Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Dare To Dream
Chapter 9
A Wolf on the Waterway
"Sounds like that was certainly an eventful night. It at the very least explains why you just crawled into our nook and collapsed right then and there without so much as acknowledging me," Star stated to Felix.
Stretching backward as they walked, Felix partially relieved the tension he felt on his side from once again sleeping on the bare ground. "You'd collapse too if you were nearly hung by a rope."
A gentle stream of autumn leaves fluttered down to the cold earth below from the many trees that filled the green clearing they traveled through, absolutely flooding the ground in a sea of red and gold. The Ho-Oh feathers tucked behind Star's ears caught the golden rays of light that filtered through the sprawling webwork of branches above, and shone in brilliant colors of emerald green, white, and fierce red. Her many tails swayed gleefully in the air as Felix trudged along beside her, still shivering from the morning frost, and patting down matted spots of fur that had sprouted on him.
Tattered and crudely assembled tents passed them by. Just ahead lay the cluttered board they had grown acquainted with, attended by its constant nightbird and the small flora that had saved him a mere night ago, a small bag by her side.
Petal caught sight of two as the pair approached, turning her round head towards them. "Hey! Blue! Star! Get your furry butts over here!"
Didja quickly batted his ivory black wings in front himself and leaned his head down closer to Petal from his lectern. "Hush, please! It is still very much so early in the morning, so I ask that you respect the tranquility of dawn, if you may!"
The leaves on Petal's head sagged downward. "Geez, I'll pipe down. Was just saying hi to friends."
"Thank you," Didja replied. Turning his attention from Petal to Felix and Star as they stepped forward, he brandished a wing in greeting. "Mister Felix, miss Star! Today seems a fine early morning for some service for the community!"
"Petal!" Star hopped further ahead, running to Petal and pressing her snout onto the small plant's chest. "I heard a wonderful piece of news recently! You're joining our team?"
Petal gently brushed her leaves against the top of Star's head, before finally pushing the two apart. "Yeah, seems like it'll be fun; sure beats picking produce and catering."
"First of all, we're just seeing if you'll fit on the team, nothing's set yet," Felix dismissed, "and second of all: did you two figure out anything yesterday?" he asked as he flicked a finger between Didja and Star.
"Oh, we did!" Star responded. She took a few steps forward and pointed her nose to a corner of the paper-laden board in front of them. "See that one in the top-right corner? That one is yours. Didja and I had a few others like it whipped up and sent them out. With any luck, we should get a response fairly soon!"
Felix rubbed his chin with the one undamaged metal bead he had left on his arm. "Alright, alright… how much would I need to pay them, if somebody does take it up?"
Didja and Star exchanged apprehensive looks. "Well, mister Felix, seeing as how the journey is one of great length across the sea, and as how your position has left you with presumably little in terms of assets, let alone if you have any at all, that puts your request in a… unique position."
"And that position is…?"
Didja's head slunk down, his eyes peering out from beneath the rim of his hat-shaped crest. "You would need around three-thousand poké for this job, mister Felix."
"Three-thousand?" Felix repeated back in disbelief. Didja's head nodded. He spun around to Petal. "How much am I getting paid for last night?"
Petal pushed the bag beside her towards Felix with her leaves. "Wait, what are you trying to do?" Petal asked as she tilted her head. "Anyway, it's three-hundred! Pretty nice, right? But, uh… not as much as you probably need."
He bent down and picked up the bag, feeling the weight and hearing the clinks of the many gold pieces within it. His eyes clung to the bag solemnly; a feeling of reprise filled his stomach. "Thank you," he said under his breath to her. "What does this put us at, Star?" he more clearly asked.
"Well, with the fifty and the five-hundred from our first job, and the three-hundred from just now, that puts us at-"
"Nowhere near enough," Felix cut off. A frown made itself apparent on his face as his thoughts lingered, and he began rubbing his temples.
As he sulked, a warm tuft of hair brushed beside him as Star pushed her head underneath his arm. "Don't worry. I said I'd see you off home, and I meant it," she said. "Look how much you've gotten already! You've made fair progress quite quickly, I'm sure we can get the rest if we keep up the pace!"
"Sheesh, yeah, Blue!" Petal added. "I'm just finding this out now, but hey, I'm game! Sounds like you've already got a chunk of whatever it is down, yeah?"
Felix's frown softened as he looked at the two; Star held a beaming smile across her face, and Petal's leaves stood attentive as she brandished a steadfast look. "Right, right," he muttered as he stowed the cash away in his satchel, "thanks." He lifted his arm off Star's head and walked towards the board. "Ignore all these papers," he said as he made a broad sweep with his arm at the board, "that Sylveon said there should be one tucked away somewhere here."
"On it." Star went straight to the board and planted her forelegs onto its surface, leaning her head forward as she searched its surface for any hidden parchment. Petal joined her side, and the two's heads synchronously scanned the board's surface from right to left. Felix stooped down, checking the board's stakes, then looping around to check its back. After a moment, Star's ears flicked. "Up there, tucked between the boards."
Where her nose had pointed, there was a corner of tan paper jutting out between two of the boards. With a single jump, Felix snagged the corner of it and pulled the crudely folded and torn paper out. Star and Petal peeked past his sides as he began to open the parchment.
"Took you a moment," a shrill voice asked from somewhere above. The group looked up, scanning the near-naked treetops for the source.
Petal stepped forward. "Who's askin'? Where you at?"
"Up," the voice plainly stated.
The group's heads instantly turned to the voice. Near a parting of limbs closer the tree's top, they spotted a silvery bug with purple antennas and a folded paper pinned beneath one of its many stubby legs. A wimpod.
"You. The riolu."
"And just who are you?" Felix questioned.
Its antennas twitched. "Doesn't matter. Any name works."
"Well, Wimpod, I'm still asking what you want. We're busy here."
