Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Dare To Dream
Chapter 15
Blood Thicker than Water
The mud was slick and practically oozing water at the touch. Just as his previous visit to these rivers, it seemed the heavy rain sought no end. Felix continued to snake his way across the muck alongside Star, both keeping their chests buried in the cold, wet soil and their heads brushing against the low, dripping foliage as they slowly crept their way towards a small drop-off ahead.
At the stone ledge, Felix pulled back a sagging leaf and looked down below. He felt Star stop by his side, looking down with him.
Below, about a good stone's toss away near the mouth of a dark cave with hushed flickering light within, stood a vigoroth drenched to the bone and a bitter houndour by its side. The night had made it quite difficult to see them, but the white fur and bones of the two made it easier to spot them. The sullen vigoroth looked up to the overcast skies, a wide frown apparent on its face.
"I make just one mistake," it moaned, "and the boss has me standing out in the pouring rain on guard duty." It waited for a response from the houndour sitting beside him. "Probably didn't help that he seemed super angry, too. Guessing that the deal he was hoping for didn't pan out the way he wanted. Why does he want us to pack so quickly, anyway?" it continued. The vigoroth glanced over to the houndour to see if any reaction had been stirred. Nothing. "Well? Ain't you got nothing to say, or are all you good for is sitting like a drunk in this weather?"
The houndour's eyes remained locked forward under staunch eyebrows. "Just shut up," it growled. "The time goes by faster if you don't think. And it ain't my fault you can't tell the difference between a petilil and a lilligant."
The vigoroth threw his arms up into the air explosively, looking around as if to find something to break. "And it ain't my fault the boss doesn't know to tell us there's two different Petals!" No words came out in reply from the houndour; it had already frozen in place again as it tried to ignore the streams of dripping water pooling at its feet from the lip of the cave overhead. With a scoff, the vigoroth leaned back against the glistening rock wall. "Hope you catch a cold, mutt." No more words were exchanged between the dour two.
Felix scratched the bottom of his chin as he peered out at them. "I'm guessing that's the hole Cobb's trenched in," he remarked.
"Right. No doubt that's it." Star's gaze became serious as she peered into the darkness within the cave. "And to think, her mother's in there…"
"And that's where she'll remain for now," he whispered. "Who knows what they'll do to her if they see us coming. Then there's the issue of not knowing what's going on in there. Before we know what's what, we might find ourselves in a bad way."
Star hummed a thought, letting the rainfall roll down the feathers tucked behind her ears and then off her nose. "If push comes to shove, I want us to keep Petal's mother safe- no matter what. Do you find that agreeable?"
"Sure, sure. But I want us to try nabbing Cobb finally tonight if we can. If I can finally get that bounty money… that's my way home. That fair?"
"Of course. But that's then. Now, we need every edge we can get. Got any more tricks in that bag of mine?"
"A few." He pushed himself back slowly from the ledge, Star following him. "Let's get back to the others; see what we can come up with."
Turning back around, they ducked past the wet growth around them, taking careful steps through cold puddles and over slick rocks until they came to a small opening amidst the forest where Petal, Wimpod, and that cowardly tyrogue had remained. As instructed, Petal and Wimpod had both been keeping an eye on the captured rogue. A pile of dirty bandages they all had taken off was piled nearby.
Petal turned to face Felix as he emerged from the undergrowth, eyes dripping with worry. "So it's there, right Blue?"
Felix and Star turned to one another, and nodded.
He walked over to the trembling tyrogue and stood face to face with him, even as the thief turned to look away. Felix reached out his arms and grabbed the soggy ropes that bound the tyrogue's arms, and with a quick effort, undid their binds and pulled them off, wrapping them up quickly and tossing them to the side. "Get out of here."
Between splayed fingers, he could see the tyrogue looking at him with confusion and terror. "W-what?" he meekly asked.
Star took a step towards the tyrogue, making him take a shuddering step back. A dry 'hmph' left her mouth. "You've kept your side of the bargain, we'll keep ours."
The tyrogue looked around in disbelief. "R-really?"
"Go. Don't let me catch you in this type of life again," Star ordered. "I know it's not easy, but at least try; find a simple job and get yourself stable. If you need more help, come to the church- we'll aid however we can."
At first, the tyrogue made no attempt to move, yet his eyes seemed to squint before growing as he stared at the Ho-Oh feathers atop her head. "It's you, ain't it?" he muttered. "You're her daughter? Not just some random vulpix?"
"Go!" she barked. The tyrogue yelped, turning to run and nearly slipping on the slick mud as he made trail away from them, quickly disappearing into the green. Star looked at where the tyrogue had ran off to, then turned her attention back to the group.
A scoff escaped Wimpod. "So we just cut him loose?"
"Fair's fair," she replied. "Now come on- we need to come up with a plan going forward. The situation's too precarious for us just to waltz in there without a clue." The three others moved in closer to her, forming a small circle of trust.
"So what's the game plan?" Petal impatiently asked. "They've got my mom in there. I swear, if they've even touched her…" Her splay of leaves began angerfully curling.
"You seem worked up," Wimpod observed. "You and mommy dearest aren't all too close, I recall."
Petal gave him a baffled look. "What? I mean, yeah, we have our bickerings, but she's still my mom! I still love her and I never wanted this to happen to her!"
"Watch it, shrub. Never said it was wrong to get worked up here. Just making an observation." A flicker of recollection seemed to flash across Wimpod's eyes, freezing him for a moment. For a split second, a tinge of empathy seemed to take hold of Wimpod before vanishing again into the rain. "Look, I'll help get your mom back. She'll be fine, I promise. That should at least shut you up."
Petal seemed taken aback by Wimpod's statement. "Right…" she sighed. "Right."
Felix crouched down and got to a more equal eye-level with the rest of the team. "Here's things as we know them," he grabbed a nearby fallen stick and began tracing images into the mud. A crude picture of a high ledge and a cave with two circles placed in front of it soon took form. "He's got two lookouts standing at the entrance: a vigoroth and a houndour. We can't take them both down at once, and I don't doubt for a second one will run and holler for the others if the other goes down." He then drew a box and an 'x' behind the cave's entrance. "We don't know where they're keeping her," he said whilst tapping the box, "and we don't know where Cobb is in there," he tapped the cross. "Even if we do get inside without raising an alarm, it's like Star said: we don't know what's in there."
"So what's the plan, Blue?" she asked. "Lead us through this."
Felix shut his eyes tightly, rubbing the bottom of his chin in thought. He knew the idea: they needed a way in without raising an alarm, a direct route to her mother, and to safely get her out. That alone would be a victory, but it would not be the end of his own work. An idea flickered in his head, making him look up to the others with confidence. Digging around in his bag, he found the bent iron spike the gholdengo shopkeep had given him days ago. Looking beyond the spike, he could see the mud beneath him- just perfect for what he needed. "Petal, eyes up."
She immediately became attentive, hanging onto his every word. "What do you need, Blue?"
He began undoing the tie that held the bag to him. "I think I've got a good idea. First, whip up some of those spores?"
"Sure, easy. But on who?"
"Not 'who.' On this," he held out the spike. "And another thing: remember that night in the cart?"
She nodded. "The night where we ambushed the ambush?"
"That's the one." He knelt down and scooped up a small amount of mud into his hand. "Remember that funny little trick you showed me?"
