Umbra
"If you have seen a sneasel around, then you will tell me where he is, if you know what's good for you!"
Haru glanced uneasily to the mawile on the far side of the clearing, then back to her companions. There was something about the mawile, about the way she carried herself, that screamed danger. Haru's instincts told her to run. If there was a body of water nearby, perhaps she would have dived down to wait out the danger.
Still, it seemed like she was looking for Nip as well. And if that was the case…
Her nose twitched as she stepped forward, choosing her words carefully. "We're actually looking for a sneasel right now."
The mawile looked her over, seeming to size up the quartet. Then she turned away, speaking over her shoulder. "So, I suspect I am on the right path. That is all I needed to know." She raised one paw back over her shoulder. "You should turn back now. It will be dangerous ahead. He is dangerous and is not to be taken lightly."
Haru glanced back over to her three travel companions. Shimmer had climbed down from Muse's back, and walked forward to stand beside Haru. "With all due respect, miss scary mawile, we kinda have our own reasons for looking for him. He's in biiiig trouble with our village, see. Maybe we should team up?"
The mawile paused, the second jaw on the back of her head opening ever so slightly. She turned back to give Haru a dangerous look. "Is… that so? You've spoken with him, then?"
Haru took a single, unnerved step back. "I…"
"I take it that means you have been harboring him, then, and that is why I have not been able to find him." When none of the pokemon answered right away, she scoffed. "You best leave now; you're trying my patience. My business is with him, and I have no time for pokemon such as you that might get in the way of my goal."
"What's her problem?" Shimmer mubled, a pout forming on her face. "Is it just me or is she behaving kinda irrationally? I'm sensing some real anger in her."
"Let me handle this, Shimmer," Muse said, stepping forward. Then she addressed the Mawile. "I'm afraid this is our business. Nip needs to be brought back to our town to have his misdeeds there addressed. He was staying there for a time, yes, but he's run off now."
The mawile narrowed her eyes and snapped her jaws threateningly. "I do not work with mon that would harbor a bottom feeder like him. This is my final warning. Turn back and allow me to deal with my kin's problems, or I will be forced to be rid of you too."
Haru gulped nervously. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words died in her throat. This mawile was crazy! Was she really threatening them? It was instead Toshi that stepped forward. "Sorry, but we have a way of doing things around here, and we can't let you leave until we know what's going on. You're kind of… acting weird. How do we know you're not help him?" Shimmer and Muse glanced to him for a moment, then - getting the idea - rushed ahead to block the exit.
The mawile watched as the two moved into place with a flat expression, though that expression quickly soured when Shimmer and Muse stayed put. "I don't have time for this. Out of my way." Without warning, she dashed towards the Kirlia.
"Here she comes!" the absol cried out, pushing Shimmer out of the way. The kirlia stumbled and fell, and the mawile's jaws closed on nothing but a tuft of furn.
Everyone scattered, making some space between themselves and their opponent. Missing her attack hardly phased the mawile. By the time she had landed, she was already spinning to face her opponents again.
Muse was the first to meet her, pouncing forward with dark purple energy forming a glowing aura around her horn. The two met in the center of the clearing, Muse swinging her head to the side to slice at the mawile as she ran by, the other blocking the brunt of the blow with her steely jaws.
As the mawile turned to pursue Muse, a small branch, glowing with psychic energy, was swung at her head. She stopped in her tracks and turned to glare at the kirlia that had tossed it at her. Deciding that she looked like a much easier target, she turned her attention to Shimmer instead. The top of her head seemed to glisten in the light as she charged.
Caught off guard, Shimmer shrieked and let out pulses of fairy-type energy in hopes of slowing the mawile down. "EEK! No! Bad mawile, stay back!"
"Shims!" Muse called out, running towards the kirlia. "Move! Teleport out of here!"
"I'm not leaving you guys behind!" she called back, but she did close her eyes to focus, warping across the field at the last possible second.
"Hold still!" The mawile called out in frustration, whirling around, only to be greeted by not one, but two bidoofs rolling - no barreling - towards her, quickly picking up speed. She only just barely sprang out of the way of one of them, the other one knocking her arm and shoulder. While the one that missed slowed to a stop to realign themselves, the other kept moving, picking up speed as they rolled in a wide arc in the field to turn back to her.
