Scene Three: Hunters

(Ryoku's POV)

"You ready, kid?"

I nodded confidently. On the inside, though, I couldn't be less so. Even putting aside my moral dilemma, we'd struggled to fight one Lycanthren in the city – given our team was already taxed, but still… we were about to take on a village of them.

Sira grinned in response, her hand on Infernix's ball at her belt. We'd all dressed in new clothes, ones that we'd been told were suitable for Lycanthren hunting. Whenever she wasn't looking, I couldn't help but admire her in them. Crouched on the ground alongside me, the pants emphasized a curvy figure whether she wanted them to or not. These ones flared out around the ankle and made her backside look really good. She also donned a hair band, and I'd been surprised to see how pretty she looked without her hair in her face. She still looked good either way, but this really emphasized her cheekbones. I worried I might mess up and get distracted in battle just looking at her. How did I end up teamed with someone so attractive?

Lusari knelt with her team nearby, her unlit staff in hand, speaking to her Starlight in quiet tones. The normally shy girl wore an admittedly sexy style of skirt, short at the front and long at the back, paired with calf-high boots of dark leather. She swapped out her pastel-colored shirt for a black dress-shirt with wide, lacy cuffs on the sleeves. I couldn't tell if this was her regular style or not, but she seemed confident. It took work to avert my gaze.

The girls weren't the only ones in new outfits. It was the first time I'd seen Will put away his Syaotoan armor. Instead, he found a similar style of armor, but decorated in ivory, complete with a long-sleeved black shirt and pants. In the dark, he looked like he'd been reborn among the undead vampires.

Sira stayed with Lusari and I, but Will was off from us a bit, conversing with the rest of our group in hushed tones – we were only one out of two other groups, and ours consisted of us, Cleria, and four other vampires. Two males, two females. The males looked annoyed to have us along, but the females were indifferent, just staying near Cleria. She hadn't changed from the style she wore yesterday. She gave me a private sort of smile, her red eyes glinting like a predator's in the brush.

I stayed with Snacks and the newly evolved Glimmer. It was initially hard to keep Snacks quiet, but I think she eventually realized the gravity of the situation. Glimmer was almost completely silent, ready for the promise of battle. Now standing at nearly my height, her confidence in battle only seemed to grow. When I kneeled next to her, she was as tall as me, and I could see her gleaming golden eyes under her mop of dark wool. I hadn't gotten to know her super well yet, but I wondered if she'd evolved just to win against that Lycanthren yesterday.

Loki returned through the edge of the field. His outfit was a white ruffled dress-shirt, tight black pants, and a short red-and-black cape pinned to his shoulders. I wondered if it was possibly offensive to the vampires, but they didn't seem to care. Solaris, his tall, grand Luxray, walked at his side.

"What did you see out there?" one of the vampires asked Loki.

He smiled. "There's little of them, from what I can tell. I'd give it thirty or less, all holed up in muddy shacks along the swamp-front. I'd guess at more if they could build below or above ground. Those mitts can't be useful for such things. Even with that they've got – shacks, bridges, torches – they'll fall to a single attack with ease."

"Were the torches lit, old man?" Cleria asked.

"What?" Loki frowned, temporarily losing his composure for Cleria's nickname for him, but he strung himself back up. "Perhaps. Well, yes. Most of them."

One of the males struck the ground with his fist. "Then they know we're here! Damn it. I bet one of these accursed trainers sent their regards in advance. I say we—"

Cleria struck the vampire in the back of the head. It sounded like rock-on-rock, but the vampire winced, rubbing his head.

"Of course they're wary, you nitwit," she growled. "We're at war. They blend in with the trees and soil. No doubt they could've had spies all the way from the Capital walls – hell, they had them in the walls yesterday." She rose to her full height, hands on her hips. "Right – we're good to go. Vallous is taking the north, Greil to the east. We'll handle the west. Surround them and pin them against the southern marsh."

She emitted a call something like a Noctowl, and I could hear the faint rustling of the other groups starting their march. Will popped up next to me, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"Now that we're here, we just have one fight," Will reassured me. "We do this, and we can put it behind us and go on to the Ghost Stone."

I just nodded slightly. "Is it worth it, though?" I asked quietly. "I doubt they asked to be here. They're just trying to make it with what they have, and…"

Will read my expression, and his head lowered a little. "I do not disagree entirely, but with no way for them to leave and escape this curse… maybe this is a kind of freedom. I know that scarce makes up for it, but we must tell ourselves that. Time is of the essence to us. If Orden reaches a full stone before we do…"

I knew what we had to do, and why, but it didn't make it easier. Neither human nor vampire were exactly friendly to us on this trip – we'd faced off against a couple small packs on the way – but I couldn't erase my sympathy for them, trapped in this dark realm with no escape. Maybe there was a way to do something for them, somehow. If I figured that out, I would switch gears without a second thought.

