many!" Prince Ludwren proclaimed. "Down with Skarmburg!"
"We should not disparage our long-time ally," Sir Raymond mumbled to himself. Several of Prince Ludwren's knights glared at the Rapidash.
"Skarmburg could take weeks or months to fall," a knight said. "We do not have enough food to last very long."
"It is paramount that we stretch our food supplies as much as possible," Prince Ludwren said. "Therefore, I ask some of you to make an honorable sacrifice and surrender to prolong the food supplies for the rest of us."
The group went silent as no one volunteered. "Your Majesty, we already stand at the minimum required to withstand a total assault," Sir Griffin said.
"On the contrary, I believe we can afford to let a few of us go," Prince Ludwren insisted. "My nephew's army has dwindled in strength over time. I received a report that bandits are running rampant around the province, plundering our attackers' supplies. Many have appeared to have gone home and I assume more will have to withdraw to protect their food."
"My liege, I think it is too risky to give up any one of our loyal defenders," Duke Antonio said. "Even so, we have no volunteers."
Prince Ludwren glared. "Very well. May I ask that everyone consume less? It will go a long way towards extending our limited provisions."
Several knights protested against that request, including those amongst Price Ludwren's own personal guard. "We will not prevail in a fight on an empty stomach, Your Majesty," one knight brought up.
"Perhaps the attackers will disband first, if they cannot sustain themselves?" Another knight suggested.
Prince Ludwren growled, curling his claws. "Yes. Stay strong, my countrymen. That is all."
Windie turned away from the courtyard and resumed staring beyond the walls. He sure as hell wasn't going to eat less or give himself up. Sadly, if they ever did force anyone out, he would probably be first in line. He trusted his lord not to throw him out, though.
Some movement at the bottom of Windie's view caught his attention. An envelope wrapped in a purple glow floated in the air midway up the castle wall. He rushed down the wall to fetch Sir Griffin.
"I do not feel at ease," Sir Raymond said to Sir Griffin as the two Denryuian knights walked out of earshot of Prince Ludwren. "We are putting faith in our bandits and wishing for the fall of our allies?"
"A peculiar situation indeed," Sir Griffin remarked. "The request to eat less was strange too. His Majesty might have received a more favorable reaction had he announced his own intention to cut back first, but there was no such pledge."
"Sir Griffin," Windie called, "someone on the other side is offering us a letter with Psychic."
The two knights followed Windie up the walls. Sir Griffin used his own Psychic to take control of the envelope and lift it the rest of the way up to them. He opened the envelope and started reading.
"What does it say?" Windie asked.
"King Leinwig is offering to spare this castle and Duke Antonio's title if we hand over Prince Ludwren," Sir Griffin said. "We must speak with Duke Antonio immediately."
The three of them presented the letter to Duke Antonio. The Ampharos read the letter with a frown.
"This proposal is perfect. What more could you ask for, my lord?" Sir Raymond asked.
Windie nodded. "This war is continuing to destroy Denryushire. If giving up the prince would end the suffering-"
"Do not speak such words in public," Duke Antonio hissed. "Prince Leinwig's empty words are not to be trusted. Hanging on is our only option. I am nothing without my honor and loyalty." Sir Raymond and Windie cowered back in shame.
Following the first assault and night raid around Skarmburg, the next few days were rife with skirmishes as the Skarmory and their partners tried to bully the knights away and the knights made a few half-hearted attempts to bring down the walls. However, the knights would not leave, taking cover in the forests, sleeping in shifts, and plotting their vengeance while enjoying ample meals delivered by Darrell's crew. The Rock Slides and Air Slashes of the defenders of Skarmburg never wavered, and they promptly restored their walls with their rock powers after every bout. As neither side budged, the area settled into a stalemate.