This time, however, she was ready. She braced herself as the bidoof came speeding towards her yet again, waiting. The two made hard contact, knocking her back a few steps' worth from the force of the blow alone. But she stood her ground. As Haru bounced back and landed, she dashed forward and raised a jaw full of razor-sharp fangs, managing to clamp down Haru's abdomen as she tried to recover.
The bidoof let out a pained squeal, panicking and struggling in her grip. "Ouch! Let go! Guys gett'er off me!"
"Sis!"
The mawile turned her head towards the voice. Toshi had recovered, now running at the mawile, his face contorted in concentration. As he drew closer, water began to form and spiral around his tail.
"Your fighting skills leave a lot to be desired," the mawile growled. With practiced motion, she swung her jaw in an arc, tossing Haru in the direction of her brother, using her as a living projectile to throw off Toshi's pursuit. The bidoof landed with a heavy thud, dazed for a moment as the world swirled around her.
Haru felt herself being pushed up as Toshi struggled out from underneath her. She groaned and shakily pushed herself up to her feet. She could feel the sticky sensation of blood on her back and could see an oozing row of punctures along her stomach. Fortunately, the wounds seemed shallow, not that it was much of a relief.
Toshi took a second to look her over. "Take a moment to pep yourself up. I'm getting back in there." He waited for her to huff out an agreement before turning back towards their opponent
She sat back on her haunches to reach into her bag, fumbling for an oran berry. Once she felt her paw brush up against the thick rind of one of the life-saving berries, she pulled it loose and popped the entire thing in her mouth, spitting out the nasty, bitter rind as she fell back onto all fours and took off after her brother. By the time she caught up, the bleeding had already stopped, though the wounds were nowhere near healed yet.
The mawile danced out of the way of a headbutt from the younger bidoof, ignoring him in favor of charging towards Muse with fists raised. The absol steeled herself for the blow, magenta energy surrounding her horn. A pink energy surrounded the mawile's claws as she drew closer; the force of Shimmer's confusion attack did little, but did slow the mawile enough to soften her opening blow.
At the last second, the mawile leapt into the air, coming crashing down with her arms stretched out onto Muse, sending the two of them tumbling to the ground. The absol slashed and kicked at the smaller pokemon, trying to knock her away as she grappled with Muse's thick mane, her second jaw snapping and trying to find a purchase. Most of Muse's strikes did little more than swipe uselessly through the thick fur around her legs or leave small nicks in the mawile's steely jaw.
"Shim-" the absol cried out, only to cut off with a yelp when the mawile managed to land a punch to the jaw.
"I'm trying!" Shimmer called back in a panic, one hand stretched out toward the struggling pair, and the other clutching her head as she tried to grab hold of the mawile again with psychic energy. "You're moving around too much, I can't get a good grip!"
"Don't worry!" Toshi yelled as he ran past the kirlia. "I'll help out!"
He stopped barely managing to avoid being flattened when the two rolled, exposing the mawile to his side. He raised up on his hind quarters, throwing his weight into the mawile in hopes of pulling her down, trying to bite down on her shoulder. She let out an angry screech, jabbing him in the stomach with her elbow. Still, he refused to be pushed away, managing to bite down on one of her ears.
As soon as his back legs hit the ground, he pulled with all his might, pulling the mawile down with him. She let out an angry screech, flailing in the fallen leaves as she tried to right herself. Still, Toshi did not let go, even when she did manage to get on her feet, a determined expression on his face. The mawile breathed heavily, chest heaving as she stared the bidoof down with clenched fists.
Haru let out a triumphant cry as she rushed over to meet and help her brother, Muse carefully climbing back to her feet behind her.
With a pained grunt, the mawile suddenly yanked her head, pulling Toshi loose from his braced stance, He was tossed into the air when he didn't let go to of the ear, clinging as long as he could even as it began to tear. As he flew through the air above her, she sprang up and whipped her head to the side, using her jaws like a club to knock him out of the air, slamming him into the ground. A storm of leaves blew up from the ground around where he landed just from the sheer force of the attack.
But the mawile wasn't finished. She landed and barely dodged out of the way of a slash from Muse, the absol's horn brushing up against fur as she stumbled backwards. Muse kept up the attack, advancing on her as she tried to spring further and further away, until she spun and clubbed her with her jaws too, sending her sprawling.
