Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Dare To Dream
Chapter 2
Kill Them with Kindness
A flash of heat erupted before Felix, enveloping his body in a brief and intense heat. A screech from one of the hoothoots pierced the air. He shot open his eyes, seeing only one hoothoot remaining before him; it had stopped its attack and was looking towards a group of shrouded trees behind it. A bright light ignited from within the shadows, which quickly accelerated towards them. Fleetingly illuminating the dark woodwork it passed, it collided with into the owl with a bang.
The small fireball had impacted the hoothoot directly center on its body, launching it away from Felix and rolling to a stop next to its defeated cohort, a thin trail of smoke rising from their unconscious bodies.
Felix looked towards the direction the fireball had come from and spotted the red fox deftly running through the trees, nimbly jumping over exposed snaking roots along the path with a steadfast look in its eyes.
Not thinking twice, Felix tried to push himself off the ground to ready himself in any capacity to meet the fox, but could only get to his knees as searing pain shot through his entire being. Looking to his arms, legs, and chest, he saw they were all dyed with streaks of crimson- each gash burning with contact to the cold air.
The vulpix drew closer still, slowing its pace when it got near enough to see him in greater detail. Shock was written on its face when it saw his horrendous state.
"Woah! You're torn up pretty bad! Don't move, okay? I got a berry you can eat!"
Felix stayed on his knees, unable to bring himself to get up any further. He frantically scanned the ground around him, searching for anything that might serve to help him keep the monster away.
A close-at-hand branch caught his eyes. Crooked, but it seemed sturdy enough.
The fox let the bag on its back slide to the ground and pulled a blue berry from it, then approached Felix. The berry swayed gently from a diminutive green stem that was held softly in the vulpine's jaws.
It drew closer, lowering its body close to his as if to offer the berry it held.
He knew better than to trust it.
Clenching the branch with his right hand, he pivoted his body viciously as he swung at the fox with the tree limb as it ducked with a yelp, dropping the berry onto the soil floor.
The fox leapt back; Felix fell to his rear in pain at the sudden action he performed, but remained upright as he kept the branch leveled towards the beast with both arms, breathing heavily as stings tore through his limbs from the further exertion.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
Felix grew tired of it all. Where was he? Why was he here? Who does this monster think its fooling? He glared daggers at it. "Get away from me! Don't come closer!" He sneered in an attempt to seem as threatening as possible.
He kept the branch pointed at the fox, its face disheartened as it stared at his pathetic form.
Shattering sticks and the crunch of leaves sounded from behind the vulpix, evident beyond. Felix snapped his attention to the new threat: the ghastly tree from before had emerged from the woodwork. It stopped just behind the fox, an analytical gaze observing the situation before it.
It made no further movement.
The fox slowly shook its head, and changed its expression to one resembling sympathy. It lowered its ears and spoke softly.
"Calm down, alright? We're not here to hurt you. I don't know what's going on, but let me help you. You're injured, and injured badly."
Felix didn't want to acknowledge those words. Any admittance to weakness could lead to an opportunist attack from the elemental fox.
He stared back in silence.
"It's alright if you don't trust me, but you need that berry. Blood loss won't wait for you." The vulpix gestured towards the berry that laid between them with its head. The oran berry was tempting. Its round form had rejuvenated his strength out in the field many times before, and he wanted nothing more than to levy the ripping pain that plagued his aching body worse and worse as he exhausted his stamina to keep the branch steady with his bloodied and battered arms. "Look, if we wanted to hurt you, we could've just attacked you when we found you out on the ground, right? Please, trust me. We need to get out of here, and you need our help."
The fox took a cautious step forward. Felix pointed the branch's wooden tip at the monster. It hesitated, and took a deep breathe. It continued with another step. Threateningly, Felix drew back the branch and raised it over his head, ready to strike it against the monster's skull. The vulpix was undeterred, taking a few more slow steps forward before slowly kneeling down and picking up the berry in front of him with its mouth. It drew even closer.
It now stood so close that he could have reached out and touched its fine red pelt. Dropping it before him, it bowed its head with ears pulled back and its eyes tightly shut, wincing with anticipation.
"You need this berry. Please… please calm yourself down, and take it."
His arms shook as he contemplated his next course of action.