—-
Some time had passed since the vigoroth had tried to initiate conversation. Only the chorus of rain and passing gusts seemed to fill the air between himself and the dark mutt. Despite his best efforts in attempting to seek cover beneath the lip of a ledge above, his dense fur coat still seemed to find itself deluged, a fact he could not change even with a thorough shake. For another repetitive and dull minute, he held his stare ahead. Daybreak would soon wake.
His hollow gaze suddenly caught sight of a rufflage of undergrowth some paces ahead. The greenery had moved plenty before from the rain and wind, but these movements were far more deliberate. As if to confirm his suspicion, emerging from the glistening bush was a petilil, balancing atop her head a modest bag.
"Hey, who's that?" the poochyena finally muttered, eyes focusing. Finally snapped awake, the corners of the dog's mouth became pulled back. "Stop right there!" it commanded. At his instruction, she stopped.
The vigoroth's eyes remained glued to her. The cold air and drenching downpour had done much to keep him awake, yet he still was not sure if this was some kind of dream, though he knew the truth. "Hey, that's her," he finally spoke, nudging his partner's shoulder. "Boss'll definitely be happy to see me bring in the right one!" He began to saunter closer, stopping once the cuff of his arm was grabbed by jaws, only letting go when he stopped.
"What are you doing?" the poochyena asked.
The vigoroth pushed him back. "Getting back in the boss's good graces, now be a good boy and sit!" The poochyena gave a small huff, but said no more, regressing back to statue-hood. Turning back to the petilil, he was pleased to see her still unmoved. "Hey there, little lady! Coming here looking for mommy?" he sneered.
Her face seemed to momentarily tense up before quickly relaxing. "Look, bub: I've got some money right here," she said as propped up the bag. "Give me back my mom, and I'll pay anything you want."
"Sure, sure." He waved his hand forward, inviting her. Understanding, she came forward and began to follow behind him as he turned to enter the cave. "I'll take you right to where we're keeping her, miss! Then after paying a pretty little something, we can all forget this all ever happened!" Soon, they both entered the confines of the cave, their flickering silhouettes drowned out by the growing darkness within.
"Moron…" The houndour kept its idle stare held forward.
Much of the rain and cold wind began to whip at its face once more, making him wish- not for the first time- to be anywhere else. The scenery had become far too familiar to him. If he had wanted, he could recount each and every facet of the area before him in his sleep, which is something that had been proven once before. Each plant, stream of running water, the ways the wind pushed, and the sounds of howling gusts, pattering of rain, and the crushing of foliage above.
His ears perked.
That was not a detail he was familiar with.
He looked up. In an instant, a blue blur had dropped on him from the ledge above, tackling him into a frigid puddle in a daze. Before he could reorientate himself, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his throat and began crushing, suffocating him as he kicked at the mud below in a desperate attempt to escape, trying his best to scream out for help, though no sound save for faint sputters could leave his throat. The world soon became black as night, and his struggle ceased.
Felix gently propped the now unconscious mutt against the rock wall, taking care to ensure he would be out of sight from anyone standing directly inside the cave. Once disposed of, he double-checked inside the entrance: no one there. The only standing between them and the interior were a few dull, dirtied, metal cans strung up near the entrance, likely to stir some sound if passed between without a thought. He looked up and waved at Star and Wimpod, who had both been peering over the ledge silently. Star deftly leapt down, landing quietly beside him as Wimpod crawled diligently along the surface of the wall.
"How long will he be out?" Wimpod quietly asked.
"Long enough," Felix replied as he took cover by the entrance. He pointed down the dark tunnel. "Do what you do best, bug."
"It's all I know how to do." Keeping his body tightly clung to the wall, Wimpod scuttled underneath the rugged lip of the cave's opening and began silently traveling along the ceiling, disappearing into the darkness as he went further in.
As Felix cautiously peered past the entrance, Star crept low just underneath his arm, also looking in. "I pray we find good fortune in this," she whispered.
"Of course we will," Felix smiled. "Do any of those prayers of your's solve this little problem for us?" he joked.
"I know one does." A fond smile grew on her face. "And we are the answer to that prayer. Now, we have work that must be done."
Checking for the final time that the coast was clear, he took a step into the cave, brushing gently past the veil of cans that timidly clattered behind with Star right beside him.
The effect was immediate: the deluging storm of the outside world that had soaked them could not touch them inside the humid confines. Each footstep became measured as to avoid slipping on the wet floor beneath: even inside, it seems some of the rain had managed to seep in. But most of all, the absence of light swallowed them like a veil. Only the weakly burning torches sparsely mounted on the stone walls lit their way, and even then, they flickered as if on their last breath. At many points, the tunnel broke off into dark corridors and blind turns. Strangely, broken shards of mirror seemed to have been stuck to the rocky walls within, laid between the far distances of the torches to reflect their light past what reaches they would normally permit.
Something that soon caught their attention was the many knotted bags and small chests seemingly packed at every other turn, stacked as if they were to be taken at a moment's notice. Crumbled papers were stacked on some of the luggage, a quick glance revealing them to be in a language distinctly not the same used by these Pokémon, easily discerned by deliberate lines and curves and not crude symbols of footprints, yet the language itself was one that eluded Felix. Tapered bottles of water were organized in pallets as well. Each seemed soaked at their base, shards of reflective glass swept into a haphazard pile close by. An open cover of one box revealed it to be sparsely filled with some apples.
They soon came across an obstacle in their travel: the tunnel had split into two paths, one leading down a steep incline on the left, attracting a small stream of water, and another continuing rightward. Something caught Felix's eyes on the stones below. Raising his hand, he and Star came to a stop. "There," he murmured, pointing at the sight. It was a small, thinly trail of mud that had been quickly scribbled onto the floor below, drawn towards the right path.
"To the right, then," Star whispered. As they went rightward, Star suddenly stopped, her eyes locked upright. Wimpod was there on the ceiling, cloaked in the darkness though his thinly antennas could be made out if one squinted hard enough. They were shaking intensely: the sign. "Someone's coming," she whispered. As she had said, Felix began hearing a pair of faint, sturdy footsteps heading their way from the dark decline on the left, growing louder and louder. Star looked around, looking for any sort of hideaway they could use in this tight corridor. Her eyes fell onto the apple crate. "Here, hurry," she faintly instructed as she deftly leapt inside.
Felix followed suit, clambering inside after her and grabbing the loose top leaned just beside the box and covering the top. They were completely in the dark; he could not even see his hand as he held it in front of himself.
The pair of footsteps soon arrived beside them. With a heavy grunt, a loud thud shook the boards beneath them, followed by the sound of an exhausted sigh. "Haven't seen the boss this angry ever since that tree guy showed up."
Another set of footsteps drew near, more delicately setting and shifting a different load. "Can't say I blame him," a weasley voice commented. "I was there with him when the deal went down earlier tonight. Some sandcastle dude strolls in all polite like, like the most spineless coward you've ever seen. Boss turns his back for one second, and bam! The treasure boss pinched is gone, the sandcastle's nowhere around, and now we have a sandy mess to clean in the back like if a beach just took a vomit back there."
"No way, really?" the other voice scoffed. "I knew we got had, but you mean to tell me some sandcastle did it?"
"That's not the strangest part!" he continued. "Those sandy sons-of-beaches are all supposed to be-you know- colored like sand! That sort of pale brown. This one was as black as night!"
"Huh, weird." Just above Felix and Star, the wooden cover groaned and flexed as if someone began leaning on it. "Say, why's boss having us pack all of a sudden, anyway?"