Wimpod's buggy eyes narrowed. "Call it curiosity. I saw you last night- brawl and all." A sly leer creeped on his face. "Not impressed. Was wondering what sort of team you ran with if someone as skilled as you were hunting Cobb." Wimpod shifted his sight to Petal, staring down onto her with unimpressed eyes. "And now you've gone and scooped up the waitress? You shouldn't make your desperation obvious."
Petal's leaves began tensing up. "Oho, why don't you come down here and say that again?"
"Just who are you to judge them?" Star cried out.
Wimpod's gaze fell onto Star, and he opened his mouth to speak. No words came out.
The glistening feathers tucked behind her ears ensnared him, holding his attention to them. A moment of silence passed as he remained enticed by the radiant ornaments. "Those feathers… where did you get those feathers?"
Star raised her head proudly, beaming a confident smile. "These are gifts from my mother that I wear with pride; a symbol of my devotion to my faith."
Wimpod's eyes widened. His mouth hung partially agape and his antenna began twitching about wildly. "You're Star." The wimpod's meager body shook as he looked away. He began backing away, inching towards the fork in the branches as he looked down between flashes of anger in his eyes and festering guilt. "Be careful." Wimpod held his gaze on Star before finally skittering away behind the tree, quickly disappearing into the mess of dull branches looming above.
Star simply stood there, her eyes drifting to the ground as she thought.
"That split-brow little… he's weird." Petal walked over to Star's side and gave her a small poke with the tip of a leaf. "Hey, you know him or something?"
Star cocked her head to the side, humming in thought. "No. I don't recall being acquainted with any wimpods. But… he knew me."
"Well…" Felix rubbed his hands together as he thought how to best comfort her. He and Petal exchanged glances, and he motioned with a hand towards Star, signaling his forfeit in the matter. She rolled her eyes.
"You're a go-getter, Star. He probably knows you through word-of-mouth when you helped someone's grandma or something."
Star picked her head up. "Thank you for the reassurement, but I am not afraid of him or anyone else being aware of me when I do not know them." She looked back up to the tree where Wimpod had been. "I simply am pondering where we might have crossed paths before. Nothing more than that." She turned to Felix and gestured with a point of the nose towards the folded he held. "No use dwelling on the matter. I believe we should continue our initial purpose in coming here, yes? Felix, if you would."
He unfolded the tattered paper and was greeted by a series of detailed footprint ink blotches arranged in a row. At the bottom of the page lay two pointed footprints separated from the rest, circled in red brushstrokes. He held the paper out towards Star. "It says something about Cobb, we know that, and we know already to check around this Dragonair River place. What's it say about the payment?"
Star's eyes quickly raced across the surface of the paper, line after line. "Cobb… Dragonair River… Hm. Felix, it also says something about him finding out through a new friend he has, that we should head downstream."
"Alright, nice to know. What does it say he'll give us for bringing in Cobb?"
"It says he will split half of the bounty with you on successful completion of the request."
Petal joined Star's side, standing on the tips of her stubby feet to read the paper as well as their heads brushed up against one another. "Yeah? And how much would that be?"
Star's eyes remained locked on a few of the footprint runes. "A staggering ten-thousand. That would mean five-thousand for us."
Felix violently shook his head in disbelief. "Ten-thousand?! What'd this guy do, rob a country's worth of banks and loiter in the street?"
"Cobb…" Star mulled, "I know of him well enough. He's responsible for so much evil against good people." Her muzzle snarled, revealing her rows of teeth and the glow of flame within her mouth for a moment before she took a deep breath and recomposed herself. "From what I recall, he's responsible for leading a small-time gang back in the Undercast. Under his leadership, they committed a number of attacks on locals and ransacked building after building before he made his escape here- even kidnapped a few folk to ransom them off. Now, it seems like it's back to old habits for him." She blew out a glowing ember to the dirt road below her, startling both Felix and Petal with the sudden flare. "I find myself eager to apprehend him."
"Five-thousand…" Felix repeated to himself, "with money like that…"
"The money's nice and all, Blue, but if we take out Cobb, we can make a name for ourselves! People would remember us!" Petal chimed in.
"To see the roads free from hesitation once more, and that those he's wronged see justice for his crimes…" Star closed her eyes and sucked in a breath. Opening them, she looked to Felix, eyes burning with conviction. "I know the way. Let us depart at once if we are ready and able."
—-
Gentle winds carried with them the gold and red of the late fall, scattering the leaves about across the many lips and ledges of the blue river and orange shrubs that lined the landscape. Looming behind the calls of pidgeys and pidoves as they sang, the roar of the expansive current thrashing below them writhed as they crossed the damp planks of dilapidated wood of an old suspended bridge.
"This is going to be easy! All we have to do is get me close, and then I can hit 'em with some stun spores! Do that, and we're done! Easy!" Petal took small hops across each plank, measuring the distance between each strip of wood as she trudged along, careful not to fall between the cracks that her small body could potentially slip past and into the turbulent water below.
Looking up at the occasional flock of birds that flew by, Felix saw the distant images of a predatory flying monster and crane soaring far above in the amber sky, on the prowl for prey below. "If it were so easy to pull something like that, I'm sure that bounty would've been claimed long ago. Don't just waltz in; last thing we need is more trips to Pechi."
"Oh yeah, that," Petal murmured. "Hey, Star, you doing alright? Blue over here said you got hurt pretty bad before."
"I appreciate the concern, but don not worry on my behalf. I hold full faith we shall be protected, so let us keep our chins up and chests out!" Star sang out.
"That's dandy, really, but you're still a bag of meat that hurts when someone clobbers you- sun god stuff or not."
Once off the bridge, the river had swerved away sharply. Following the steep ridge, another rickety bridge dampened by the spray of water became visible.
"I am well aware. So, what is our plan?"
The group began crossing the groaning planks.