"Please…"
His arms uncoiled and swung the branch right into the vulpix's side, producing a loud smack and a howl of pain from the fox as it recoiled back.
Felix threw the branch at it and scrambled up off the ground, beginning to run as fast and as far through the darkness as his battered body would allow him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the vulpix recovering off the ground. The hand of the trevenant hovered over the fox as it rolled up, seemingly stuck in hesitation before finally deciding to pull away.
The trevenant's hollow head turned to him. Its brimming red eye focusing on him as he picked up his pace, breathing hard as he continued to run over protruding roots and loose branches, finally losing sight of the tree specter when he ducked past a thick cluster of rotting trees.
Continuing for some time, he stopped to catch his breath beside a tree. Glancing up between breaths, he found that the trees began to thin out in front of him. Little other than the shortgrass and the open sky of fading amber light surrounded him as he stepped out into the clearing.
Some distance out, he leaned forward and planted his hands on knees, blowing out and sucking in breaths in a rhythm. His heart and mind raced.
Standing back upright, he let his breathing slow. He should be away from them from here.
Looking around, Felix could not place where to go to next. Behind him he knew would be a pair of beasts searching for him, and elsewhere all remained cloaked in the thick curtain of the dark forestry.
He took several cautious steps forward, then stopped at an unusual sensation at his backside. He was finally aware of a curious tingling that trailed behind him: his new tail had been dragging across the brush of grass. The sight gave him a start, and he spun around to escape the appendage as it swung about him in turn. Stopping once more, he felt himself become uneasy at the sight of his new tail. Swallowing down the sudden urge to vomit, he took his mind back off the thing.
As Felix continued through the grotto, he heard another tree fall in the distance, slamming into the ground as many others had before it, briefly silencing the many calls of the night.
He had not thought much of the noise, and continued on.
Then another slam. And another.
The sound continued. The canopies off to his side began shaking and bending as an inhuman strength plowed through trunk after trunk. He stepped away from the lines of trees, looking on in terror as formidable footsteps plowed through the growth.
Another, then another, then another. He could see the canopy of trees in the distance fall to the wayside one after the other.
Each crash of a tree became more impactful and purposeful than the last, closing in on him. An impossibly bulky figure cloaked in the dark emerged behind the trees in front of him. A vicious snarl rumbled from the undergrowth as a dark paw shot out from the shadows of an oak and grabbed the trunk, peeling off the bark like it were paper with grotesque claws. Then with one effort, the tree came crashing it into the ground.
Felix backed away, his heart pounding wildly as a monstrous bear laden with muck and grime hobbled forth from the wreckage; its gigantic frame brushed past the remaining trees as it stepped out into the clearing, letting the final piece of daylight fall onto the crescent moon pattern on its head.
An ursaluna.
The great bear raised up its enormous head and sucked in a massive breath through its wide nose. Lowering its head, it looked at Felix, and licked its brutal chops.
The ursaluna rose onto its stout legs and belched out a guttural roar that held Felix in place as he trembled at the commanding cry, feeling a tremble in his very core at the death knell.
Crashing its forelegs back onto the earth, the beast charged forth with thunderous footsteps, tremoring the ground beneath as Felix broke into a mad dash away.
As he ran, the ursaluna raised a paw and slammed it into the earth with a calamitic. The earth bulged around Felix, glowing between the cracks as a giant stone's edge shot from the earth in front of him, forcing him to a stop as the imposing rock blocked his way.
He turned around just in time to see a spread of claws swipe his away, allowing him to fall back onto the ground just in time to avoid the attack as it grazed past him.
Felix began frantically crawling back away, but found himself pressed against the rock's surface as the ursaluna lumbered forward, its jaw slack and tongue hanging freely.
He leaned back as far as he could against the rock, turning his head away from the ursaluna as it parted its maw, leaning forward with its crushing teeth wide open poised at his head.
A red glare rocketed towards them, and a small explosion boomed at the ursaluna's side as it collided, causing the great beast to roar and rear its head back to the thicket the ambush had come from.
A small red figure leapt out from the brush, shooting another shot of fire that bursted at the monster's side, earning the ursaluna's ire as it turned its great body towards the vulpix that was now standing valiantly before it, eyes steadfast on the beast.