With Will's encouragement, we started off to follow Cleria and the others. Loki caught my gaze and gave me a bold, confident grin. We only locked eyes for a moment before something leapt upon him from behind, throwing him straight into me.

I tried to catch him, but my position and weight just brought both of us crashing to the ground, knocking the wind from me. I caught the glimpse of a dark shape leaping over his shoulders. So they got to us first.

I heard Infernix's heavy paws hit the forest floor. Lusari's Snowball started preparing an icy attack. Will cried out in surprise, and then Valor's cry pierced a quiet forest.

Loki got to his feet in seconds, using me as a sort of landing board to push himself up. He landed easily on both feet behind the Lycanthren, signaling Solaris to charge. I cursed as Glimmer helped me to my feet. At my side, Snacks mewed and phased into her Flareon form. I spared a brief glance at her, but it was her ordinary Flareon form – not the visage she'd taken back at the raider camp.

Something slammed into me before I could get to my feet. Before a set of snarling fangs could rip into my shoulder, Glimmer caught it by the mouth, forcing it back with her powerful new arms. As soon as it was off me, Snacks loosed a wicked burst of fire into it, and the Lycanthren fell. I stumbled back, freeing my knife from my belt. Seconds into the conflict, and I'd already nearly been taken out. I bumped into something else. I spun around, ready to lash out with my knife, but it was just Will.

"I do not take kindly to being trampled!" he declared jokingly. Even immersed in battle, his sense of humor never evaded him. He'd already somehow earned a wicked scrape down the edge of his cheek that made my blood run cold. His lip hung in a pained grimace because of it. More than ever, I wished I had a Pokemon who could heal.

The fight dissolved into a full-on brawl around me, the shouting of my friends and allies mixed with the pained, savage howling of the Lycanthren. I couldn't spot them in the dark, but I could hear them around us. Large forms streaked through the bushes so quickly that to blink might cost me my head.

Sira led the charge with Infernix, her mighty Sinistra drawn and flaring to life. Sword in hand, she and Infernix made a deadly pair, and both of their flames seemed to intensify. Loki and Solaris backed Lusari as she held onto Snowball and Starlight, and Snowball unleashed chilly bursts of ice at any enemy that came into sight. More than one frozen Lycanthren hung in her tracks, crouched as if ready to break free and lunge. Solaris slashed into one, and it fell in an avalanche of icy shards and blood.

A tough hand grabbed me, and suddenly I was bowling into Will again. My meager weight would never phase him. With alarming speed, he hurled me behind him and covered me as Valor dove in, shrieking, and tore into an incoming Lycanthren – one that pounced where I'd just been standing. I flinched away from the gory sight. Was battle really the place for me?

Another Lycanthren lunged from the shadows. Before Will could strike, Glimmer met it midair with a dark upraised fist, striking it down with an impact like lightning.

"Keep your wits about you!" Will warned, and turned on his heel to follow the others. I stole a quick glance around. Snacks returned to my side, and Glimmer shortly after. Just as I turned, a smaller Lycanthren appeared, its fur jutting up from the bushes like Valor's steel coat. I didn't have time to make an advantage – it sprang at me, clearing the distance between us with a mighty leap.

Snacks met it midair, chomping down on its shoulder with fire pooling around her fangs. When she let it go, Snacks hit it with a burst of dark-edged lightning, and the creature fell.

Out from behind Glimmer, another creature leapt out of the darkness and sprang onto her shoulder, clamping down. Glimmer let out an angry 'baa!' and caught the beast, throwing it down on the ground, where it stayed. Snacks went to close in, but I stopped her with a hand, stepping up close to see what it was.

I quickly realized it wasn't one of the usual Lycanthren. Where they resembled the dark-type Lycanroc, this one looked more like a Rockruff. It was a lot smaller, its coat moss-green except for a spot on its shoulder, where it was tinged dark. Thin roots snaked down its arms, and its mane was made up mostly of thick, matted leaves. Its smaller tail matched.

"No way," I breathed. The Rockruff glanced up at me and yipped angrily. It tried to rise, but its leg gave out underneath it. Glimmer and Snacks both crept closer, but they refrained from attacking as I stared at the creature, and felt my mental armor cracking. If the Lycanthren looked like Lycanrocs… was this a young one? A child turned into a Lycanthren?