With Muse dazed, the mawile took the opportunity to dash towards the still recovering Toshi, the bidoof struggling to get back to his feet after the brutal blow. She snapped the defenseless pokemon up in her jaws in one fluid movement. Fangs dug into Toshi's exposed belly. He let out a shrill, pained squeal, freezing everyone in place with horrified expressions.
"Nobody move!" the mawile shouted as she clenched her jaw. Toshi cried out as the fangs dug deeper, blood seeping around the punctures. Once she was quite certain that she had the attention of the others, her grip loosened slightly, just enough to relieve the pressure while preventing escape.
"I would not normally resort to such cheap tactics," the mawile began, punctuated by huffed breaths, her face scrunched in anger as blood dripped down her wounded ear, "but I refuse to let you waste my time any longer. Any sudden movements and I'll snap him right in half!" To punctuate her words, she squeezed the unfortunate bidoof in her jaws again. He squealed and went limp in a desperate attempt to lessen the damage.
Haru glanced nervously to Muse and Shimmer as the mawile began to back away towards the nearest path out of the clearing, the other two just as frozen as she was.
Or so it seemed.
Although Muse was just as still as she appeared, Haru could see the look of concentration on Shimmer's face. Stealing a cautious glance back to Muse, she could see the absol's bag jostling ever so slightly. She turned her gaze back to the retreating mawile, not wanting to draw attention to whatever the kirlia was doing.
The mawile - and her bidoof hostage - were almost halfway across the clearing by the time Shimmer spoke up, her voice surprisingly clear and level, considering the situation.
"Hey, hold on just a moment!" she called out. "Where do you think you're going with my Toshi-kins?"
For a moment the mawile kept walking, ignoring her, but she seemed to think of something and paused. "I have no interest in harming him further, so long as you three do not get in the way of my goal. Once I am certain you're not following me, I will let him go, so that he might find his own way home."
Haru glanced back to the kirlia for a moment, watching the psychic type flinch. Or at least, it appeared to be a flinch, but Haru had seen that expression enough times to know better. A psychic pokemon teleporting themselves was easy enough; teleporting other pokemon or items was a whole different problem. The kirlia closed her eyes, sucking in a deep breath. "Well… I suppose I can't let my dear Toshi get hurt, can I?" A pause, a beat of silence followed. Haru did her best to ignore the floating orb. Wait, was that an—
Then Shimmer squeezed her eyes tight, clenched her hands into fists and used her psychic abilities to slam the orb down directly on the mawile's head. The glassy ball shattered at the impact, swirls of bright blue mist bursting forth and spreading out through the clearing in tendrils. Some of the tendrils only made it as far as the mawile and Toshi. Glowing, psychic energy quickly began to spread over the pokemon from where the mist made contact.
The mawile growled, swatting at the mist only for the energy to spread even quicker. Once she was fully enveloped there was a bright flash of light, and then she was gone. Toshi fell to the ground with a pained whimper, only to disappear a few heartbeats later.
"Oh no, that's not the totter orb!" Shimmer exclaimed. "Good going, Shimmer. Everyone get ready, looks like we're making an emergency exit."
Muse turned to spring towards Shimmer, allowing the kirlia to grab hold of her as they were hit by the nearest tendril of psychic mist.
"Toshi, hang tight!" Haru called out as she dashed towards the nearest tendril, tensing as psychic energy washed over her body. Then they, too, were gone in a flash of light.
Haru had been through the sensation of teleportation a few times in her life, mostly through psychic-type children messing around in their youth. She could recall a time when a younger Shimmer had tried to teleport her away so that she could talk to Toshi alone. She'd only succeeded in accidently dropping her into the nearby river.
An escape orb behaved like an emergency teleport, creating an escape route when the orb shattered. It felt like she was falling from a high place, only to pull up at the last second. Suddenly, she was sprawled out on the ground near where they entered the dungeon, the last undistorted place they'd been.
"I'm never going to get used to that," she groaned.
It took her a moment to reorient herself as her vision returned, along with the familiar smell of tree sap and wildflowers. A few feet away Shimmer and Muse were recovering - or rather, Muse was recovering while Shimmer looked her over for injury. Figures, Shimmer would have been used to teleporting, after all.