The fox nimbly dashed around the bear as it wildly threw its arm at the vulpix, which the fox gracefully leapt over to land next to Felix's side.
"Stay behind me!" the vulpix ordered.
From behind the fox, he could see on its coat where the its fur stood disheveled when he had stuck it before. Its satchel was once more on its back, as well.
The bear and fox's gazes were locked with another, each snarling and growling terrifyingly at one another in a vicious contest of will.
Felix stood back up, pressing his back against the wall. He took a shaking step an inch away, closely watching the confrontation in front of him.
And he made a break for it.
Darting out from behind the vulpix, he attempted to escape past the ursaluna. Consumed by fear and weary, his legs buckled.
"No! What are you- Look out!"
The ursaluna raised its claws at Felix once more as he lay down, preparing to ravage him in one strike. As he looked on in horror as the claw came swinging at him, a red blur collided into his side, knocking him away as the bear struck the vulpix in his place, launching the fox away as it let out a fierce cry in pain. The brown bag flew off the vulpix as it rolled to a stop along the ground nearby, landing in front of Felix and spilling out a couple berries and a pink, translucent orb.
The wild bear began hulking towards him again. As Felix crawled away, another flame bursted at the ursaluna's side, much to its annoyance. Limping forward, the vulpix came to stand between Felix and the monster, its many tails drooping low to the ground and a crimson gash at its side.
"…The sleep orb…" it shakingly breathed out. "…Use the orb… Now…"
Felix's eyes gravitated towards the pink orb that laid before him on the grass. Grabbing hold of it, he felt the heft of the translucent sphere, and was entranced by how it softly glowed as he held it.
The ursaluna stood upright and bellowed a roar at the two, the whites of its eyes shining brilliantly as it leered at them.
Gripping tightly to the orb, Felix pulled it back, preparing its use.
And slung it as hard as he could at the bear.
The pink orb thudded harmlessly against the ursaluna's thick chest hide, dropping to the ground dully. Letting its body fall back to the earth, the orb was shattered instantaneously as the great bear's foot fell upon it, scattering shards of pink glass whose color quickly began to dull.
The ears on the vulpix folded back at the sight. "What… What have you done?" Steadying itself, the vulpix held its head high and blew out wisps of fire from the corners of its mouth. "It doesn't matter now! I'll… protect you!"
Throwing its body into a charge at them, the beast's eyes widened in anticipation for the kill, its massive bulk nearly crashing upon them as the earth shook below its massive weight.
The trembling earth rose in its ferocity, becoming volatile and knocking both Felix and the vulpix flat on the ground. Even the trees around them quaked.
The soil racked back and forth below the ursaluna, holding it still as the beast looked down in confusion. Then the ground violently tore apart, shooting out large and gnarled roots that twisted and writhed from the earth, whipping themselves into a fury and wrapping around the ursaluna as it roared, tethering it to the ruined earth, refusing to let go no matter how much the bear struggled.
Felix and the vulpix looked to the now tethered ursaluna, their breathes shallow as they watched it fight against the titanic roots which bound it.
Heavy thunks approached from the trees behind them. Looking back, the two found the trevenant approaching from the long shadows of the oaks, calmly walking to the snarling bear's side as it attempted to throw out a claw, but was once more caught and pinned by a bulging root.
The trevenant looked to them, then to the bear, completely indifferent.
Raising its bark-laden arm into the air, glowing green energy amassed around the trevenant's forearm as it looked down upon the pinned ursaluna. With one motion, it crashed its wooden arm down like a hammer onto the ursaluna's defenseless head, blowing out splinters of wood from the fierce impact and kicking up a cloud of dust around them.
Once the air cleared, the once rampant ursaluna was seen lying still on the ground.
Pacified.
After dusting its arm off, the trevenant looked to the panting vulpix with a dimmed eye.
"Your convictions are, as ever, admirable, Star." It let out a sigh. "And as ever, you become blinded with them."
The vulpix hung its head low, still wincing. "I… I am aware. But provide me a moment," the vulpix replied, looking to Felix. "Don't move suddenly, understood- Felix, was it?"
He nodded.
The vulpix smiled warmly, then hobbled past him to the loose satchel beside him, which allowed him a good view of the fox's stained side as they passed. Stooping their head low, the vulpix gently clenched the stem of the oran berry that had rolled out and returned to him, gently placing the berry at his feet. "Here, eat this. It will restore your strength."