Thinking fast, I reached for an empty ball from my bag and held it in my hand. "If I'm right…" I whispered, more to myself than anything as I knelt in the grass, praying another Lycanthren didn't spot me. "If I'm right, and you are human, and this works… I don't even know it it'll work! But if it does, I'll set you free out of this realm, somewhere you can be safe. And if I'm wrong, and you're just a normal Rockruff, well… we'll see when it comes to it. But if you don't get in this ball, I can't help you."

Snacks and Glimmer looked up at me as I talked. When I stopped, Snacks started chittering at the small Rockruff. It stared at me with bright green eyes, one shut and dripping with blood. "Lycanthren or no, I can heal you if you let me get you out of here," I whispered urgently. "These vampires I'm with – they'll kill you otherwise, I'm certain. And it won't be long before they see me here, or before one of your friends – or family, or whatever – spots me and kills me. So please…"

Snacks continued chittering at the Rockruff as I talked, and I started to realize it might be acting as a translator. Its eyes shot off to the side, and Glimmer turned with it, but she didn't seem to see anything. When I looked back, the Rockruff locked eyes with Snacks and nodded once. Quietly chirping back, Snacks rolled the empty Pokeball toward the Rockruff. In a telltale flash of light, the Rockruff was sucked into the ball, which began to shudder on the ground.

I was so distracted staring at the ball that I flinched when Glimmer spun toward me, emitting a warning 'baa!'. I turned just in time for the full weight of another Lycanthren to crush me, buckling my knees and forcing me to the ground with the monster atop me. My grip on my knife broke, and it flew into the grass as I fell. Searing pain shot across my chest, followed by the smoldering heat of the Lycanthren's body.

I heard the distressed 'baa!' of Glimmer and the enraged cry of Snacks as both struck at the wolf tearing into me. With my knife gone, I could only try and push the beast off, but I could feel it raking deep into my flesh.

A piercing cry came from somewhere overhead. The Lycanthren was dragged off me by a huge, dark shape. I caught a glimpse of batlike wings, but little else as my vision swam. Pain overtook my entire body, except for my legs – I wasn't sure I could feel them in the moment. Had they broken underneath me? Was the open wound in my chest the reason my vision swam like heat waves on summer pavement?

A head appeared over mine. I only saw dark hair and red eyes. One of the vampires, I automatically reasoned. This couldn't be good. They liked blood, and here I was, an open smorgasbord of it. But the figure pressed something into my hand, muttered something, and took off like a shot. I tried to open my mouth, but my head lolled to the side, and the world shifted sickeningly. I saw Glimmer at my side, her golden eyes alight with worry and fear. A shadow darted by, and she spun and dropped it with a single lightning-clap punch. The effect rattled my torn body, and I felt nausea climb in my stomach. I couldn't tell if I felt sickeningly warm, or freezing cold.

It felt like quite suddenly when someone appeared overtop of me. I tried to see who it was, but my vision blended the figure with the dark sky above. A distinct feeling abated, and Lusari came into focus, sitting on my waist with one hand on my chest, the other on her staff. Starlight sat on her shoulder, eyes glowing violet. The tip of Lusari's long eyelashes glinted.

I realized her hand was glowing. I thought to question it, but I couldn't possibly. Was she channeling Ralts' power through… herself?

I focused so intently on the matter that I didn't realize that the pain started to ebb away, pr why my vision was starting to clear.

Lusari grabbed me by the collar and pressed herself into me. It took me a moment to realize she was hugging me, although it was quite a forceful, battle-fueled gesture. I could feel the dull ache in my chest.

I almost didn't realize she was saying something in my ear. "Starlight can't fix this completely, not right now. So… please, just be okay. I swear to Arceus, if you aren't…"

Tears stained her cheeks as she lifted her head up, just barely. Her silvery hair tickled my neck, one of the only places I could still feel. Her glance flitted down to my chest, and she paled a shade. "Oh, by Arceus…"

"Come on!" a voice said next to me.

Lusari glanced up at the speaker, and hesitated. I tried to reach for my knife, but instead I found a ball in my hand. In the terror of the last few minutes – or however long – I'd nearly forgotten about the Rockruff.

Lusari timidly stood, and then a figure scooped me up off the ground. "If I wanted to hurt him, he would be dead," a male speaker said, the one who lifted me as easily as I could pick up Snacks. "Help your friends. We need to find a safe place for him to…"

His voice suddenly faded from my ears as the speaker turned, and my head lolled to the side. I caught a brief worried look from Glimmer before everything blurred once more.