"Stick to the back; let me and Blue handle stuff up front! You just need to be a step away from the action and throw out fireballs, and Blue can… He can…" Petal stopped hopping across the planks, staring deeply into the back of Felix's head. "Hey, that's right: I don't think I've ever seen you use a technique before, Blue. All you ever do is punch and get punched. You holding out on us?"
"Huh?" Felix turned to face her. "Say that again?"
"Why… that is right. I don't believe I have ever seen you use a technique, Felix. Your fighting style has been rather plain, if I remember correctly," Star chimed in.
"No need to be so direct about it." Felix stopped, as did the others behind him. He held the soggy twined rope that kept the bridge aloft, balancing himself on the loose planks. "I… Mind telling me what a technique is?"
Star's brow furrowed, humming briefly as she thought to herself.
Petal stared bewilderedly at him. "Blue, you serious?"
"A technique simply refers to the powers and actions we use. For example, I, a vulpix, hold within myself a modest drop of the sun, a mere sliver of the blessing that is fire. If I summon up the strength to do so, I can stir the blaze within me to conjure spits of fire! Imbue my fangs with righteous flame!"
Felix looked at her, his mouth left partially hanging open. "You have a bit of the sun in you?"
"It's metaphorical, Blue. Yeah, she does have some fire brewing in her, but it ain't actually the sun," Petal explained with a hint of amusement behind her narrowed eyes.
"It most certainly is not metaphorical! It was only through the Great Dispersion that the whole of creation was gifted with the elements we hold now! We all carry within ourselves a part of this blessing." Star's many tails swept back and forth across the floor as she preached.
"Point is, Blue: I'm a plant, so I do plant-stuff. She's a fire fox, so she does fire-stuff. And you are a little blue dude of muscle that uses muscle to do hitting-stuff."
Star huffed. "That's a regressive way of putting it. Here, Petal and I will demonstrate."
"I will?"
Star closed her eyes and sucked in a deep, meaningful breath. Her chest rose and in a single great puff, she turned her head skyward and blew out a small blazing ball of fire that shot past the bare branches above and rocketed into the sky, then exploding in a smoldering pop.
"That was my ember technique. I simply inhale air, and use the fire within myself to ignite it into a small controlled fireball that I can use to defend others with." She turned to Petal, who was still watching the black wisps of smoke above be carried away by the wind. "Petal, would you please demonstrate your leafage technique?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah." Petal swung her head around, looking for a viable target. Her attention then focused on the rushing waters below, that had been spraying out a fine mist of water around them as it raged. "Watch this, Blue! This is easy stuff." Petal pulled her head back and the three leaves atop her head curled. In one quick flick, she lurched her head forward and sprung out her leaves, sending a large blade of grass careening into the current below, landing with a pitiful splash as it was instantly swallowed whole by the wake. She turned to Felix, brimming with pride.
"So…" Felix stammered out, "How does that work?"
"Oh, that? I don't know. Still pretty cool though, right?" she chuckled.
Star pulled her ears and grumbled. "Anyhow, that is just a small example of the power we all hold. Felix, since you are, well…" She looked at him with pity.
Felix knew the exact reason why and stared down to the boards below, hiding the shame that loomed behind his eyes as he sulked.
"As with all riolus," she continued, "you wield aura as an extension of yourself. With it, you can focus your life force into your every action and breath, and use it as a way to defend yourself."
Felix looked down at his stubby blue fingers, clenching and releasing his grip to feel for any such force. There was none. "Like how?"
"There exists a simple technique all riolus learn quite quickly known as force palm. To my understanding, they are able to perform this technique by-" The planks behind her exploded with a resounding crack through the air, sending splinters and splattering water flying throughout the air. Felix held on tight as the bridge shook violently from the impact, which sent Petal toppling over onto her face and Star gasping as she struggled to find her footing from the crash behind her.
Within a few moments, the bridge settled. Star looked to where the crash had come from and saw a shattered hole where several boards had been a second ago. Mere fragments of what remained of the planks dangled precariously from the rope, hanging over the churning rapids.
Petal picked herself up and quickly reoriented herself. "What just happened?!"
Felix caught his breath, looking around but not daring to take his grip off the rope. Nothing stood out below them in the river that might have attacked, nor did he spy any figures on the ridges across from them or among the trees.
He looked up.
A stone was careening from above down onto him. He quickly threw himself away from the edge to the opposite rope as the rock clipped the spot of the bridge he was in an instant ago, sending more wooden shrapnel and water in an explosion as they all cowered and turned their heads away.
Felix peeked past the blue arms that had found themselves wrapped around his head, carefully scanning the sky for any more of the attack. Petal slowly crept away from his legs that she had taken cover behind, and Star lifted herself up, shaking her body vigorously to dispel the woodchips that had stuck themselves to her. "Are you two alright!?" she asked.
"Not dead over here," Felix answered.
"Just peachy," Petal joined in.
Star blew out a held breath in relief. Then her head snapped to the other side of the bridge they had been traveling, only for her lips to begin pulling back, revealing rows of pointed teeth. A vicious snarl rumbled out of her mouth.
Looking where her disdain was held, he saw a short, thin purple figure approach from a nestle of trees ahead. A tyrogue.
Two white stubs with big round ears on the pair of them accompanied the tyrogue's side. A tandemaus pair.
A great shadow soared over the team and landed before the end of the bridge. The silver crane held its feathery apron in its mouth, and proudly stood upright with its wings outstretched: a bombirdier.
Within the lump that protruded along its apron, he saw the protrusions of more stones jutting out from it. A quick glance behind himself proved they were stuck between this group, and the drop that had been opened up behind them. A squirtle and poochyena then joined the ambushers' sides from their concealment in the orange bushes.
All together, the group shared a hearty grin at the recognition of the advantage in numbers they held over the three.
"Now what were you thinking, sending off a bright fireball into the sky like that?" the tyrogue asked openly. "Double? Trouble? What do you think should happen?"