But she had bigger problems. Toshi? Where was he? The bidoof raised her nose up into the air, sniffing, tensing at the smell of fresh blood. She turned her head towards the scent and caught sight of her brother lying several bodylengths away, halfway beneath a bush.
"Toshi!" she cried out, rushing towards the injured pokemon, only to stop short when she caught sight of cream fur just a few steps away. The mawile groaned as she climbed to her feet. Haru quickly moved to put herself between the hostile pokemon and her younger brother. A quick glance told her he was conscious, though in bad shape. Several deep punctures oozed blood that matted up his fur. He let out a high-pitched whine as Haru stepped into his vision.
"Haru… my leg hurts real bad." His voice came out a hoarse whisper.
The mawile caught sight of her a moment later. "You! What have you done?" she spat, clenching her hands into fists. She widened her stance in an attempt to appear larger and more intimidating. "We're outside the dungeon now. I've lost nearly half a day's search thanks to you! Any chance of finding a trail will be gone now!"
Haru heard Muse and Shimmer run up behind her, taking defensive positions on either side. "Well that's just fine because you aren't going anywhere," the kirlia said in a sickeningly sweet tone. "Not after what you did to Toshi. You attacked first, after all."
And yet… were they really in any position to make demands of the mawile? Muse looked exhausted and worse for the wear, with clumps of fur missing here and there, and shallow cuts and scratches along her flank. Shimmer was physically unscathed, but Haru imagined she was likely mentally taxed after using so much psychic energy in such a short period of time. And she wasn't looking good, either.
She gulped as she realized that if they got in another fight with the mawile, they would not win.
The mawile scoffed and turned her head. "Why should I waste any more time with you? You are obviously no match for me, and the dungeon would finish you off, should you attempt to pursue."
Haru caught sight of a grin on Shimmer's face as soon as the mawile turned away. The kirlia had something planned, that much she was certain of. "If you had just agreed to talk things out and explain why you're trailing Nip, this all could have been avoided," she pointed out, her voice wavering and exhausted.
The mawile turned her head back for a moment, then turned away entirely, fangs snapping dangerously before she began to walk. She stopped a few paces away, however, to speak. "Because I am only concerned about what he did to my kin, not yours."
"But if we've both have reasons to track him down," Haru argued, "we could have worked together."
"I do not need pokemon like you slowing me down."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Toshi said, shakily trying to climb to his feet behind the girls, glaring daggers.
"You are weak," the mawile replied bluntly. "And you have no knowledge of the situation at hand."
"You don't have knowledge of our situation though," Muse pointed out, raising a paw. "We have our own reasons for tracking down that sneasel."
"Perhaps I did not make myself clear? I do not care about your reasons. I will be going now; I have wasted enough time."
"You'll be doing no such thing!"
The whole lot turned their heads to look to the side, Shimmer punctuating the motion with an, "it's about time."
Three pokemon appeared amongst the trees, rushing ahead to help surround the mawlie. Anu dashed ahead at unnatural speeds, cutting off her path. A fiery rapidash followed close behind with an espurr clinging to her back.
The mawile turned to look to the arriving pokemon with narrowed eyes, before whipping her head back go glare dangerously at Shimmer. "You… you called for them?"
With help having arrived, Shimmer relaxed, no longer at attention, and leaned against Muse, draping her arms over the absol's side. "That's right! We couldn't let you just go after attacking us without explanation. You'll be coming back with us to the village now. Oh, by the way, there's a leaf stuck to your shoulder."
Shifting her gaze slightly, the mawile made note of the leaf Shimmer mentioned and shook it off, then turned her attention back to the new arrivals to size them up. "You are wasting my time," she growled. "The longer I have to spend dealing with you, the more likely it is that he will get away." Still, she made no motion to attack.
Anu turned his attention first to Shimmer, raising a paw up to his chest, and took a deep breath to steady his speach. "Blessings from 'Gigas that you are safe, my lady. Essra filled us in on the details you sent her along the way. Th-thank you for calling for us."