"I'm having you idiots pack because we're leaving!" Cobb yelled. Though he could not see her, Felix felt Star shift in the box. "Our luck's been rotten here since the very start: first, it was that tree and fox that what stopped us. Then it was some rookie team that you pathetic lot can't even fight! And now of all things, of all the bloody things, we're the ones being robbed! And now I'm stuck with you idiots and the two out front!"
"Um, sorry, boss," a voice meekly responded. "But where are we even going to?"
"Back to the Undercast! Where else? I've already sent Harriet to find ourselves a good path we'll take tonight. I'm thinking somewhere lower in there, where the eyes of the law can't see in the dark. I hear things ain't exactly looking all peaceful like there as of late. That might be just the break we need!"
"The Undercast?" the lower voice asked. "Usually, I'd be all for screwing over that place, but won't that fox be going there soon? Don't you wanna snuff her out now?"
"What?" Cobb asked. "Oh. Her. What does it matter? She'll have her stubby paws tied up with the church, and she'll be out of our way for good. Besides, with how this night went, we don't need to be picking any more fights until we find our feet again."
"If you say so…" the weasley voice mumbled. "Say, boss! This might put a smile on that mug of yours: the ol' vigoroth guy came by just earlier, and it looked like he had one of those brats with him! The leafy one."
A low growl rumbled. "Her? How did she know how to get here?" No response could be heard, save for the occasional drip of water. "You idiots… where did he take her?"
"Same room we're keeping the bigger one."
"I'll be there in just a minute. You, check on the plant. Make sure she doesn't move an inch! And as for you," the lid groaned some more as it sounded like someone was being pressed on top, "I want you to keep an eye open for any more of those brats. I don't buy for a second she came alone. Go outside and let the mutt out front know!"
"G-Got it, boss!" a voice choked out. The weight was released, and the lid stopped groaning. In a moment, a pair of clawed footsteps began trekking away. A relieved sigh soon was released. "Guess I better go let him know. Hate for someone to get the drop on him." The lid flew open as a pair of blue arms wrapped around the mouth and shoulder of a now startled gligar, then pulling him inside the box before a sound could escape as the lid fell back down. A few whacks and a chomp of glowing fangs later, the box fell silent and still.
Carefully propping the lid open, Star was the first to exit followed by Felix, letting the lid close snuggly.
"He's leaving tonight?" he repeated.
Star nodded. "That's what I heard. He'll be heading back towards the Undercast…" Her brow furrowed. "I'll ruminate on that later. Let's find Petal and her mother quickly."
"Right. This way."
Returning to their method of following small dashes of mud made discreetly on the floors and walls, they began to once more navigate the dim tunnels of the lair, avoiding breaks in the path that led towards rooms they did not know and conversations they could scarce hear. Wimpod quietly crawled ahead of them along the ceiling, signaling to them with his antennas when someone was approaching, to which they would hide among the many supplies laid out along their path. After several turns and avoiding the growing puddles underfoot, the mud markings came to an end before a gaping hole in the wall. Felix and Star's ears both perked. A tense conversation seemed to grow louder and clearer as they approached.
"And you're sure she came alone?" the heavier voice from earlier asked. The two peeked around the cold, jagged corner of the entrance inside. The vigoroth was standing in front of Petal, who had placed herself between the white chimp and her mother, who had her leafy arms wrapped around her daughter's shoulder as if she were trying to be the one in front. A dark purple pig was ahead of them, dark pearls protruding off its skin like lustful blisters: a grumpig. A set of larger crates was just at the back of the room.
"Course I am!" the vigoroth shouted. "She came here alone with a bag of money, ready to pay for dear ol' mommy back!" he said as he held up the bag.
"I don't know," the grumpig mumbled, rubbing one of the pearls on its belly. "I say we just attack them now and be done with it, play it safe, you know?"
The vigoroth scratched its chin, contemplating for a brief moment before readying its claws, honing them against one another. "Sure! It'll be fun."
Petal's anger flared and she took a step forward, but her mother pulled her back. "You can have the money. Just don't harm my daughter!" she pleaded.
Petal looked up at her, eyes gleaming with confidence. "Get back, mom. I don't want you getting hurt over this."
"But I don't want to see you getting hurt… That's all I've wanted for you, just to be safe and happy."
Looking up, Petal saw Wimpod on the ceiling behind the pair of crooks. His antennas were not shaking, but crossed. Petal began slowly etching her and her mother backwards near the crates as the vigoroth and grumpig approached, keeping her splay of leaves stiff towards them. "That's the thing mom," she explained. "That might be how others want to go through their lives, but I want to be remembered past the gravestone."
Her mother shook her head. "But the world is a cold place. You'll be hurt, and…" The vigoroth and grumpig were getting closer now. The white chimp brandished a pair of razor-honed claws whilst a sinister smile grew on the pig as its pearls began to glow white.
"You want me safe and happy, I know. But I can't be happy living on that farm, I'm sorry. And if I get hurt?" A fond expression took hold. "That's what friends are for, right?"
As the vigoroth crouched down to lunge, a ball of fire soared through the dark room and smashed into its backside, sending it spinning and howling across the slick floor as it looked back to see where the attack had come from. There it saw Felix and Star, both hurrying to their friend's side. The grumpig spun towards the duo, then prepared to attack as it rubbed the pearls on its head and stomach rapidly with a sneer.
With one quick movement, Petal pushed away her mother, leaving her behind a crate. "Stay here, mom!" she shouted as she ran towards the fight. "We'll get out of here!"
"Petal!" her mother shouted back, throwing her arms out to her daughter. But it was too late. Petal was already shortening the distance towards the enemies.
A psionic swirl of warped pink and azure rings flew out of the grumpig's pearl on its head, dancing through the air like a hornet as it swerved towards Felix. He leapt to his side, scarcely avoiding the psybeam as it racked the rocks below where he once was, spitting up chunks of shattered rock as each ring bore into the surface and produced a gnashing roar of heavy echoes that reverberated through the cave.
The grumpig took aim at him once more, rubbing its pearls again only to find that a sharp pain had smacked the back of its head, lurching it forward from the impact. Turning around, it saw the brazen petilil standing behind it, whipping her head around as another arched leaf flew from her towards itself. Firing off a psybeam, the colorful rings engulfed the leafage and crumbed it into a small ball faster than one could blink as the blade sailed through the attack, landing feebly on the ground. The rings continued onward, nearly crashing into Petal as she threw her body to the side, letting the attack destroy a chunk of the wall behind her as she yelped in surprise, her mother covering her mouth in worry. Picking herself up, she saw as Felix joined her side, a stone and a will to fight in possession.
Star was creating another ember in her mouth, but noticed in the corner of her eye a flash of white lurching towards her. Quickly leaping back, she avoided the swing of the vigoroth's razor claws, then leapt back again and again as it slashed out at her in successive furied swipes. "Just! Sit! Still!" it shouted between each attack, whilst taking swings at her legs and face, each motion of its claws getting but a hair's width of tearing her apart.
With each dodge, she had been pushed closer and closer into a dark corner, and was now boxed in with the seething vigoroth just in front of her. Firing off an ember, her attack was snuffed out of the air with a clean cut from the chimp, splitting the flare into many flickers of flame. She was backed into a corner, left growling at the attacker.