The tandemaus pair responded with a tandem, with one cracking their stubbed hands and the other cracking its diminutive neck, in what could be assumed to be threats.
"Double? Trouble?" Felix asked.
"That's the little guys," the tyrogue replied whilst pointing to the mice. "They don't talk much, but they get their point across plenty." Double-Trouble both rolled their small shoulders in sync.
"Such a stupid name…" Petal murmured.
"State your intentions- now," Star demanded.
"Oh, easy enough, really! We're here for the exact reason you think we are; so just hand over the bag the riolu has, and we don't send you or your friends floating face down in the river, vulpix." He pointed to the satchel on Felix's side as he began inching across the bridge towards them. The gang behind the tyrogue filled in at the end of the bridge as he crossed, utterly blockading the exit with their bodies.
Star took a step forward, hints of smoke escaping the corner of her mouth, but a hand stretching out from Felix halted her. "Not again," he said in a low voice to her. "Stick to the back."
Star looked between him and the advancing thief, eyes flickering between contempt and discernment. "Understood. I will be right behind you." She took a couple paces back.
With the new hole open behind them, a turbulent current on both sides, and the gang in front blocking their only exit, Felix took a deep breath and wagged a finger behind his back toward Petal. She nodded her head and began slowly inching towards him.
"Alright, alright," Felix said as he raised his hand above his shoulders and began taking measured steps across the planks, "you can have it- so long as you tell us where Cobb is."
"Hah! Don't'cha see you're not in a spot to ask things of us?"
"Alright, alright." Felix began quickly thinking. "Then… just take the bag. We won't bother you all, and we'll go on our merry way."
"Finally, you're talking sense!"
The tyrogue came to stand before Felix and reached around his side to undo the knot that held his satchel, fumbling with the knot carelessly and leaned in even closer to better handle the stubborn tie.
Once the tyrogue was close enough and certainly distracted, Felix threw his knee up into the tyrogue's exposed stomach, eliciting a hearty blowout of air from the thief before he then shot his arms out and grabbed its shoulders to slam it down onto the crooked boards below. With one quick heave as he grabbed the prone tyrogue's legs as they looked up hazily, Felix swept them off the bridge.
"What the-?!" The tyrogue splashed into the sweeping current below, and was quickly pulled away, arm flailing as they cussed a storm all the way across the powerful stream until they rounded a turn and disappeared from sight.
The gang, now one member less, stared with either blank stares or slack-jawed at the bend.
Double-Trouble turned to Felix, ever difficult to read with their blank faces. They both lifted an arm to him.
A piercing squeak left their mouths and the gang around them immediately snapped to their senses and sprung towards the team at the order.
The bombardier flapped her mighty wings and took off towards the sky above, leaving the tandemaus, squirtle, and poochyena to charge forward with their jaws open wide and letting out fierce cries.
An intense heat flared past Felix's body as a brimming ember shot by his shoulder right into the poochyena's chest, knocking it back into the foliage on the ledge in the blazing burst.
A crescent leaf whizzed past his leg and into the shell of the squirtle, bouncing off the turtle's shell as it clumsily charged and putting it in a spin as it fought hard to remain balanced, then falling feebly in the roaring waters below.
The mice split their advance, Trouble scampering up the pole of the bridge and darting across the rope, whilst Double bounded across the boards.
"I got this one!" Petal whipped her head around, launching another leafage at the mouse on the rope, narrowly missing the critter and slicing the rope, cleaving it in half.
The bridge entered a turmoil and began tilting, forcing the team to scuttle up the taut side to avoid the new dip.
"Petal!" shouted Star, "focus where you aim!"
"Sorry! New to this!"
Double reached Star whilst she was distracted and ran up her side. It bit down on her back, earning a yelp from her as she tried and failed to shake the rodent off with small hops and spins.
Felix reached over and pried Double off with both his hands, holding the mouse up as it flailed about aimlessly and taking chomps out of the air. Pulling his arm back, he slugged the rat into the bushes back across the bridge, removing it from mind and sight.
Star looked to her back, wincing and letting out a small whimper towards a tuft of fur that stuck out, stained a darker red.
Before Felix could comfort her, he spotted Trouble at the corner of his eye.
The remaining mouse crouched and sprang from the rope to him, mouth wide open with a tooth brandished. Felix's arm shot out and caught the single tandemaus.
Pinched behind the neck, the mouse hopelessly squirmed. Pulling his arm back once more, Felix casually pitched the mouse back into the same bushes.
Then the bushes shook and shook, and out jumped the singed poochyena, having recovered from the earlier attack now quickly bolting across the slanted bridge to Felix.
It snarled and snapped at Felix as he ducked to the side, missing him and taking a vicious bite into the rope he had been leaning against before.
His hand curled into a fist, but before he could act, a red blur zipped past him as Star headbutted the pooch in a quick attack.
The poochyena rolled to a stop at the end of the bridge, only for Star to lunge once more at it as it scampered up, knocking the two clear off the rattling boards as they rolled together in a scuffle, wisps of fire and snarls filling the air as the two snapped at one another.
The rope the pooch had bitten began to see its twines snapping. Each crack of the sturdy line tilted them farther, forcing Felix and Petal to hobble up the planks further and further.
Petal poured her strength into climbing the slant that Felix held fast against with a hand on the strained rope, but with no limbs of her own, she began to falter and tumbled back, crying out as she slid back to the ledge. "Blue! Blue!"
Felix released his grip and slid to the slick boards to her, launching out an arm to her as she fell towards the ripping torrent below.
Petal slowly opened her eyes. She was dangling over the river, being held up by Felix who was holding her leaves, his other grip firmly latched onto the now vertical boards that had swung around at the complete weight imbalance.
They swung just mere feet above the current, which was now drenching them in a churned thick mist.
"Don't you dare let go, Blue!"
"Of what? You or the bridge?"