He then turned his attention to the aggressing mawile. "A-As for you… You don't have to worry about the sneasel — that is who you're looking for, I assume — getting away. We are watching every known exit of Sunglow Thicket. No one will be leaving without us noticing. But I'm afraid… I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to come with us back to Theran Village. We can't let your aggressive attack just go. Do not worry, you'll have a chance to explain yourself. If all is well, we will probably let you leave town afterwards, after passing judgement."
The mawile turned on him with a snarl, flexing her fingers and raising her steel jaws threateningly. But still she only held her ground. A tense, silent moment passed, then she finally relaxed, if only slightly. "Fine. I will go with you for now, only because it would do me no good to waste my energy fighting. Maybe then I can convince you why it is so important for me to be out here hunting for Nip. Make it quick."
The lucario flinched at Nips name, then paused to brush a paw against his aura sensors to calm himself. "Very well." He turned his attention to the espurr. "Ah… Essra, will you help Shimmer get Toshi situated on Muse's back? Then Muse, would you please take him to Lecha for treatment?"
"Of course," Muse replied, bowing her head.
"Mmm, you got it, Boss," the espurr said, waving a paw before shimmying down off of the rapidash's back. She landed on the ground hard, holding out her arms to steady herself.
Satisfied, Anu turned his attention to Haru. "What about you? Your wounds do not seem as deep, but if needed I'm certain Romi would give you a ride back."
Haru winced, standing up on her hind legs to get a better look at the bite marks on her stomach. Now that the rush of battle was starting to wear off, she found herself a bit weak in the legs, pain starting to take its toll. Still, her stubborn pride got in the way.
"I'm… I'm fine," she decided, lowering herself back to the ground. "Yes, I can walk."
Anu let out a quiet hum, raising a paw to his chin and tilting his head slightly. "Very well. Let me know if you change your mind."
"I am going to go ahead with Toshi," Muse announced, turning her head to check up on the injured bidoof. "I'll let the others know what happened."
The lucario dipped his head. "Run swift as Dialga's Messenger."
Muse looked away, a slight, sheepish grin on her face. "Thank you for your blessing, Anu." Then she took off at a jog down the trail.
Anu turned his attention to the remaining pokemon. Both Essra and Shimmer had seated themselves on the back of the rapidash, who took up the rear. Anu led the way, with the mawile just a bit behind him. Haru fell in line just a bit behind her, not wanting to be anywhere near those jaws, but also wanting to be able to keep an eye on her.
"Is it really alright to pull this many pokemon from watching the exits?" Haru could not help but ask.
"Romi and I came from separate groups, so that there's still pokemon there to watch," Anu replied, holding up a paw in the air. "I'll be sending her and Essra back after we get to town though."
Haru hummed in response and said nothing more, instead dedicating her energy to keeping pace with the longer-legged pokemon as they made their way back to the village.
"Alright dear, you're free to go, but I want you to relax and do nothing strenuous for the rest of today. And tomorrow, if you can help it. Understand?"
Haru bowed her head slightly in response to the aromatisse, holding in a frustrated sigh. "I understand Lecha, thank you."
By the time Haru returned to town, Lecha was nearly done treating Toshi, his fur damp from being washed of blood, the wounds treated with berry pulp and bandaged, and his back-left leg carefully held in place with a splint. He drifted in and out of sleep while Lecha worked on Haru, planning to stay the night to keep his wounds tended to. Haru silently thanked the fact that Lecha had sent Twi home, making her treatment quiet and far less stressful.
Once Lecha was finished with her, Haru left a few coins in front of the straw bed she'd been treated in, said her goodbyes to Toshi and her thanks to Lecha, and lumbered out of the clinic. She made her way towards the center of the town square, where most of the villagers had gathered.
It seemed that she had arrived at just the right time, as Jhorlo was just beginning to speak as she pushed her way towards the front. He and his two purrloin guards stood in the center of the crowd, the mawile standing a few feet away. Shimmer, Muse, Anu and Whisper all stood in the center as well, though off to the side. Muse and the purrloin stood at attention, while the others were relaxed.
"So, mawile," Jhorlo began, speaking loud enough for the audience to hear. "You attacked a group of pokemon from this village in Sunglow Thicket, or so I heard. Care to explain yourself?"
"It is simple, really," the mawile responded, turning her head to address Jhorlo directly, though with enough volume to also address the crowd. "I was hunting for a sneasel, and they got in my way."