One evening, Herald Eugene called King Ludwig and the dukes together. "I have consolidated our scouts' reports," the Exploud announced with a scroll in hand. "It is with great relief that I can report that Prince Ludwren is secure in Denryu Castle under the protection of Duke Antonio of Denryushire. King Leinwig's army made several attempts to storm the castle but failed every time. Your father fights on, my liege."
"Thank Arceus," Ludwig sighed. "Bless Antonio. What of the other dukes on my father's side, Declan and Godric?"
Herald Eugene slumped, staring into his paper. "According to some local serfs, both Duke Declan and Duke Godric… switched loyalties. They serve King Leinwig now."
"What?!" Ludwig raged, claws piercing the ground. Sparks jumped across his mane.
"They must have decided to cut their losses early in hopes of a more lenient reprimand," Duke Percival remarked.
"Be at ease, Your Majesty," Duke Qasimir said. The Quagsire walked up to Ludwig and patted the Luxray's back, absorbing some sparks. "We will deliver them justice," he promised.
"If circumstances are so dire, perhaps we should cut our losses as well," Duke Brennan grumbled.
Duchess Madelyn scowled. "And give up our progress on the conquest of Skarmburg after all the rocks they dropped on us? Never!"
"Yes, my knights and I yearn to extract what goods Skarmburg has to offer and then continue on to Luneland's riches!" Duke Ulysses asserted. "That is still on the table, correct, Your Majesty?"
"Absolutely," Ludwig growled. "My cousin's riches and all who choose to prop him up are yours for the taking. That goes double for Declan and Godric the betrayers!"
"If we can get that far," Helena pointed out. "I thought we were going up against half of Luneland, not all of it."
"How do our chances of victory stand? Have you any information to give us insight?" Duke Kendrick asked the herald.
"From the scouts' reports of the army sieging Denryu Castle, we currently outnumber them by about two to one," Herald Eugene said. "Our scouts have heard reports of bandits plaguing King Leinwig's supply lines. They appear to be struggling to maintain the siege."
"Is that so? Perhaps our prospects are not so dire."
"We must march to Denryu Castle this instant!" Ludwig cried. "If the enemies are as weak as you say, it is the perfect time to relieve the siege and aid my father!"
"I will not leave Skarmburg until it falls," Duke Ulysses stated.
"I refuse to let Skarmburg target our backs," Helena added. "Need I remind you that you will starve without supplies?"
"We do not need supplies," Ludwig growled. "We can just go up to the castle, relieve the siege, and run back to Waruvais in a day."
"Unacceptable," Duke Kendrick snapped. "There will be no half measures. I refuse to see Waruvais under assault due to emotional judgement."
"That is a surefire way to lose the war," Duchess Madelyn scoffed.
"It is a small force defending Prince Ludwren at Denryu castle, correct?" Duke Percival asked the herald.
"We believe so," Herald Eugene agreed.
"Their food supplies will surely last a long time," the Pyroar said to Ludwig. "As we have Skarmburg surrounded and all their peasants trapped within, Skarmburg will run out of food and surrender first."
"Why are they not surrendering now?" Ludwig whined.
Duke Kendrick crossed his arms and snorted. "Just as your father hopes for an army to relieve the siege, Skarmburg hopes for an army from Luneland to repel us. Luckily, between the siege and their apparent bandit troubles, it seems like King Leinwig has little in the way of aid for Skarmburg. We caught only a few pokemon attempting to smuggle food into the town so far."
"It is a good thing the enemies are occupied," Duke Brennan said. "I say at the first sign of an enemy army approaching, we must retreat."
"No, we fight," Duchess Madelyn countered. "Whether you like it or not, we have entered the war. Cowardice will lead to a sound defeat."
"Keep up that talk and you will not be receiving your cut of the spoils," Duke Ulysses said.
"Remind me of what I am getting out of being here?" Duke Brennan huffed.
"After we defeat the defenders, we will have to occupy Skarmburg," Duke Percival said. "We will all have to leave some knights here to assert our control. But it also means we can take their mining profits for ourselves."