A rough object fell beside them into the water, causing an enormous explosive spray of water. Looking up, the two saw another rock falling towards them. He tensed up as the rock barely missed, crashing into the river below.
"Get us out of here, Blue!"
Try as he might to lift her and himself up with one arm, he could only bring them up a few inches. He tried again in a similar vain. "Not happening this way!" he huffed out.
"So? What's the plan?" Petal asked as she stared up at him.
"Woah! Are you two holding up?" Star shouted. Felix looked over and saw her eyes shot wide open. Her fur was matted with spit and some scratches from her tussle.
"Holding up just fine!" Felix shouted back.
"Well, hold on as tight as you can, I'll see if I can-"
A loud crack rang out as a large rock crashed against the bridge. Shards of wood flew out and the rope finally gave out, sending newly freed boards and Felix and Petal into the rushing creek as they both screamed.
The snap the cold water exerted on his body instantly clung to Felix as his entire body went under, filling his mouth with terrible grime as he tumbled beneath the surface. He felt himself bounce off the slimy riverbed, and flailing about aimlessly as he tried to reorientate and resurface.
Springing his legs off the grime below, he breached the surface of the water and could breathe once more. Struggling to keep afloat and waving his around futilely, he desperately clung to a plank as it floated on by.
Catching his breath, he noticed the splay of three familiar leaves wiggling on the choppy surface close to him.
Reaching out, he pulled up the green bulb with beady eyes. Placing the plant onto the board, Petal shook her body, spraying water around and onto his face. "Whew," she exhaled, "thanks for the save, Blue!"
"Felix!" He turned his head to the ridge above them and saw Star in a full sprint after them along the ledge.
"We're good! Mostly!" he yelled back.
The distance between the two and Star grew; the speed the current carried them exceeded the gallop Star could manage as she hopped over exposed roots, navigated across loose limbs, and dodged sporadic bushes along the lip.
"I cannot help you like this!" she called out, "I will meet you at the end!"
Felix gave her a thumbs-up, or the closest to one he could muster with three fingers on his hand.
Star cocked her head.
"It means 'okay,' got it?"
She nodded. "Very well! I shall remember that! See you soon!" She veered away from the ledge as the distance between them grew even larger, then disappearing into the red and gold brush.
"Yeah, see you soon!" Petal added. She looked to the churning waters that carried and bobbed them along its coursing surface, then to Felix as he rested his arms on the board that ferried them. "We are going to see her soon, right?"
"Well, hopeful- gah!" he yelped out suddenly at a new pain erupting from his lower body, and had to take a moment to place the persistent ache to his tail. Thrusting a hand below the rolling foam, he felt a round, hard surface pull away from his hand after unlatching itself off his tail.
"Blue, what's the matter?"
As he batted his hand to ward off the creature, he felt a piercing crunch now latch onto his arm. He yelped and pulled his arm up, revealing the head of the squirtle from early intently locked onto him as it poked through the surface.
"Oh, geez!" Petal's leaves parted as she tilted forward. A hum emanated off her head as a yellow glow centered off of her began siphoning smaller orbs from the squirtle as it winced in pain, its energy being absorbed right into Petal.
The color of the orbs from the turtle began to fade from yellow to gray, and the squirtle released the grip it held on Felix's arm and slumped back under the water as it pulled away to avoid fainting.
Felix's arm leaked small streams of blood into the river, pulses of pain throbbing from his arm all the while as he readjusted himself back onto the bobbing board. "Thanks for that one. Is that all of them?"
Petal leaned her head past his shoulder, her eyes catching onto something in the distance up the river. "Uh… Blue? We got someone coming!"
"Who is, Star?" He looked behind himself. Sailing above the turbulent waters was a crane, gliding low and fast towards them, carrying something in her apron she held in her pointed beak. "Nope! Not her!"
Petal launched one bladed leaf at the crane, then whipping her head around and slinging two more. The bombirdier swerved and rolled, dodging the leafage barrage before it quickly reached the two.
The crane angled its wings and began to slow, matching their speed and gliding across the air beside them.
Inside the pinched apron, two white, round objects quivered as they moved closer to the apron's exit.
Double and Trouble stared at Felix and Petal as they stood on the apron's edge, one beating its small furry fist into its open palm as it stared deeply into Felix's eyes.
"Oh, you gotta be-" Petal's grumblings were interrupted as the mice belched out a high-pitched screech and leapt onto their faces.
"Ah! Get it off, get it off!" Petal spun around, trying to shake off the rodent that had begun scratching her, whilst Felix attempted to pry off the mouse that was now pummeling his face repeatedly with its small fist.
The board suddenly dipped as the current picked up its speed, hurrying them down a slope with the barreling water past shrubs and trees that quickly passed them by as they scrapped with each other.
Felix finally got a hold of Trouble and immediately flung it away to somewhere even he didn't know, then reaching for Double and pulling it off of Petal as she helplessly flailed around, delivering a similar treatment to it as he threw the creature onto the close-at-hand bombirdier, sending the crane wavering and the two crashing into some bushes above on the ridge.
"Blue! Blue, Blue! Heads up! Drop!"
"What?" He pulled his attention back towards the river.
Just ahead down the current, there was a sudden drop as a roar of a waterfall grew closer and closer far quicker than he would've liked. "Oh, son of a- Hold tight!" He reached out his arm and wrapped it around Petal.
"I- wha?! What's the plan again?!"
Pulling her closer as he shoved away the board from them, he nestled her onto his chest as he tucked in all his limbs, forming them into a sort of ball that began rolling beneath the forceful waves, spinning and spinning and spinning.
Then he felt a sudden drop, falling alongside partitions of water as a thunderous roar surrounded them.
The world entered a churning hum again as they crashed into the water, feeling bucket after bucket of water assault them from above as he toiled beneath the surface. The impact had knocked all the wind out of him, and he desperately waved his legs and an arm around to reorient himself, feeling for 'up.'