Felix slowly leaned out and grabbed the oran berry, keeping his eyes on the vulpix the whole process. Taking a bite of the sweet fruit, he felt his pain subside immediately in a single swallow, washing away his exhaustion in a blissful sensation that filled his body.
"Are you alright? Can you walk?"
"I…" he muttered, "…Thank you."
The vulpix's ears perked up in glee. Looking him up and down, it smiled again in affirmation. "Star."
He stared at the vulpix blanky. "…Star?"
"That's her name, little one. 'Willow' would be my own," the trevenant added as he stooped to the ground and picked up a shard of the shattered orb beside the ursaluna's head. He held the dull gray piece of glass before his eye, examining it quizzingly before pinching the shard and shattering it into fine dust with his thick fingers. "That was certainly a… method of using an orb, little one." Willow tossed the remaining bits aside, then pointed forward to an end of the clearing with sparse trees. "Now, Star, proceed. The exit should be just ahead."
Star nodded. "Of course. Felix, I'm afraid I must insist you accompany us out of this cursed ground; it is far too dangerous for you to linger here." Taking a cautious step forward, her breath caught as she placed her foot in front of her, wrinkling her nose in pain. Taking a deep breath, she continued forward to join Willow's side.
Felix remained still.
Willow threw his arms behind his back and sighed deeply. "Little one, you've enjoyed a rather large share of trouble this evening, and I am in no mood to have the do-gooder drag us out here to fetch you once more." A large root wrapped around a leg of the ursaluna unwound and prodded Felix's back forward, pushing him along as he stumbled towards them.
"Willow, if you would?" Star asked as she pointed with her nose to the satchel on the ground. He nodded, bending over and refilling the contents of the bag with the loose items, then retying it around Star's waist with the torn binding. She turned back to Felix. "We mean you no harm, Felix," Star continued. "We wish to see you safe. Let us go, before more wilds appear."
"Where… where are you taking me?" Felix warily asked.
"Fango Village. It's a settlement just a short walk from here. There, we can be treated at the clinic, then we'll let you be."
Felix hummed a thought. He knew he was in condition to travel alone, let alone this being a good location to organize his thoughts.
Star hobbled to his side. Now that she was closer, a glitter of light atop her head caught his eye. The two feathers she had were not lodged, but had been thoughtfully tucked behind her ears. They shown a brilliant red, white, and green, and almost seemed to be softly shining in the darkened lighting. "I promise you that we will keep you safe. I will personally see to it that no harm befalls you. Now, please, we must leave as soon as we are able," she spoke softly.
He slowly nodded. "Right, right…" Standing up, he finally found himself able to hold his eyes onto her own. "Then please, lead the way."
—-
An open and free night sky now replaced the dreary atmosphere of the woods they had just left behind, a calming cool breeze flowing freely without obstruction from the blockades of dying trees. Stone plateaus of various elevations and shrubbery adorning them surrounded the group as they traveled, becoming a sea of swooning hills dotted with jutting rocks and natural platforms of stone. Looking up, a full moon illuminated the hills of the rolling plains. Its silver sheen was brilliant, casting a welcoming light onto the earth below the sparse clouds. A faint flicker of light rested near the dim horizon.
Willow stretched out his arms, and basked in the enchanting moonlight. "Ah, feels just wonderful to finally be out of there," he gleefully announced.
Felix looked down from the moon to Star, who had been walking beside Willow ahead of him. She seemed particularly enraptured by the stars above them. The waves of gentle blues and purples of the cosmos above were speckled with dots of light, and a single breath-taking streak of soft yellow cleaved a large portion of the night sky into two. The starlight seemed to beautifully reflect off the sheen of the feathers she wore.
Her fur was all disheveled and blotched in some places by blood that had darkened and become stiff. The curls on her head and tail had become a tangled mess that more-so resembled knots than the prideful upkeep that was maintained just earlier in the day, and the bag she carried now being dirtied itself. She now walked with a certain gait she had not before, as well.
He found himself still clutching his side with some residual pain. The adrenaline from the encounter earlier was starting to leave his system, and the ache from the hoothoots' scratches to his abdomen earlier had begun to resurface.