As the vigoroth reeled back to attack again, a sudden weight dropped on its back. Turning its head, it saw the vindictive glare of Wimpod. It quickly reached back and yanked him off, holding the squirming bug in front of himself with a hostile glare. The vigoroth prepared its claws, but a sharp burning pain shot through its leg as Star chomped down with fiery fangs, pulling its leg out from beneath itself and toppling it to the ground and releasing Wimpod. It looked back up just in time to see Star lunging at him, quickly reaching out and grabbing hold around her neck as she snapped her smoldering fangs at him, trying to wrangle her off as she fought to free herself. Just as it was about to throw her off, a firm whack on its side from Wimpod's head caused it to lose its grip, allowing Star to finally thrust her head squarely on its face with a satisfying smack, making the vigoroth go limp.
She breathed a sigh of relief, looking at Wimpod with a smile as he scuttled back up the wall. "Thank you."
He did not respond, instead glaring at her before looking away in shame and scurrying back onto the ceiling.
The unmistakable sound of shattering stones boomed throughout the cave. Shooting her attention to the source, she saw as the grumpig produced ring after ring of shimmering light, slinging them indiscriminately at Petal and Felix as they ducked and weaved around the cumbersome pig and its destructive attacks.
Pulling his arm back, Felix slung a stone at the grumpig's head as it shot forth another marvelous ring. As with Petal's attack, the ring seemed to swoop through the air and swallowed the stone, producing a grating crunching sound as the rock became instantly pulverized within its grasp, becoming mere rubble on the floor within a second, and tearing open a hole in the wall even faster. A sharp frown took hold. "A little help here!" he ordered.
"I've got him, Blue!" Petal shouted back. Whipping her head around, she launched another bladed leaf at the grumpig's head, who had turned far too slowly to counter-attack, and was struck on its temple with a brilliant splash of green as the leafage slammed into him, knocking the pig flat to the ground with its robust belly flat on the floor.
Petal squinted at the fallen form, beginning to relax as she saw it had not continued to move. "Ha!" she triumphantly exclaimed, swinging her body back and forth. "Got another!"
A growing grin formed on Felix as he saw her dance. "You sure did. Now come on," he waved to everyone. "Let's get out of here." Petal's mother slowly crept around the crate, hesitatingly scanning the surroundings before joining Felix and the others as they formed up at the entrance to the room. "Everyone good?" he asked as he looked at the party.
"I find myself well!" Star sung.
"Just peachy, Blue," Petal quipped.
"I'm fine," Wimpod added as he scaled down the rocky wall.
Drawing closer to her daughter, Petal the Twelfth's head still rested on the curve of her hand. "Petal…" she sighed.
"Yeah, yeah," she scoffed. "It's dangerous or what-" Petal's eyes flicked over to some movement just near the center of the room. A stubby hand raised on a glowing pearl, the grumpig leered at the group and fired another shimmering ring that sailed through the air, directed at her mother. "Mom! Watch out!" she shouted as she leapt up in front of her. The ring's circumference slammed into Petal's body, collapsing in on itself in an array of colored lights and bursting, knocking Petal flat on the ground in front of her mother.
"Petal!" she shouted, kneeling down over her.
The other's attention shot to their downed foe, but before any could make a move, a green blade soared past them and crashed into the grumpig's head with a bang, reeling its head back and dropping to the floor with a thud.
Turning around, they saw Petal already upright, though bruised, glaring at the pig. "And stay down!"
Before she could boast more, Petal was suddenly picked up and wrapped in a tight embrace by her mother. "Oh, dear!" she breathed. "You're not hurt, are you?"
"Y-yeah," Petal choked out. "You're kind of- choking me."
Realizing her brutal chokehold on Petal, the lilligant placed her back down, letting her take in a huge, freed breath. Her eyes caught sight of the bruised and slightly torn surface of Petal's body, lingering on her injuries. "Are you hurt?"
"Yeah, it smarts," Petal scoffed. Seeing her mother's worried look, she puffed out her chest. "But I'm fine. I'm made of tough stock." Her mother's worry seemed to melt away, if only just a little.
"Oi!" a voice shouted and echoed from farther outside. "I knew this would happen! I just knew it"
Felix gave her a small tap on the shoulder, motioning for her and others to follow. "We've been here long enough; we need to get her out of here."
With the group in tow, they exited the room in the damp confines of networked tunnels once more, turning to follow the path they used earlier to head back to the entrance of the cave. The air was getting lighter, no longer dripping with humidity like it had before. They were getting closer.
They skidded around corners and sprinted down open stretches of darkness, their way illuminated by flickering torchlight. Behind, the ruckus of claws scraping against stone underneath grew louder and louder in pursuit of them down the long hall.
"Don't think I've forgotten what I owe you!" Turning around, Felix saw two red eyes down the path behind them, piercing the dark like burning iron. In the feeble light, he saw as the red lycanroc bounded off the imperfect walls, using his feet to launch himself off the wall and launch himself towards them, each stride growing longer and longer as he came rapidly closer, jaws hanging loose.
The others had turned around as well, spotting the predator's approach. "He's coming closer!" Petal's mother warned.
"Star! Petal!" Felix shouted. As if already understanding, the two skidded to a stop, turning to face their target.
"We're on it!" Star responded. Her mouth grew aflame and she fired off a ball of fire that rocketed down the dim corridors on a direct collision course with Cobb as Petal too unleashed two grass blades that tore through the air. Cobb continued onward, unperturbed. His claws glowing, he swatted the fireball out of the air in one swift motion and slunk down then pressed himself against the corridor's walls to evade the leafage. Digging his back feet into the ground, he made one final dash towards the party, jaw open wide towards Felix.
Petal quickly shoved her way in front of him, the leaves on her head curled up and creating a faint yellow glow of spores within. "Out of the way, Blue!" She threw out the cloud of paralyzing powder in front of them.
Seeing the attack, Cobb snarled and dug his claws into the ground, coming to a sudden halt. His eyes glowed red-hot with frustration as he looked past the cloud that separated him from the team he so hated. "Don't think you're slick," he growled. Raising a curled fist, he slammed it into the ground and shattered stone, creating a tremor that quickly rose in intensity that exploded into a pointed, jagged stone's edge thrusting from the earth towards them. Thinking fast, Felix grabbed Petal and threw her and himself onto the ground, escaping being speared by the rock that now stood stiffly where they had been. Cobb turned his back to them, beginning to trudge away back into the darkness. "Consider yourselves lucky. Next time, I will not be in such a generous mood." Spitting on the ground, he receded back behind the corner: gone.
Petal released a tense sigh as she and Felix got up. "Wow…" she remarked. "You still going after him?" she asked Felix.
"I'm afraid we have gotta," he remarked, then pointing down the hall Cobb had fled. "We overheard his plans on hightailing it out of this place tonight, on account of his bad luck around here." He chuckled. "Guess we're partly to blame for that. But we need to catch him now if we want that bounty."
Petal fanned her leaves at the pollen cloud, blowing away the yellow dust and clearing the path forward. "Tonight? Jeez, talk about being pressed for time." She looked at her mother, waiting patiently beside Wimpod, who clearly did not share the same feeling. "Do you want-"
"We'll be fine," Felix cut-in. Grabbing her shoulders, he gently ushered her to Wimpod's company, then letting go. "Won't deny it'd be nice to have the help." He pointed at her waiting mother, eyeing her tenderly. "But I know what you want to do."
Petal looked at her mom for a brief moment. Turning to face back to Felix, she held an expression of relief dripping in her small eyes. "Thanks, Blue. And… you know… you better be safe."
"You too," he earnestly replied. "Oh, and remember to wash."