"Speaking of, we should discuss how to split up control of the town once we take over," Duke Kendrick said. The dukes began talking business while Ludwig stared off into the distance facing Luneland.
Helena stalked through the night on her way back to her friends' camp after the lengthy war council meeting. When she reached the camp, she saw Max sitting outside his tent, reading a book with a soft purple glow in his eyes for light. "The great Maximillian is staying up late? I thought I'd never see the day," Helena quietly laughed.
Max put on a guilty smile. "Beautiful literature does have that captivating effect," he said. "I knew I should not have started, but Lily convinced me otherwise. Now I cannot put the book down!"
Helena snuck a look at the thick book's cover. "Ooh, Bandits of the Forest!" she almost squealed. "I read it a while ago. So many good characters, mysteries, and mind-boggling battles. I could relate so much to the main character too. Man, it was such a big world with so much more to explore."
"And hence, why I am hooked," Max chuckled.
"Very fitting that we're camped in a forest while you're reading this book," Helena laughed.
"Heh, that was why Lily insisted for me to start reading," Max said. "Before I knew it, it was night time and everyone else was asleep. Actually, what took you so long to get back?"
"Oh, just the usual noble plotting," Helena answered. "We got some new reports on the state of Luneland; apparently a lot of bandits are causing havoc on the enemy army, so the whole operation isn't as hopeless as we thought. Unfortunately, because of that, the dukes refuse to abandon our siege. They made detailed plans for how they will occupy, control, and extract resources from Skarmburg once we take over. If we manage to take over."
"I see. I suppose I will have plenty of time to read, then," Max shrugged. "It feels… empty, not overseeing Kyukonais. Even though our friends are handling things just fine, I still wish we were back."
"Me too," Helena sighed. "I want to get back to building new things instead of sinking resources into this war. I can tell Darrell's crew wants to too. This is not working out for us."
"None of us anticipated a long siege," Max reassured. "Well, except for Terry, perhaps. I must say, his books are coming in handy. Look at all the material he lined up for me." Max created a light purple glow at the tip of his paw, holding it out next to him.
Helena noticed two more thick books nearby. Bandits of the Forest Part 2: Tales of Virdis. Bandits of the Forest Part 3: Withered Spirits, she read. "The sequels…" she mumbled, fidgeting her paws.
"Have you read them?" Max asked.
Helena shook her head. "I read the first book when it first came out. I got busy learning Drought and training around that time, so I must've forgotten to be on the lookout for the sequel." She reached a paw up towards the book but held it back, gritting her teeth. "Is now the time…?"
"We have not attacked or been attacked for many days now…" Max said with a twinkle in his purple eyes.
That was all the encouragement Helena needed. She flipped open the second book's cover and began to read.
The twin sieges of Denryu Castle and Skarmburg dragged on for weeks with a sense of anxiety and dread for all involved. Finally, on one faithful evening, Duke Antonio called for all of his castle's inhabitants' attention in the courtyard. They gathered around a feeble pile of bread and dried grits. Duke Antonio knelt honorably in front of Prince Ludwren. "It pains me to say, but tonight will have to be our last night as proud defenders. I intend to surrender in the morning."
"No, please! We can hold out for one more day!" Prince Ludwren cried, shaking Duke Antonio's shoulders.
Duke Antonio shook his head. "We are about to starve. We cannot hold. I am sorry, my lord."
"Then let us flee this castle tonight!" Prince Ludwren demanded.
"The enemy will surely dispatch of us," one of Prince Ludwren's own knights sighed.
"But maybe the enemies have gotten weaker…!"
Prince Ludwren's knights shook their heads and bowed respectfully to their doomed liege as gracefully as they could. The knights of Denryushire breathed silent sighs of relief that their plight would soon be over. They were wary of the consequences of defending the rebellious prince, but starvation was a much angrier motivator.