An inkling of a feeling he was uncertain about filled him as he looked to Star ahead of him, seeing how she wrested her own agony.
Something torn between hesitation.
And sympathy.
Without her help, he would likely never had escaped from that forest.
Now was as a good time as any to ask some questions.
He picked up his pace, coming to walk beside her and cleared his coarse throat. "Uh… vulpix?" Felix asked.
"Star," she corrected.
"Right, right. Star. You have a name, that's right." She shot him a curious glance, then returned to her gaze of the stars above. "Why… why'd you come after me?"
She dropped her longing towards the night sky. "Because you needed our help," Star replied with no hesitation. "You were found unconscious in the middle of the road, and with nothing on your person…" Her speech began to slow as she heard her own words. Flicking her ears, she turned to face him. "Forgive my asking, but do you remember who or what caused you to faint?"
"I…" He remembered. He knew what had happened. That impossible sphere which blotted the land could not be mistaken, which had swallowed him and his team whole, could not be forgotten. Looking at her, he felt his gut tremble again. If she knew, she might ask what he had been doing- what he was before. "I don't remember."
Star sighed. "It's fine if you are unable to remember. I ask simply because of a dangerous crew roaming these roads as of late, who have attacked and raided passerby for their goods. I pray you weren't victim to such a heinous offense. Riolus such as you aren't a common sight around here, so you would be an interesting target to such a band, if I may be so blunt."
"Riolu…" Looking down to his hands, he clenched and released his grip on his palms, staring at the three-digit paws that had come to replace them. A creeping nausea stirred in his being as he tried to curl fingers that were not there. "…Is that what I am?"
Star was taken-aback, jerking her head back and furrowing her brow in moderate surprise at his statement. "Are you sure that you are well?"
Just up ahead, the flickering light had grown into a sizable fire atop a faint silhouette of a tower as they traveled. Numerous protrusions pointing up from the darkness below and around the tower became visible, looking like sharp rows of canine teeth.
He waved an arm weakly out dismissively. "Nah, I'm fine, really," he lied.
Willow scoffed. "Were it not for her intervention and my own, you would have perished in that forest twice now. Be truthful."
"Willow, now's not the time," Star interjected.
Felix felt a small pool of anger boil in him. "And whose fault is it for spooking me into that place?"
Willow's body groaned as he turned his tree-like body towards him, his red-eye piercing down onto Felix. "Had we known you'd bolt, we would have been more careful in our rescue of you, little one. We had acted in your best interest."
"Is that right? I remember it more like her being the one to come and help me- with all the monsters! You had only shown up at the last second! Where were you before we were about to be gutted? Gathering moss somewhere, like some old log?"
Willow snorted. "May I suggest that if you're so concerned about your safety, that you learn to throw a punch? Maybe perhaps learn not to bungle the only orb she had? I must keep my interference with her work to a minimum."
"Willow, stow it," Star ordered.
His eye fell onto her, Star returning the glare. After a moment and seeing how she would not yield, he let out a sign. "But of course. We're nearly there, anyhow. Let's not dawdle." He hastened his pace, walking in front of Felix and Star as he made his way towards the growing glare of light.
Star stepped closer to Felix's side, trying to meet his averting eyes as he glared to the ground. "Sir, I'm aware you must be exhausted, but please attempt to remain calm. Look, just ahead- we are here."
Looking up, he saw a settlement come into view.
The great lick of flame atop the wooden-beam tower writhed, raging against the brisk wind of night as it yearned for the heavens above. Illuminated by the burning brazier tower above them, the dark fangs below revealed themselves to be scattered and tattered make-do tents, many filled with tears and lined with stitches on their loosely-strung canvas, many tucked between spread trees. Small, golden charms hung freely at each of their entrances.
Ahead, Willow remained still besides two tall wooden poles near the settlement. Both were decorated with metallic windchimes that glistened from the fire's light and softly rung as they swayed. The dirt path passed right between them, weaving into the settlement, branching off at many points like a great forking river and dotted with shrubbery and protruding torchlight.
Willow turned to them, extending out a thick wooden hand.
"Welcome to Fango Village, little one," he stated proudly. "As a representative of the New Galar Expedition Company, we extend our hospitality to you."