His feet slid across the clay riverbed below. Kicking off of the slick surface, he tried in vain to swim up. No matter how hard he pushed his arm down or how he fluttered his legs, he could not rise to the surface. Bubbles escaped his mouth as he choked on water for air. He couldn't see a thing past the murky water. In a panic, he sank down and hastily thrusted himself off the floor again with his legs to the surface, effectively jumping up and poking his head out for a second, allowing him to swallow a breath of air.
He sank and jumped several more times as he attempted to wade to a close shore. Once the depth started to wane, he was able to walk on the tips of his toes with his chin up to breathe on the surface. Soon enough, he was able to walk through the surface and reach the ebbing shoreline. Sopping step after sopping step, he made it off the small beach and collapsed down onto the dirt, letting Petal roll off of him as he breathed heavily.
"You're so lucky… I don't need to breathe as much as you do," she puffed out.
"Yeah, well, well-" he curled up onto his side and began coughing out water onto the dirt.
Petal chuckled. "Yeah, that's what you… what you… Give me a second," she cleared her throat, then groaned, "need to catch my breath first… then I'll say something snarky."
Felix rolled back onto his back, staring up into the orange sky, taking the opportunity to let his stomach settle.
Petal's own short breaths mirrored his own, the two glad to finally have a moment of peace.
Hearing the thunderous waterfall beside them.
…
Their beathing.
…
His pounding heart slowing.
…
Footsteps crunching the silt behind them.
…
His eyes shot open and he scrambled straight up, picking up Petal and standing her up-straight as well.
"Hey! What's the-?!" Petal looked ahead to where Felix had been staring: a ferocious red wolf stood before them, eyes like daggers skewered into them, and a wicked scar across its face.
Behind it along the bushes of their small opening, stood a dark rattata, a red darumaka, and a sopping-wet tyrogue, as well as a modest pile of objects underneath a hoisted tarp beside a log.
The tyrogue began running to them, reaching the red wolf and planting his hands on his knees at the wolf's side as he sucked in breaths. He raised a finger to Felix and Petal. "That's them, Cobb! These two were asking about you!"
The red-maned lycanroc let his mouth partially hang, brandishing his rows of razor-sharp teeth as he glared at them with a piercing red eye. "So," Cobb spoke in a low, abrasive voice, "I set up a small camp here, and within the day, two morons come tumbling in…" He raised a paw and dragged it down across his face as he sighed. "And ain't that troublin'?"
"You're Cobb," Felix plainly stated.
The wolf huffed. "Perhaps. What's it to you?"
"There's ten-thousand pieces being offered for you alone."
Cobb began pacing the ground, looking up to the sky and scratching under his chin. "Ten-thousand poké for just me, is it?" He stopped on a heel and spun to them. "Could I turn myself in?"
His goons began chuckling.
"So it's you, huh?" Petal stumbled forward, then balancing herself back up. "You're Cobb? You're goons have been harassing my mom's farm for who knows how long!"
"What can I say? Everyone's gotta eat!" he chuckled. A drop of drool fell from his mouth. He wiped away the salvia along his jaw.
"Oh, yeah?" Petal's leaves trembled. "Well, have you tried some of my spores? I hear they have a real hold on people!" Her leaves bunched up, preparing to release their paralyzing powder.
"Aww, isn't that cute?" Cobb mocked.
"What?"
The lycanroc raised his front paws and began taunting with them, flicking his digits back and forth towards him. "The little petilil thinks she's something hot! What are you doing? Thinking that ol' trick will work?" he taunted.
"Shut up! What are you blabbering about?" Petal's leaves lost their composure, fanning back out.
"Hey, hey! Don't go getting red with me! I'm just saying what's known! You're no fighter! You're just a small girl! Why don't you have that riolu behind you take a swing on your behalf? I'd prefer that. Maybe I'd actually feel it!" He and his gang laughed harder.
"You- You don't know who you're…!" Petal's head began shaking terribly.
"Hey, focus! Just stun him already!" Felix instructed.
"Yeah, you should listen to him, best decision you can make all day, by the looks of it!" Cobb gibed with a smug smile. "Listen to your boyfriend! He knows better than you, isn't that right. What can you ever hope to do? Oh, I got it!" Cobb waved to his crew behind him. "'Ey, fellows! Watch tiny here!" He began tapping his cheek with a claw, staring deeply at Petal with a complacent eye. "First one's free! Come on, don't keep the crowd waiting! D'aah, what can the girlie do?"
"Oh, that is it!" Petal straightened out her leaves and swung her head around, launching a hooked leaf towards Cobb's head.
Cobb smirked and lunged to the side, avoiding the attack and raising a leg up. He stomped on the ground with a tremendous smack, bulldozing the surface and creating glowing cracks that shot out underneath Felix and Petal, shooting the ground up from beneath them then dropping them down flat.
Felix grabbed his head and shook off the daze he was in, then looked to see Cobb approaching with an evil grin, closing in within seconds. "Petal!"
"I'm… on it," she weakly replied. She stood back to meet Cobb, but before she could act, Cobb grabbed the top of her head and lifted her to his face, then reeled his head back and delivered a crushing headbutt that threw her back to the crowd.
Motionless.
Felix tried to scramble up, but his legs were exhausted and could not muster the strength he needed to move.
Cobb snapped his attention to him and began stomping over, a hunched back and a vile laugh accompanying him. "Come on, then," Cobb goaded, "can the mutt summon up the strength to survive?" Cobb grabbed Felix's shoulders and forced him to stand. "We saw her best. What's yours?"
The red-maned lycanroc leaned down to him, a mocking sneer plastered across the wolf's face that hovered close to his. The monster had known it had won, as did he. Felix growled.
He scoured his mind for any immediate solution. His bag held nothing useful for the moment; no healing berries, offensive items, or saving graces of any kind.
But he was a riolu.