That night, Windie silently sat at his station on the castle walls as usual when he heard faint activity at one of the corners of the castle. He looked over and saw that all the torches nearby had been extinguished. They usually kept the whole castle perimeter well-lit to spot any nighttime assault, so the darkness caught Windie's attention. He walked closer and made out a rope ladder hanging down the outside edge of the wall. Furrowing his brows, Windie carefully approached the ladder and peered down. The faint moonlight and his direct line of sight allowed him to discern the navy blue fur of a Luxray against the gray stone wall. His eyes widened as he recognized the prince climbing down the rope ladder out of the castle in silence and darkness.
Prince Ludwren is abandoning us in a last-minute, desperate escape, Windie thought. Even his knights denied his request to attempt to break out. I guess his only option left was to try to slip by on his own with as little attention as possible…
Windie watched Prince Ludwren reach the ground on shaking paws and stalk into the night. The Luxray disappeared in darkness once he got too far for Windie to track. There was still a loose ring of campfires out in the distance that the Luxray would have to pass. Minutes later, attacks broke out in between two campfires, their energy piercing the black night. Yellow lightning retaliated, but other attacks swiftly snuffed the yellow out. After a streak of fire, Windie could clearly observe the Luxray prince at the mercy of the attackers. Prince Ludwren's desperate maneuver had failed without a doubt.
Windie glared at the rope ladder still hanging down the castle wall in front of him. He had left the ladder there while he watched, but now he yanked the rope up furiously. He must not have told anyone about his plan despite all we've done for him! He left this ladder behind that the attackers could have climbed up so easily! Windie finished withdrawing the rope ladder and relit the torches around this corner of the castle. He glared out at the site of the scuffle with his fangs bared. Good riddance!
White flags flew from the corners of Denryu Castle the next morning. The defenders lowered the drawbridge, connecting the courtyard to the outside world once more. Duke Antonio walked out of the castle by himself in front, followed by his knights and Prince Ludwren's knights, all with their heads down. On the attackers' side, King Leinwig the Luxray stood in between two strong lines of knights. He perched his forepaws on top of a black and light blue with some traces of yellow, Luxray-colored coffin. Duke Antonio stopped a respectful distance away and dropped to his knees.
"Antonio Denryu. The last duke to prop up my traitorous uncle," Leinwig sneered, scratching his claws against the coffin. "Be eternally grateful for the circumstances that compel me to be lenient with you. My wretched cousin leads an army to invade my great kingdom of Luneland from the south. If you lend me your full support in his destruction, I will forgive you."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Duke Antonio said.
"Good. Stand up and get out there," King Leinwig demanded. "Put an end to the bandits who raid our supplies and gather up your army."
The food supply thefts had been so bad that the castle attackers sent home most of their peasants because there wasn't enough food to go around. Now that they no longer had to surround the castle, some knights traveled back to their provinces to pull their peasants back to war, while the rest dedicated their strength to curtailing the bandits. They had to build back their numbers and secure a stable food supply if they were to march towards Skarmburg with the strength to beat back King Ludwig and the Solardians.
The state of the army was the least of Windie's worries. He was supposed to be looking for bandits, but he found himself wandering through fields upon fields of devastation. Crops were uprooted and soil was left unmaintained. Even more alarming, his village was half-abandoned. When asking the pokémon remaining where everyone left, he only got vague answers of "away" and "not here."
On his search for answers, Windie came across a lone Mudbray lying on the side of a path towards Denryushire with bruises. Windie offered a piece of bread - all Windie had available for lunch - and some bandages.
"Thank you so much, sir," the Mudbray said.
"My pleasure. What happened to you?"
"I was part of a convoy from Kabaldoshire to deliver food for the army, but… I fell behind. Before I knew it, I was attacked by bandits… They took my entire wagon."
"Which way did they go?" Windie asked.
He pointed his hoof towards a forest. "That way."
"How long?"
"Maybe around fifteen minutes…"
Windie looked at the forest and the Mudbray. "Can you continue to the army camp on your own? I want to pursue them, but only if you are comfortable."