"Huh?" Petal grunted. "Oh, right." She sprouted thinly roots from the tips of the knubs of her hands. They were covered in a thick layer of sloppy mud, which she had been using to trail her path. Retracting the small roots, she hurried over towards her mom, grabbing hold of her leafed hand with the splays of her leaves. "Come on, mom," she said as she tugged on her arm, "We're outta here!"
"Right! Of course," she responded, letting her daughter hurry her off towards the sound of rainfall, soon vanishing behind a corner.
Wimpod remained still, looking to Felix with his trademark irate stare. "This your last chance?" he dryly asked.
"Afraid so."
Star puffed out her chest, taking on a look of confidence. "We'll make it count!"
Wimpod solemnly nodded. "Right. Remember, Riley won't pay for an absent criminal."
"I know," Felix said. He raised his arm, gesturing to the cave's entrance. "You run along with the herb and her mom, make sure they make it back safe. Then tell ol' pinky we'll be back soon with the wolf."
Wimpod snorted. "Can do." Turning his silvery shell around, he scuttled towards the entrance, looking back only for a second. "Good luck." And then he was gone.
Star came closer to Felix's side, looking at where Wimpod had been. "Always curt with him, isn't it?" Together, they faced back to where Cobb had retreated, beginning to advance back once more into the damp and humid air. "The least we can do is match that quickness and make this job swift!" she sang with confidence.
Back on the trail, they slipped past the protruding rock and retraced their path back inward. Passing mounted torchlight after torchlight, taking turns that had been traveled before, they soon found themselves at the entrance of the room they had engaged in just minutes prior. Peeking their heads inside, the grumpig and vigoroth still laid on the floor, gently breathing in their state of unconsciousness, but Cobb himself was not present.
They moved on.
The stream of water underfoot picked up in both volume and intensity, washing across the floor more sternly as they progressed further up a gentle incline. Breaks in the halls ceased, leaving only one clear path forward. Star's ears twitched, turning forward to focus on a sound Felix could not hear yet.
"Rainfall," she whispered. "An opening."
Taking a deep inhale, Felix could feel the air had become lax and crisp as it was outside. He understood.
The pitch darkness of the tunnels receded, pulled away by the dim ambience of the outside world and replaced by a veil of heavy rainfall. Roots danced and traced themselves along the dripping ceiling above, holding aloft a cluster of rocks and boulders at its center where the base of a tree was raised. It fell in buckets at the center of the leaking ceiling ahead, pooling around a grand peaked rock in the middle, from which the water ran down the halls they stood in. A mess of fractured limbs and cracked round chests of goletts lay in heaps around. Moss and mushrooms decorated the floor and the towering spires of rock that stood sporadically inside, which could conceal the monster within. Some light filtered in through the cracks, gently filling the lair alongside the roar of water and peal of thunder. He could not place a finger on it, but the walls seemed… wrong.
Felix stooped low, waving for Star to do the same. "This is it," he whispered.
While crouched low by his side, Star raised her nose to the air, sniffing. "He's here."
Giving her a nod, he took a small step forward. Just from that one small movement, the walls appeared to shift ever so slightly, causing him to stop. Focusing intently on them, a small gleam sparkling on the stones surfaces betrayed what had happened: each rocky wall of this circled room had been plastered with shards of mirrors, reflecting the stones around them, though thick smears of black sand seemed to be stuck around, both on the reflectors, the floor, and ceiling, oozing off like grained sap. He had mistaken these reflections of black sand and stone for the true walls themselves.
Taking a step to the side to face one-such surface head-on, he was greeted by a reflection of a small riolu, covered with mud and muck on his head and the flimsy poncho he wore.
"You had your chance to run," Cobb's voice echoed around them, piercing the light air. Felix and Star instantly grouped together, watching one another's backs as they looked around for the wolf himself in the decrepit lair. "Had your chance to run, had your chance to tie this up nicely."
Star's ears frantically swiveled around the turbulent room, trying to discern where the voice had come from, her eyes darting from potential hiding spot to hiding spot. "And tie this up cleanly we will, Cobb," she growled. "People cannot live in earnest while you prowl the routes, preying on good folk who are just getting by."
"Didn't you hear, girlie?" Cobb's voice continued, bouncing off the glistening and stained walls around. "I've had enough of this little game here. The pickings were good at first, but ever since you and that ghastly tree showed up, I should've known our luck had turned," he growled. "It was hard enough getting by with the two of you's on our backs, but things started looking up ever so gingerly when he had the sense to cut us some slack." Star winced at this truth. "Yet you never gave us the good grace of some good-old fashioned robbery. Who are you trying to impress? The people who will lap up every word you'll say? Maybe trying to take some initiative, and show those bigwigs in the Undercast you can hold your own?"
"Enough, Cobb!" Star suddenly barked.
"Oho, I see now!" his voice cackled. "Or is this about dear ol' mummy?" Star remained silent. Though she had not said a word in response, a quick glance by Felix saw how furious she was: the way her brows furrowed, the way the fur on her back stood on end, the way wisps of fire fumed out the corners of her mouth. "That's it, ain't it? Cheer up, girlie, I'm sure dear mummy will understand when you fail just as she had, and everyone will bawl their eyes out for you like they did her."
"Stop posturing, and face us like a man, flea-sack!" Felix shouted into the cold, hollow air.
"And don't think I've forgotten about you, boy. You're a new kind of trouble, aren't you? Doesn't matter. After I finish the both of you's, I takeoff for greener pastures and heavier pockets. Regardless, this little dance of ours ends tonight."
"You're right, Cobb," Star muttered. "We end things now."
Whilst the two circled one another, covering their flanks, Felix's eyes caught sight behind stones of a looming figure draped in shadow, red eyes glaring. "There! Behind the pile!" he shouted while pointing at the wolf. Star turned her head immediately at where he had pointed and let loose a glaring fireball that lit the room in a red glow from the reflectors around, coming to smash the distant mirror that had fooled them both with a disheartening crack.
A hearty cackle boomed from the other side. Whipping their heads around, they found a mess of red eyes piercing them, prodding them, the wondrous walls reflecting the image of the predator on repeat whilst the true form lunged forward from the depths of the abyssal dark. A pair of white fangs flashed through the dark as Felix ran towards the rising form of stone, crunching the air behind him where he had been. To his dread, he saw the distinctive hue of Star's burning red flashes betray she had begun to fight the lycanroc head-on: a mistake. Star's red-hot fangs found themselves embedded in the ankle of Cobb as he snarled in pain, but that brief moment of success fleeted away as he spun around and kicked her off, rolling her away in a heap of dust.
"Get away!" Felix shouted. He knelt down and scooped up a viscid handful of black sand and lobbed it at the pair of red eyes in the dark, a wet smack filling the air as Cobb reeled back to wipe the sand from his eyes, snarling. "We can't face him head-on!"
"Then we wait for an opening!" she shouted back as she scrambled upright. Seeing a chance for a parting gift, she fired another blazing ember into the abdomen of Cobb which he could not block, landing a searing blow that made him stumble back.
As the red lycanroc threw off the final grains and smear from the sand, his eyes flushed with rage as he spotted the retreating vulpix. "Nowhere to run!" he sneered, "nowhere to hide!"