An effective attack at the beast's head right now could knock it out in one blow. He was aware enough of the existence of some elements being more effective against other monsters, and that typically, more muscular monsters tended to fare well when engaging others of stone.
If what Star had said earlier was true, this force-palm technique was his only hope, yet he had only the name of the move to hint him towards how to perform it.
He had to try it.
Pulling back an arm, he sucked in a deep breath and opened his palm out flat. Slugging his hand forward, he produced a ridiculous smack against Cobb's cheek that rang through the air.
Cobb's head had moved a bit to the side, a confused and slightly offended look present on his face as he processed the bare slap.
Some snickering from the others could be heard.
Cobb's ears pulled back, a grin more cruel and spiteful in nature now present. "You shouldn't have done that."
Cobb grabbed Felix by the throat and slammed him to the ground.
Shaking his head, Felix peered past the veil of pain that had obstructed his vision, seeing Cobb lunge at him with teeth bared.
Throwing out his arms, Felix caught the sides of the wolf's jaw and tried to push him away, his heart racing as Cobb pushed back.
The lycanroc's maw snapped at the air between them, sending droplets of saliva onto Felix's face. He tried to push the wolf away, but found he could not as Cobb's teeth drew even closer.
His mouth snapped shut again with a thunderous clack of teeth before Felix's head as he pressed closer. In a final effort, Felix pushed away with all the strength he could find, leaning his head back as far as he could press it into the dirt below him.
Cobb shoved against him even harder, pushing his arms down farther and farther, the wolf's teeth just hovering a touch away from his prey. Parting his jagged teeth, the monster prepared to sink his teeth into warm flesh.
A sudden thwack arrived at Cobb's back, forcing his attention away. As the beast turned around, Felix found he was able to scurry away.
Behind Cobb, Petal stood partially upright, panting heavily with her leaves drooping. "Don't say you've forgotten little ol' me already?" she taunted.
Cobb stood back up, eyes glowing red with hate. "Why- I'll dice you and make you into a fine salad! Come here!" Cobb ran across the ground on all fours to her, mouth hanging open in a snarl.
Petal stared him down unflinchingly, accepting her circumstance and unable to find the energy to act again.
A sudden red glare shot above Felix and crashed into Cobb's back, exploding in a small burst. Cobb yelped and spun around. "Now who the bloody-"
"You will cease at once!" A vulpix with unkempt fur jumped down right in front of Felix, having scaled down the rocky slope of the waterfall near them.
Cobb's crew jumped up from the sidelines, rushing to their leader's side, eager for their own part in the coming battle.
"Surrender yourselves now!" Star ordered, a wisp of fire exhaled from her mouth. "Or I will deliver searing judgment now!"
The rattata hissed and bared its bucktooth. The darumaka flared its body, a tender orange glow pulsing from it, and the tyrogue spread his legs shoulder-width apart, then raising its fists in front of himself.
Yet Cobb looked at her funny. The once scornful gaze in his eyes began to simmer down. He took a step back. Then another. From anger, his crooked brows began to peel back to something akin to fear. "Boys…" he said to the crew that had gathered behind him. "Lads! Book it!"
His three underlings stared bewildered at him. "What?" the darumaka exclaimed. "She's just one vulpix!"
"Yeah," added the dark rattata, "she'll go down quickly!"
The tyrogue prodded at his boss's side. "Cobb! Two of the punks are already down! It's just her left! We can take her out, easy! It's four-against-one!"
Cobb shot his arm out and grabbed the tyrogue, pulling him closer. "You didn't blasted say the third one was a vulpix!"
The tyrogue swallowed nervously. "W-was that important?"
Cobb slung the tyrogue to the side and began darting across the ground on all his legs to a cluster of trees behind them. "I said split!" Just like that, he leapt through the brush, disappearing into orange undergrowth.
The three remaining thugs exchanged confused and panicked looks.
In an instant, they took off after their boss, not hesitating for a second to abandon the camp.
Leaving Felix.
Petal.
And Star.
All three breathed heavily, trying to catch their breaths, and looking at one another at what had just transpired before them.
"Geez," Petal broke the silence, "I know you can be a bit scary sometimes for these sorts of things, but I don't think you're that scary." She got up off the ground, as did Felix, and the three regrouped.
Star pressed her snout into Felix's stomach, brushing her head against him before turning to Petal and enacting the same. "Are you two well? That was far too close!"
"I'm… fine enough. What was that, just now?" Felix asked. "They had us there. If they wanted, we'd be wiped out this second. Why'd they spook from you?"
Star looked down to the ground, then met his eyes. "Because it was not me he was afraid of."
Felix thought for a moment, murmuring to himself. Then a spark of realization. "Willow, is that it?"
"Precisely. I do not doubt they felt they could overpower us decidedly if they wished so. But as you know, Willow and I have always traveled as a pair before you two. When Cobb saw me, he must have believed Willow would be close by, and he's well aware that Willow would be a one-sided battle in his own right- not one he would choose to participate in."
"Willow?" Petal asked as she shook some dirt off her leaves. "Oh, right. That trevenant. Haven't really seen him in a bit, now that I think about it." A thought crossed Petal's mind. "Wait, so what if that dolt didn't think Willow was with you? What'd be the plan then? You were just gonna fight them all?"
Star sighed. Her gaze drifted to the side and her ears flicked, the many tails behind her wavered. "To be blunt: I suppose that would have been our journey's end."
The three stared to the ground, recognizing the sheer luck they had experienced.
"I shall be saying a prayer in thanks tonight, should either of you wish to join me," Star offered, "but for now, it seems our mark has eluded us- for better and for worse. Felix, how should we proceed?"
He thought for a moment. "If the enemy abandons their camp, usually we'd need to be real careful, search for traps and the like." He gestured around them to the open spring around them, bare of any spots where anything might have been hidden. "Doesn't look like we need to worry about that part." He raised his arm and pointed toward the shoddy tarp where a small stash of angular and weird objects laid. "Best bet going forward is to look at what they got; see if we find where their true hideout might be, and not a small rendezvous point like this."