"Yes sir," the Mudbray said. "I feel better now, and I have nothing left for anyone to steal."
"Okay. Take it easy," Windie said. He dashed off towards the forest with Extreme Speed.
Sure enough, Windie soon spotted the cloth of a covered wagon through the trees. As he sprinted around the side, he spotted a Cinccino and Greedent dragging the cart. His eyes widened. The Greedent shrieked at the sight of the Arcanine, threw away the ropes, and leaped into a tree, scurrying away. But Windie didn't pursue; he skidded his four paws against the underbrush to a stop.
"Cynthia?!" Windie exclaimed at the Cinccino.
"Windie… hey…" the Cinccino greeted with an awkward smile, fidgeting with her scarf-like fluff.
Windie didn't know what to say, seeing a fellow pokemon of his village and a former fellow soldier dragging a stolen food cart. "What…" he trailed off. His ears lowered and he flopped his tail towards the cart. "Why…?"
Cynthia slumped, her tail drooping across the ground. "Um…"
Windie glanced across the tree branches above them. "That Greedent… isn't she a bandit? She's stolen from our village a bunch of times…"
"Her name's Gretel," Cynthia clarified. "Yeah, she stole from us before, but we're not all that different, you know."
Windie flinched, his neck stiffening. "You think so?"
"We're all poor, starving pokémon… The armies ruined our fields. Both armies. What were we supposed to do? We had to start stealing… I'm sorry."
Windie felt tears forming in his eyes. "N-no… I'm sorry." He turned away. "I-I'll pretend we never met-"
"Captain Windie!"
Windie whipped around and spotted an Azumarill coated in some water as if she had just finished using Aqua Jet. "April? What are you doing here?"
April crossed her arms. "I could ask you the same thing."
"Well, I was told to protect food shipments and fight off bandits, but…" the Arcanine sighed, glancing at his fellow villager and slumping. "I didn't find any."
April softened up and patted Windie on the side. "Can we have a talk?"
"Yeah, sure…" Windie mumbled. As he and April sat down and got comfortable leaning against a tree each, Windie noticed the Greedent, Gretel, return. Cynthia and Gretel hauled the cart deeper into the forest. The Greedent bandit avoided eye contact with him.
"What motivates you to hunt down bandits?" April asked.
"I just… I don't want my fellow villagers to get stolen from," Windie said.
April nodded. Then she said, "Well, I was born one of those so-called 'bandits.'"
Windie's breath caught in his throat. "R-really?"
April broke eye contact and watched her hand push some leaves around instead. "I lived in the woods. There were some berries, maybe some healthy ferns here and there…" she grimaced. "Needless to say, I had to steal some food from a village to not go hungry."
Windie bit his lip, staring at his paws. He joined in on the leaf-pushing activity as an alternative to speaking up.
"Some days, it would be easy to steal a little bread from some innocent peasant's hut. Other days, the knights would surround me and knock me out in an instant. I'd wake up in the forest with a searing headache and an empty stomach hours later. To make things worse, we bandits don't just steal from farmers. We steal from each other too. When there's not enough food to feel full every night, there's not much room for sharing and caring."
April summoned some water to sweep away most of the leaves in front of her, then stuck some stems into the damp dirt. "I got tired of the endless cycle of stealing, getting stolen from, and getting beat up, so I tried clearing some trees, planting some discarded wheat seeds, and watering them. But guess what?" she glared. "The knights discovered my little farm and ruined it. Several times! They obviously wanted me to be stealing full-time instead. They keep a portion of their land as scary forests full of bandits on purpose."
"What? Why?" Windie growled.
"They want to make sure to always have active bandits around so that they have an excuse to protect their serfs. That they can claim they deserve a portion of their serfs' hard work for themselves as payment for their protection. Then they sell their excess wheat for riches while letting the pokémon residing in their lands starve and fight for scraps. That's the truth about the nobles."