Cobb covered his eyes with his arms, and the rocks around his mane began to glow. Knowing what came next, Felix ducked around the base of one of the lair's natural pillars, concealing himself from the direct line of sight of the incoming flash. But he had made a mistake: looking ahead at some of the countless shards of mirrors on the walls around, he could still see Cobb. A brilliant flash of light erupted from the wolf, flooding the room with an instantaneous burst of rays as mirror after mirror reflected the attack, blinding Felix as if he had just stared at the sun. He fell down to his side, covering his eyes and trying to control his breathing as he desperately waited for sight to return.
The sounds of a distressed scraping of claws against cold stone raked through the heavy air: Star. He could hear her, trying in vain to find her own footing.
A distant cackle rebounded off the walls. "And now here we are: know where to fight?" Cobb mocked. A meaty whack arose, followed instantly by a sharp grunt of pain being released by Star. Then another. Then another. In a small gap between strikes, Felix heard the crackle and snap of Star's fiery fangs, though the hollow clack that followed revealed them to hit nothing. "Ha! I was close to there, girlie!" Cobb cackled. Another smack, another shout of pain.
Felix pushed himself up off the ground, though he could not see past the shroud of messy blurs and chaotic colors that still yet fogged his vision. But she needed his help, and she needed it now.
He took a step forward, guided by sound. More repetitions of strikes echoed across the air. Directed by this chorus, he took several more steps across wet rock and stone, opening his eyes again to try to see, but lost his footing on the slick ground beneath and fell to his knees into a puddle.
Another whack, another cough. Closer.
Sight could not help him, not now. And even if he did reach Cobb and Star, he could not fight blind. He needed another way, and fast. Vulpixes could command fire, summon incantations. Petilils wielded blades of grass as weapons, and spout debilitating powders. But what could he do, as a riolu?
"Don't think about it!"
Those words from Petal rang in his head as he got back up.
"Don't think about it! Just do it!"
He took measured breaths. Emptied all thoughts. And looked inward. Nothing.
Just do it.
Deeper.
Look deeper. Do not seek.
Observe. Listen.
What is needed cannot be seen. Only found, only attuned.
A familiar hum sang to him, like a chord strung between body and soul, ringing in the tassels that hung below his ears. Rich and vitalic, singing strings of the spirit and weaving them into laced forms before him that were colored like strokes on a painting, filling in the absence of light that surrounded him.
He stood up, and continued walking, not slipping once more. He could not see the floor beneath him, nor the walls or ceiling around him, but he found that he could still sense: above him, where the roots had held up the collapsing ceiling, he saw the emerald greens and jade hues of grass, root, and plant, resting above like a canvas as they project their life into onto him.
And ahead, where he had drawn so close now, more colors. Where the ground had been- where pitch black now laid in its place- a brilliant white light emitting hues of a rainbow was curled on the ground, recoiling back as a surly blob of blood-reds and sickly purples stood above it, cackling and striking down on his groaning friend. And here he was, standing just behind this apparition of Cobb.
Still blind, but still able to fight. He pulled back his arm, letting the resolve of iron flow into his packed fist and moved to strike in one quick motion. He felt as his hand became as stalwart as steel, felt the rush of wind glide over it as his punch flew as fast as a bullet and came to strike the red apparition's leg with a crunch like rock shattering by hammer.
A loud howl of pain erupted from Cobb, signifying to Felix he had struck true. The purple and red strings swirled in front of him, turning around to reveal the distorted face of a lycanroc as it swung its arm towards him. Felix's own arms snapped forward, stopping the chords in their place with a vigorous smack against the palms of his hands and beginning a contest of strength as he and the wolf struggled to overpower the other.
"Fighting with your eyes shut, boy?" Cobb sneered. "Scared to see what comes next?"
Opening his eyes, he found that the oily vision and blurs that had afflicted him from the flash had dissipated, allowing him to fully see once again. Whilst Cobb was snarling at him and had one forearm pressed against Felix's palms, the other hand was pinning a battered and bruised Star to the floor, her hair and tails disheveled. But something caught Felix's eyes as he struggled and pushed back against the overwhelming strength of Cobb's singular arm. "Not at all afraid," Felix grunted. "Wouldn't look away for the world."
The red lycanroc had made a mistake: in trying to both overpower Felix and keep Star subdued, his hand on her was pressed against her chest, not her head. Cobb realized this fact too late as he suddenly looked towards the downed vulpix to see just in time a growing light burst from Star's mouth, launching a blazing ember into Cobb's face and making him stagger back and yelping in pain, reflexively covering his face with his claws.
Seizing their chance, Felix's steel-cold fist launched forward into the joint of Cobb's leg with a crack, knocking the wolf onto one leg and kneeling. Star scrambled off the ground and with teeth flared, latched onto Cobb's leg that remained propped up, dragging his weight out from under him and making him fall flat on his chin onto the stone ground below. Cobb pushed himself barely off the ground with battered arms, seeing Star twirl around to curtain his view with her many tails, and snapped at her with pointed teeth only to see as she leapt over his crunch and battered the top of his jagged head with dark energy emitted from the soles of her paws from her feint attack, shoving him back to the ground with a slam. As Cobb pushed his chest off the ground once more, Felix was there in front of him, holding something in his free hand. Cobb lunged out fangs bared once more, but Felix's newly hastened fist quickly planted itself against the back of his throat, opening the smoke bomb pouch he had held. The pouch began to spew volumes of smoke out of Cobb's mouth as the wolf began sputtering and coughing, more and more black plumes of smoke spilling onto the ground and into the air around him.
Star prodded Felix's side with her nose as he took a step back from the smoking wolf. "Over this way!" she shouted, beginning to run over the streams of leaking water and behind the large mound of stone ahead. Felix turned the round after Star, seeing the ends of her tails vanish behind a line-up of broken and ruined goletts, and quickly pushed his way beneath the loosely hanging arms and chipped chests after her.
Together, they sat in silence, catching their breath. Peeking out past the row of ruined goletts they used as cover, Felix's eyes and ears remained alert to sense if Cobb was upon them. His sight only witnessed the advancing plumes of smoke that ebbed closer, filling the space in front of them and engulfing the bases of pillars like a flood. His ears only gathered the sounds of the ceaseless leaks dripping from above, and the hacking of Cobb somewhere further away in the lair.
He leaned his head back and let it rest on the stone mound behind them. "You think we put a dent in him?" he whispered.
A loud, earthshaking slam rocked the ground beneath him and Star, making them brace. The sounds and shudderings of the strained ceiling rumbled from above. "Turning tail and hiding already!?" Cobb's shout echoed. "Just wait 'til I find you! No one will be able to recognize your sorry hides when I'm through with you!"
Star looked at Felix. Though she was clearly battered, her gaze remained steadfast. "Does that answer your question?" she whispered back.
"I guess," Felix murmured, quietly beginning to dig through their bag he kept on himself. "He got a good few licks in on you. You holding up okay?"
"I won't lie to you: I'm hurting. But I can still fight," she reassured.
"Well, alright," he sighed. Reaching over, he fixed one of the feathers tucked behind her ear which had gone askew. "Just… don't get hurt too badly."
Star smiled fondly. "Nothing can keep me down. And hey- was that 'bullet punch' I saw you use back there? And aura… " she questioned curiously.
"If that's what you call it, then sure, maybe, I don't know. I just… did." Another tremor shook the ground beneath them, causing the loose arm of one of the deactivated goletts to fall feebly in front of them. "Right, he's not gonna be waiting. Let's see what little tricks we have left…" He felt around inside the canvas, feeling the smooth glossy surface of the escape orb Willow had given him nearly a week ago, the iron spike he had Petal's help with, and… "This ought to do nicely." He pulled out a veiny lemon Petal had given him, still gently glowing a humble emerald shade of light.