The purugly let out a puff of air, turning his back on the mawile for a moment. "My daughter tells me that you refused to explain the situation, and that they felt they could not allow you to continue without at least that much. So why not explain now? Start with your name, if you please."
She brought a hand up and over one eye, a frustrated sneer working its way onto her face. "You are wasting your time as much as you are wasting my own and giving that piece of dung a chance to escape!" When no one moved, her face scrunched up in anger for a moment, before she forced herself to relax. She brushed her fingers along her damaged earlobe before dropping her hand back to her side.
"Fine. My name is Umbra. It is my understanding that your… 'village' had trouble with Nip. I do not know how many lies he may have weaved, but he and I come from the same tribe. I was sent after him to bring judgement upon him for crimes against our kin."
The crowd around Haru broke into hushed whispers.
"Crimes?"
"What could one sneasel have done?"
"Don't underestimate him, look what he did to us!"
"Quiet, quiet all of you, please!" Jhorlo raised his voice. When even that could not settle the crowd, he yowled even louder, loud enough that some pokemon covered their sensitive ears. Only then did the chatter die down. He turned his attention back to Umbra. "Please, continue."
The mawile raised her hands in front of her, closing her eyes. "That is all there is to it, really."
"If you'll excuse me speaking out of line, I think we have a right to know what crime he caused," Jaques, one of Jhorlo's purrloin guards, said. "There is a big difference between petty theft or juvenile delinquency and, say, murder or stealing an egg from the nursery."
Umbra opened one eye, peeking at the purrloin. "Your tone suggests to me that something of that sort happened here. Am I correct?"
"Indeed, you are," Jhorlo said. He sat down and raised one paw. "This sneasel was found injured in the forest a few days ago. We nursed him back to health, you see. Last night he broke into the nursery and stole one of the eggs before taking off and fleeing into Sunglow Thicket. We have several pokemon guarding every known exit path of the dungeon, to catch him when he attempts to leave."
"Including the entrance?"
The purugly sat his paw back down. "Well…"
Haru held back a snide remark, silently thinking back on how she'd asked something similar, only to be shot down.
"I see. Very well, considering the situation, I believe it fair to tell you what happened in our tribe. You see…" She paused, lowering her head slightly. "Almost two moons ago now, Nip left the tribe in a fit of anger. That in of itself is not a crime, even if it would have been frowned upon. However… before he left, he… he attacked our nursery, destroying several eggs in the process."
Alarmed voices broke out in the crowd.
"He did what?!"
"How could he do that?"
"Only a monster would attack defenseless eggs."
"How could we have ever let him into our village?"
"I do not pretend to know his exact reasons," Umbra said, raising her voice over the ruckus. "We were fortunate that our nursery was well-fortified, or else we would have lost even more. However, none of that matters in the end. What matters is that he did it, and that my attempt to catch him in the dungeon was foiled." She shot a pointed glare in the direction of Shimmer and Muse.
"Hey now!" Haru called out, ignoring the stares she drew to herself with the outburst. "That was a fight that could have been avoided if you had just explained things in the first place. For all we knew, you were there to help him escape!"
Umbra visibly recoiled at the accusation. "You really think I would conspire with that… that… monster? What do you take me for?"
"How are we supposed to know that? You wouldn't tell us anything!"
"I have told you now. And now that I have explained the situation, I need to be on my way before he sneaks his way out of the dungeon."
Jhorlo looked the mawile over for a moment. "Very well. I think we are mostly in agreement." He paused, looking to several faces within the crowd. "You may leave on the stipulations that you do not attack any of our village pokemon again, and that once your business is finished you leave this area and do not return. I do believe that is fair, I think." A few murmurs passed, but no one contested him.
"Very well, I believe I can abide by those rules." She turned and made a motion to leave, but Muse stepped in front of her, bowing her head slightly.
"With all due respect, Miss Umbra, may I offer a suggestion?" the absol asked.
The mawile narrowed her eyes. "Make it quick."
"If you would give us just a night's time to prepare, I am sure the pokemon of our village would be more than happy to help track down Nip. We have reasons to bring him to justice, too. And while we're preparing, we have the town guard, as well as other volunteer pokemon watching all the ways out of the dungeon."
"Except the entrance, apparently."