"This is a bit much, April…" Windie murmured, rubbing his head and twitching his tail around.
"Why do you think your lord sent you away from Denryushire to serve the king instead of keeping you around?" April continued. "Because you were getting too good. You were disrupting your knights' hard-fought balance. Bandits were cowering, and serfs were feeling too comfortable and happy. Without bandits, there's no need to protect and no need to tax. So you were sent away to 'help out' other provinces deal with their 'gangs' instead."
"How are you so sure about who I fought?" Windie questioned, his fur standing on end.
"From Scully," April simply answered. "He told me all about the nobles' objectives. Those 'gangs' you fought were just bandits who put aside their differences against their true enemy. The nobles called them gangs, but they were communities. Just not noble communities. I don't fault you, though," she reassured. "I'm sure you didn't know better."
"H-how do I know that you know better?" Windie hesitantly pushed back. "I've never heard anything like this…"
April stood up. "Then why don't you ask your neighbors? Come with me," she beckoned with a flick of her tail, heading deeper into the forest. Windie pushed himself up and followed the Azumarill with his tail drooping between his legs.
"The civil war changed a lot," April said. "As we all know, the nobles started dragging their serfs into their petty conflict. I don't know how, but somehow their desire to prevail over each other exceeded their shared goals of manipulating their serfs and bandits. We bandits snuck into the peasant armies; in different provinces from where we lived, of course. It was the perfect arrangement. We had picked up a thing or two about fighting after getting beaten up so much, and they were offering to feed us for our services. But… that food had to come from somewhere," April sighed, slowing her walk with her ears flopping. "As the war raged on and the knights got desperate to maintain their armies, they harvested wheat fields prematurely. Pretty soon, both the bandits and the serfs were starving."
Windie grunted, accidentally exhaling some fire from his muzzle. His eyes widened, and he quickly stomped his paw over the burning underbrush.
"What's happened to Denryushire is by far the worst," April kept on going. "Your army desperately took whatever they could get before holing up in the castle. They probably made you retrieve their food cart so that you wouldn't see them destroying the farms you wish to protect."
"I can believe that," Windie sighed, scrunching his eyes. "I saw the results of their desperate harvest."
"The other army took the rest while they sieged you," April said. "Your fellow villagers worked day and night to replant what they could, but then the army harvested everything again at the first signs of grains, even though they were only one-third grown. You can see why everyone had to turn to stealing. And I really mean everyone. We deliver some of what we take from the army's supplies to each of the villages."
April stopped and put her hand out in front of Windie when they reached what looked like a crowd of pokemon up ahead. Windie gasped; amid the decrepit covered wagons were many familiar faces - those of his neighbors, his soldiers, and the bandits he used to drive off.
"I think your fellow villagers would be delighted to see you. Will you still be their captain, Windie?"
A/N 7/22/22: Today's promotion goes out to Bandits of the Forest by PokeMaster64, or BOTF for short. Coincidentally, a bunch of aspects of this chapter happen to be cornerstones of BOTF, such as parallelly occurring storylines, cliffhangers, and, ahem, bandits in a forest. XD
Bandits of the Forest is primarily the tale of a sheltered Buneary princess named Melissa Penworth who joins a notorious group of young thieves called the Foresters in hopes of getting stronger and working towards her dream of bringing peace to the ten kingdoms of Virdis. The Foresters go up against many different forces against them and get caught up in a conspiracy to wreak havoc across the region. The story takes place in a medieval fantasy setting with fantastic world-building. It has a huge cast and follows multiple points of view, and yet each and every character is very unique and well-developed. Lots of skilled pokémon come up with unique ways to combine their moves into special techniques. The BOTF series is ongoing and frequently updated. It's a long series, so take it slow. Start with Bandits of the Forest pt1: Rising Stardust. You won't be disappointed!
Brace yourself for the next chapter of Nine Tales of Liberty, "The Sack of Skarmburg…"