"I imagine this defeat to be one most sour for Cobb if this works," Star softly giggled to herself. "But if we really want to make it sting, he'll need to be doused in water, or hit him while he's standing in a fairly sized body…"
"Hm, yeah. Know a way?"
"Maybe," she mused, beginning to slip past him and crouching behind the torso of the furthermost golett. A sudden rumble trembled deeply far overhead, briefly letting gentle streams of water and silt filter down before ceasing. From this tumble, a small pebble trickled down, bouncing off the head of the golett Star was close to and landing on her hair. She shook her head and threw off the small rock, her eyes falling to the loosened pebble, lost in thought. "Actually, I have an idea… and a favor to ask."
"Sure, what do I need to do?"
Star's head poked out of their hiding hole, looking up to the ceiling held up by nothing but roots and a blockage of rocks and deposits of soil. "Get Cobb somewhere underneath there."
Felix looked to where she had stared, and caught on. "Alright, I'll do it. But I ain't exactly keen on getting my head smashed by one of those rocks."
"Then I suppose you'll have to be extra careful about it," Star smiled. She silently scuttled out and kept low to the stretches of shadows, taking care not to be seen in the mirrors left visible and vanishing around one of the natural stone pillars.
Felix grumbled as he himself left their concealment. "Suppose I shall…" The smoke had now pooled around the lower floor, a fact he took advantage of as he snuck down into the black plumes and made his way towards the rising rugged slope he knew lay ahead. Curious, he closed his eyes and tried to find that 'aura' sensation to enlighten him once again. He thought deeply into it, thinking about how he had performed that miracle just minutes ago. Nothing.
He mentally berated himself for not yet being able to grasp this power. Yet as he opened his eyes and looked to hand, he balled it into a fist, and saw a growing reflection of himself on his hand as a silvery metallic sheen encompassed it. At least this he understood. Punching was punching, and it was what he knew well enough.
Weaving his way through the smoke and around juts of stone, he found himself against a sudden rise of rock. Throwing his arms up, he clambered up the cool and wet surface and up onto the mound, passing over rises in stone and the odd limb or chest of goletts strewn about. The mirrors on the walls reflected him from nearly every angle as he carefully climbed his way up the slope and through small streams of leaking water, yet beyond the clacks of claws echoing somewhere in the lair, he could not find a sign of Cobb. Finally reaching the pinnacle, he scanned for Star and spotted her partially concealed face observing him from behind a distant pillar. A wet drop fell onto his nose, and he looked up: a network of roots, holding up what he could only assume to be tons of silt and stagnant water.. Now or never.
"Where you at, you mange'd coward?" he shouted out, hearing his own words echo around him. Instinctually, he opened his bag and grabbed another smoke bomb pouch.
A grating sound pierced the air as shining claws raked the side of an unfortunate pillar of rock, tearing chunks off like wet paper. From out behind came Cobb as he leered at Felix from a distance, still at the base of the large mound, a low growl tremoring out of the wolf's throat through a sooted jaw. "You're mine, boy." The lycanroc immediately began his assault, barreling towards Felix on all fours and making great strides up the slope past each large jut of rock and stone, the rocks on Cobb's mane beginning to glow again.
Knowing what this was a prelude to, Felix threw the pouch directly onto Cobb as he advanced, clouding the red lycanroc instantly in a plume of smoke that glowed brightly for an instant as it absorbed the flash, then returning to an ashen shade. A warm light blazed from lower behind him as an ember sailed above him and bursted against a cluster of roots above. The fire soon caught, incinerating and cracking root after root as the blaze spread, soon engulfing the lair in a bright glow and filling the space with smoke. Emerging from his own shroud, Cobb peered out of the gaseous veil that surrounded him, only for his attention to be stolen by the raging fire above that began to snap the roots and fibers above, each twine's split heralding a collapse as the ceiling soon sagged and water soon poured from growing cracks like a fountain.
"Felix!" Star called out to him from behind her pillar, bringing him back to reality. "Get out now!"
The first chunk of the waning ceiling fell from on high, crashing into the stone below and shattering into an explosion of dust and dirt, a surging stream of water gushing in from behind from the now revealed outside world. Felix turned around and fled, feeling as though he were flying as he leapt over tumbling rocks and sprinted past arms and legs of the past as the ceiling collapsed around him, burning roots snapping above and raining down ash, stone, and pools of rainwater. Just behind, he could hear Cobb yelp.
Star leaned out from her cover, beckoning him to her with flicks of her head. "Come on!" she shouted as he came closer.
Felix slid down the muddied incline of the hill towards her, quickly rebounding onto his feet. "Make room!" he ordered as he spun around her side. The two quickly cowering behind the pillar of stone as a deluge of water soon began ceaselessly pouring in from the now grand hole above, beginning to quickly pool around their feet as the water level rose. Loud splashes echoed around them as the final pieces of the loose ceiling crashed into the rising pools below alongside the cascading impromptu waterfalls. The water level continued to rise, forcing them to stand as it rose to their hips. Soon, the fiery glow that had filled the lair ceased. The splashes of falling rubble stopped. And the fury of rushing water raining down began to wane.
Felix and Star both got up, soaked to their ankles in the cold that had pooled around them. Grabbing the electric fruit from his bag, Felix took the first step out. Turning to see if Star was behind him, he saw how soaked and miserable she looked, her fur clinging to her like a wet blanket. He opened his mouth to say something, but she had him beat. "If it means we catch him…" she muttered as she waded past him.
At the foot of the mound, they climbed out of the water and up onto the soaked incline. Felix and Star looked around their devastated surroundings: the lair had flooded, filled with a considerable depth of water that had reached their waists and now rushed down the tunnel they had entered. Blackened chunks of roots lay around in smoldering heaps, resting beside the fallen boulders and clumps of dirt and grass that had fallen from storming night sky above that yet still poured inside, coating what broken fragments of goletts that had not been buried in the collapse in a coat of rainfall.
"Where you at, Cobb?" Felix called out as he juggled the lemon in his hand. "Got a little something for you." Still nothing. No matter where he looked in these toppled ruins, he could see Cobb. The many boulders and fallen branches made searching difficult, not to mention the now present rainfall that fell into his eyes. "You see him?" he asked Star as she sniffed a pile of debris.
She flipped a small rock over, smelling beneath it. "Haven't."
"You think we buried him?" Felix asked jokingly.
"If we did, good luck getting him back for your bounty." Star continued sniffing the air, taking in lungfuls of scent. "I know he's here somewhere," she remarked. "Cobb's too stubborn to be buried and gone just like that," she remarked.
"I thank you for the concern, girlie." Felix and Star turned to face where Cobb's voice had come from and saw as a log coated in a thick layer of moss came soaring at them, forcing them both to dive to the ground as it sailed over them and crashed into splintered halves behind them. The red lycanroc's red eyes seared with hate, his waterlogged mane sticking to him and making the stone spikes he had pop out even more.
Star readied a fire inside her mouth, but her eyes shot open as Cobb suddenly tackled into her shoulder-first, launching her back down the slope and falling into the water below.
"Star!" Felix called out. He ran the fruit across the jagged metal oval his arm had, tearing the skin open and feeling as a tinge of electricity raced across him in a pulse. As he pulled his arm back to lob the sparking lemon, Cobb had already raced over to him, grabbing his arm and chest and forcefully slamming him to the ground, making him drop the lemon as it rolled down the slope and became caught on a ledge far out of reach.