They nodded their heads and walked to the mossy log.
In the small campsite, some ashes and charred wood were found in a small circle of rocks, as well as a few discarded cores of eaten fruits scattered about.
"Petal: keep an eye out, shout if you see any of them. Any of them. If something seems off, call it out," Felix ordered as he knelt to the pile.
"Right-o, boss." Petal hopped onto the log and began surveying the area.
"Star: with me, help me find something."
"Of course." Star joined his side and put her nose to the pile.
Felix began pulling trinket after trinket out of the pile. Forks, spoons, some glass cupware, quills, and screws and bolts. Clean buttons for sewing, small twines of fiber, and a couple bricks and tiles were pulled as well. More and more of the goods seemed to come without end from the small collection, yet there was something about them that drew his attention.
"Hey, Star, don't all of these seem… a bit too clean?" Just as he said, all the items seemed to shine or were unblemished- a far cry from what he had seen at Caelum's house. He grabbed a clean fork, spoon, and cup, placing the items carefully into his satchel.
"These are in rather remarkable condition. Caelum would be delighted to receive curios of such condition!"
"Why are they so clean, though?"
"That is… something I am not keen to. Oh, what might this be?" Poking her snout into the mess, she justled her head for a moment and pulled out a strange black rectangular object in her mouth. Turning to him, she deposited the small box into Felix's hand.
Aside from the small amount of spit from Star, the object seemed like it would fit comfortably in his hand when he was a human. Numerous small, soft buttons protruded from its surface, foreign words etched beneath them as well as numbers, all arranged neatly in rows. A puny, red transparent glass seemed to bulge from the top like a zit. Curiously, he pushed the buttons as Star watched. Aside from causing the dot to glow, nothing else seemed to had happened. He pressed the buttons again in amusement.
"Well, Felix? What does it do?"
He threw the strange object off to the side. "I don't know. Seems like some toy." He continued sifting through the pile, picking up another fork and stowing it away.
Petal giggled. "Geez, Blue. You a packrat or something? Why keep this junk?"
"Eyes up," he immediately replied.
Petal grumbled as he and Star finished pulling apart the pile.
Brushing off some small debris from the bricks, Felix pulled up a crumpled paper detailed with crude, inky-blank lines. Many swerves and childish drawings of trees filled the parchment. Some circles enshrined junctions of these lines at different locations. He thrust the paper underneath Star's nose. "Your turn now. What's this thing? A map?"
Star peered down at the paper. "It would appear so. I recognize this intersection as being along Route 91, as well as some of the other areas.."
Felix rolled up the paper and stuffed it into the bag, then stood up and motioned for Star and Petal to follow. "Good enough for me. Let's clear off before they wisen up; we're in no shape for any engagement."
Petal and Star joined his side as they began walking down a bare path that seemed to stretch and eventually loop back up the waterfall.
"Say, Blue, we got any food? Or berries? Kind of starving here. And hurting. Mostly hurting."
Felix entertained the question and rummaged through his satchel, feeling nothing organic inside the sewn fabric. "Nothing."
"Nothing? Really? We went after a gang leader with nothing?"
Star hummed. "I suppose tomorrow we should garner supplies through a shop. Some things to fuel our spirits and mend our bodies for what is to come. And Felix, if I may suggest," Felix looked to her with a brow raised, "it would do us well to look for some sheets or the like. I've noticed you tend to shiver quite feverishly at night. Perhaps finding some ways to get yourself off the ground should help keep the earth from stealing your body heat while you sleep."
"That's…" he thought for a second, "actually not a bad idea." It was true he had been terribly cold over his many nights in this new world. Maybe improving his living situation would be in order.
"Wait, don't you have your own place with Willow?" Petal asked. "Where've you two been sleeping?"
"Underneath a rock around the outskirts of the village," Star plainly replied.
"I- wha- huh? Why not just sleep at Willow's place?"
"Even in his absence, that still does not make his property mine to lend to others."
The group began ascending the dirty slope, the spray of the thundering waterfall misting the air around them in a haze.
Petal tilted her head. "Yeah, guess that makes sense for a beating heart like you…"
At the top of the hill, Felix could see the sudden drop from the churning river that had deposited him and Petal right at Cobb's feet.
"Hey, Blue."
"What?"
"Thanks for acting like a real pal and helping me out there, you know? Not going to lie, kinda thought you'd just sit in the back and do nothing."
"Oh, well, uh… You're welcome?"
The sky above them had begun to darken, casting the golden foliage around them and the rushing river into a warm amber glow from the resting sun. Some golden leaves blew by in a cool breeze that rustled the radiant feathers tucked behind Star's ear, as well as stirring her and Felix's fur. Content to be somewhat away, he stretched his arms into the air.
Petal fidgeted her leaves, a pensive look about her. "So… what's the verdict? Am I on the team or not?"
"Oh, is that what the sudden thanks was for?" Star teased, "I suppose now is the time to garner any last favor. Personally, Felix," Star nuzzled Petal, much to her feigned annoyance, "I believe she would be a wonderful addition to our team. What say you?"
Felix did not even need to think about it. Truth be told, her ability to paralyze foes would be a very powerful tool, he had figured, but her unwavering actions throughout the day had more than sold him she could be a reliable partner. "Sure," he reaffirmed, "I'd be happy to have her."
"Oh, yeah!" Petal hopped up into the air, then began twirling along the ground in front of them with a pleased look in her eyes. "You're not going to regret this!" She recomposed herself and fell back in line with the group, continuing down their fall path. "Say, what's the name of the team anyway?"
"Oh, right, that. Don't have one."
"No name? Huh. We can always brainstorm one later, Blue. I'm good at picking names."
"Oh I don't doubt it," he chuckled, "I don't doubt it at all."