"I can fix that," Jhorlo announced. "I'll have word sent to the guarding pokemon to spread out."
Umbra blinked once. "Why should I agree to this?"
"There is power in numbers. And besides that, the dungeon is constantly shifting. By sending in multiple teams, we could check multiple zones at once and have a better chance of flushing him out, if nothing else. Sunglow Thicket is not a deep dungeon either, so there's no concern of stretching our numbers too thin."
She paused for a moment, turning her head towards Jhorlo. "Apologies for speaking out of line, sir. But I wanted to get the idea out in the open for everyone to consider while I had a chance."
"Oh no, you are quite fine, Muse," the purugly said. "I think it's a splendid idea. However, we should really be asking dear Anu and Whisper, since they're the ones leading this operation, you know."
Anu stepped forward. "I am… hesitant. To send so many pokemon into a dungeon at once… However, it is likely our best bet."
Whisper spoke up next, raising a wing up as she addressed the crowd. "I don't like waiting… but you make a fair point. By the time we would be ready to mobilize, it would already be dark. Tomorrow, we can split up everyone into teams of three or four. I'll have three sets of two monitoring the exits. Other than that… the number of teams will depend on how many are willing to go."
The hawlucha paused, bringing one set of claws up to her beak. "That said… based on what we know of the dungeon's patterns, if he has not left by morning, he would have to be hiding out in the dungeon's stable zone. I still think it would be best if we stagger each teams entrance by a short period of time, and have each team do a quick sweep of every zone before moving on.
"That will be all, anyone who is interested in volunteering should see me as soon as this meeting is over."
The purugly let out a contented purr. "Very good. That will be all, I believe. You are all dismissed. Spread the word to anyone who may have missed the meeting. And Umbra, I would like a word, if you will?"
The crowd began to disburse in small groups, most of them making their way over to Whisper. Haru began to turn and make her way back towards Lecha's to check on her brother again but stopped when she felt a paw brush lightly against her back. Muse stood just behind her, her expression unreadable, with Shimmer at her side.
"Haru, I'd like to speak to you for a minute," Muse began, raising a paw before walking a few paces away, waiting for Haru and Shimmer to follow.
The bidoof let out a sigh and followed. Whatever Muse wanted to talk about, she doubted she was going to like it.
Their walk continued a little way further, until they were a good distance away from the crowd, coming to a stop under a shady tree. Muse laid down in the shade, gesturing for Haru to do the same. Shimmer took a seat next to Muse, leaning against her side.
"Alright," Haru began, "what do you want now?"
"I think Muse has some sort of plan in mind, don't you Musey, my friend?"
"Indeed," the absol said with a bow of her head. "I brought up the idea of groups going in to look for Nip because… and please don't get mad about this… because I think we need to go back ourselves."
Haru was up on her feet in an instant. "Are you crazy? Look what happened when we tried to do that today! I got hurt. Toshi got seriously injured. It'll take days for him to recover at best! You got hurt and you haven't even gone to get treatment! Obviously, none of us were up to handling a mystery dungeon. We should just leave it up to the pokemon that know what they're doing. Besides, they've got Umbra to help them. I'm sure she can take care of Nip without us."
"Don't you find her story a bit… suspicious?" Muse asked.
"I mean…" Haru trailed off, glancing back in the direction they'd come from. "I found it odd that she only told the story now, under scrutiny, if that's what you're talking about. But otherwise it all checks out. Her story even goes along with his actions here."
Muse opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated, turning instead to look to Shimmer for support.
" I'm with Muse here, Haru," the kirlia said, flipping her hair. "It's just too… odd to me. I'd like for us to go back and try and get Nip's side of the story, at least."
Haru was baffled "Why do you care so much about his side of the story?" she huffed. "For gods sakes, he stole an egg from us Shimmer. He's probably killed Whisper and Anu's child by now. Think about it, use your head!"
Muse closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "We don't know that for sure. Yet. Admittedly, it probably is too late for the egg by now. But… we can always hold out hope."
Haru turned her head to stare Muse dead in the eye. "And why are you taking Shimmer's side all of a sudden? This morning, you were suggesting it was a bad idea. You're supposed to be Shimmer's voice of reason! Besides, the main reason I even went along was because I wanted to keep an eye on Toshi. And look how that turned out!"