Cobb opened his jaw and lunged at Felix's head with black teeth, crunching the stone behind Felix's head like glass as he weaved his head out of the way and frantically reached into his bag. Pulling his mouth back with fragments of rock tumbling out, Cobb moved to crunch again as Felix knocked his mouth away with one lightning-fast punch then stabbed Cobb's exposed side with the iron spike he had, making Cobb shout in pain as some blood spat out of his wound.
Eyes filled with murderous rage, Cobb reeled back a claw to strike Felix as he remained pinned, but became seized by a sudden spurt of paralysis as Petal's spores that coated the weapon entered Cobb's body.
Taking the opportunity to free himself, Felix knocked Cobb's paw off his chest and kicked the wolf away as Cobb's limbs fought to regain control as he himself growled in broken spurts.
Back upright before a paralyzed Cobb, Felix steeled himself as he locked eyes with Cobb, as if taunting him to make a move. Curling his hands into fists of steel, he struck Cobb at first with one bullet punch, barely even moving Cobb as it smacked into his stone coat. Then another free strike. And another, and another. Soon a flurry of silvered punches were let fly at Cobb, each blow only just budging Cobb as he finished with one final strike, throwing all his weight behind it.
Cobb remained standing, still caught in spurts of seizure and now covered in blemishes across his body, but still standing. His shaking arm finally reached his side and pulled out the bloodied spike, throwing it away into the pool below, and falling to his knees gasping for air. After just a few deep breaths, he rose back up and wiped his snout dismissively. "Clever," Cobb growled.
A frail fireball boomed against the back of Cobb's head, causing him to turn around to find a now thoroughly soaked Star weakly charging at him as she went back up the difficult terrain. Trying to take advantage of his inattention, Felix swung once more with a steeled fist, but was intercepted by the broadside of Cobb's glowing raised arm as he looked down on him. With one push, that energy was countered back onto Felix, sending him crashing into a fallen rock with a grunt. A fierce shout rose from Star as she lunged at Cobb with burning fangs, but as she leapt at him, Cobb slammed his fist into the earth below, raising a fierce tremor that erupted with a stone's edge punching from the surface of the hill and slamming into Star's chest with a thunderous smack, launching her into a piece of the ceiling above, then falling to the ground by Felix with a weak thud.
Felix hastily crawled to her as she lay unmoving, grabbing her shoulders and dragging her close to him. Her eyes were scarcely open, watching him loosely with shallow breaths. "Come on," Felix begged, "get up!"
Star planted a vigorously shaking paw onto the ground, trembling as she fought to get back up. A fierce stomp planted itself by them. Looking up, Cobb was hunched over close by, his jaw hanging open. Her ears and tails drooping, Star pushed herself back up, stumbling to her side but catching herself. A faint flicker of flame smoldered out of her mouth as she glared down Cobb.
Felix came to her side, gently pushing her back without much resistance as he kept his eyes on Cobb as he loomed nearer, and reached inside his bag feeling for anything that might help.
"Just had to walk away," Cobb muttered, pushing aside a sizable boulder that lay nearby as he came closer. "Just had to recognize when you're outmatched." As Cobb's claws clacked against the stone below, Felix felt something round inside the bag, something smooth and glossy.
Just do.
Cobb came to a stop, standing tall before Felix and Star just a few feet in front of them, his face hovering closer and closer as they pulled back. "Just had to know when you're done." Cobb's lips curled back, proudly displaying his countless fangs.
He lunged.
In that split second, Star had weakly opened her mouth to fire anything she could muster, while Felix threw out an iron fist at Cobb's eye as the wolf's head snapped near, at the same while his desires for the both of them flooded the orb inside the bag.
The sensation of his fist hitting something soft, and bursting something- something small and soft- was the last sensation he felt as he and Star became instantly wrapped in a white light, feeling weightless.
Felix's eyes remained clenched shut, waiting for the fangs of a wolf that would release him. But that feeling never came, never arrived.
He could hear it.
The sounds of a rushing river.
The dire howl of a turbulent wind.
The way the leaves and branches of trees bent to the will of the gust.
He slowly opened his eyes.
They were sitting in a puddle, surrounded by mud and bush, a raging river just some ways ahead of them. The cold downpour was uninterrupted, battering them from the open air from rolling gray clouds above.
They were outside, just at the beginning of the dungeon. Far away from Cobb.
He looked to his side and saw Star's mouth still hanging open, finally releasing a weak flicker of flame that fizzled out just a few feet in front of her, that would have arrived far too late and done far too little had they not been transported. After the flame vanished into the rainy night, her head fell down, hanging from her shoulders as she panted weakly.
As he looked worriedly at her, he pulled his hand out of their bag, still holding onto the orb. It had been a deep blue when he first received it. Now, it was a dull gray. Before he could do anything with it, it collapsed in on itself, becoming a pile of dull shards at his feet.
"Where…" Star weakly gasped, finally looking up, "no, I know… where. What… what happened?"
Felix picked up one of the shards, then let it fall from his fingers. "Escape orb."
They both sat in silence, their heads hanging low. They were in no condition to go back and continue fighting, a fact that was understood between the two.
That was their final chance to apprehend Cobb before he fled.
As Star's breathing became gradually stronger, her eyes fell onto one of Felix's hands. "Felix," she muttered, her sight locked. He looked up silently. "Your hand. It's all bloody"
He looked at his right hand. He was a riolu. His hands for a while now had been a soft blue. But now, his right hand was dyed crimson red, caked in blood.
Star forced herself up with a groan, stumbling closer to his side. "How bad is it?"
Felix turned his hand over and continued examining it. He was hurting terribly all over, but his hand did not seem to be hurting any more than the rest of him. Then the realization struck him.
"It's not my blood," he muttered.
Star stopped, his words sinking into her. Once again, neither moved. Star's bruised frown lingered, but for a moment, the corner of her lips rose into a soft smile, and a soft chuckle of relief left her.
It was infectious. They had failed to get Cobb, nearly losing their lives in the process, a fact that still sulked bitterly inside Felix like the blackest of coffee. And yet, he himself began softly laughing beside her, smiles returning to their faces as they sat aching in the cold rain.
They fought someone they were no match for. Yet he made it out, as did she. Injured. But alive. That alone was cause for joy, even if small.
Once they quieted down, they picked themselves up. Their bodies ached and groaned as they hobbled upright, struggling to remain standing. Star kept one of her front paws slightly raised off the ground, clearly attempting to avoid putting pressure on that leg, while Felix kept one hand grasping his side and he grit his teeth.
A deep frown once again took hold. There would be no bounty reward. No money for the way home.
He sighed. "Come on," he groaned towards Star. "We… need to head back." He began hobbling off, trudging himself towards the roads that would lead them back to the security of the village.
As he limped along, he felt something warm pass beneath his hand. It was Star, brushing her muddled head under his palm. "I know… I know what you're thinking," she said softly. She gently pushed her side onto Felix's, supporting one another's weight as they shambled forth. "And we'll be here for you, until the end. Petal, Wimpod, and I. All of us. I swear to you, we'll find you a way home. I will endlessly for this, endlessly for you: you will be home."
They continued onward, passing by drenched bushes and cold puddles, solemnly continuing through the whipping rain.
A tear joined the countless water droplets that fell to the earth.
"Thank you."