"The encounter with Umbra was unfortunate, but not the norm," Muse pointed out, keeping her voice even. "Consider the fight with the fletchinder beforehand. She was in a whole different league than the normal pokemon that live in Sunglow Thicket. I think that with Umbra's appearance, the situation has changed. Besides..." She trailed off, dropping her gaze.
Shimmer gave Muse a scrutinizing look before beginning to run her fingers through the absol's thick mane. "You had a premonition, didn't you?"
"I… Yeah. Before the fight with Umbra. It's the first one I've had since… since before my parents died." Muse visibly sagged.
The change in tone was just enough to make Haru's anger dissipate. "A… premonition? Now?" She hesitated, thinking back to the way Muse had been at attention while everyone else was relaxed when Umbra spoke. She had thought it was just her usual protectiveness of Shimmer, but perhaps there was a different explanation "Is that why you seemed so… on edge?"
"It wasn't much," Muse admitted. "I don't really know what it means. I don't know why Umbra put me on edge, and yet Nip did not, despite him being the one to wrong us. Perhaps I just was not paying close enough attention. If I had, maybe… maybe I could have prevented something. I want to see if I can get Nip to tell us more before the whole of the village catches him."
She turned her head to look at Shimmer, then back to Haru. "Tomorrow morning… I'm going back to Sunglow Thicket, whether you two come or not. I must apologize in advance, Shimmer, if this means abandoning my post."
"Oh Musey, you know I'd never let you go alone!" Shimmer punctuated her statement with a giggle and brushed up to nuzzle the absol's cheek. Muse pulled away just slightly, caught off-guard by the sudden contact, before relaxing.
"Why not just tell everyone? I'm sure they'd understand where you're coming from," Haru pointed out. "Or at least tell Jhorlo, or Anu and Whisper! They're the ones that have a stake in this. The ones that should be handling the situation. Not us. Muse, we're barely adults!"
Muse dropped her gaze. "I didn't think they'd listen."
Seeing the absols lack of confidence, Haru visibly deflated and finally gave the idea some thought. If it had just been a matter of catching Nip for glory's sake, or to show him mercy, she would have no problem just leaving the two to it. But this was different. Superstitious or not, she couldn't risk not acting when Muse sensed disaster. "Fine, I'll help you. But only for the sake of the village."
Muse let out a relieved, breath. "Oh, thanks so much Haru, I really appreciate it. I-"
Shimmer pat her hand against Muse's cheek, making a shushing noise. "It's time to be quiet, guys. Someone's coming."
Haru turned to look behind her. The coast seemed clear at first, but then a group of pokemon rounded the corner. Jhorlo led the group, followed close behind by his purrloin guards. Just behind them was Umbra, her expression unreadable.
"Ah, Shimmer, my dear daughter," the purugly began, bringing a paw up to rub behind his ear. "I'm so glad I found you. I've been talking with Umbra and wanted to let you know that I've offered her a guest room. She'll be staying with us until our resident egg thief is brought to justice. I wanted you and Muse to take her over, if you would."
Shimmer shot a side-eyed glance over to Muse, but quickly shifted to a smile. If she was upset, she did not show it. "Oh, that sounds great, Dad!"
She stood up, stretched, and gestured for Muse to do the same. "Sorry, Haru, we gotta go. I'll be sure to come see you and Toshi-kins in a bit, okay?"
"Great…" the bidoof grumbled, before pepping up just a bit. "I should go check on him, speaking of, and fill him in on what happened at the meeting. Have a good evening, everyone."
The purugly rumbled in amusement. "Tell your brother I wish him well, would you?"
"Of. Of course." Before her mood could give away their plans, Haru turned and began to lumber off at a leisurely pace. Toshi… oh. He wouldn't be healthy enough to go along, leaving her with just Shimmer and Muse as traveling companions.
"Gods, Haru, what have you gotten yourself into this time?"
A/N: Sometimes plans have to go off the rails before things get better, eh? Next time we'll get a chance to see what Nip's been up to, along with learning some other interesting tidbits about the players in this race to catch him. And then the hunt is on, for real this time!
This chapter was edited on 8/16/2020 to make it match edits to earlier chapters. There may be some minor inconsistencies going forward until I can get more recent chapters updated.