Chapter 5 - Hope
In den frühen Jahren nach dem glühenden Blitz und seinem großen Durcheinander der Welt gab es einen großen Aufruhr, um zu versuchen, das Wissen der vergangenen Menschen zu bewahren, so lange ihre Werke noch in Wunder verblieben. Aus dem Wissen, das sie retten konnten, entwarfen die Alten die ersten Rezepte für die Gummis, um unsere Bäuche zu füllen, und die ersten Skripte, die wir lasen und schrieben.
Während dieser Zeit wurden zwei Länder jenseits eines großen Meeres, das sich inmitten der Wirren des Glühenden Blitzes öffnete, unter der Führung von zwei Wanderern besiedelt, von denen niemand weiß, woher sie kamen. Nördlich und östlich des Meeres schlug Klaus der Erbauer sein Lager in einem Land auf, welches die Göttin, die wir „Wirklichkeit" nennen, als Ort der Ruhe von ihren Wanderungen durch unsere unruhige Welt auswählte. Es wird gesagt, dass Klaus wünschte, dass die Pokémon, mit denen er lebte, immer das vollste Verständnis der Wirklichkeit der Welt suchen würde, und gründete ein Königreich zu Ehren der Schutzgöttin, der ihm zuerst Hilfe gewährte, das bis heute „Wahrheit" heißt.
Südlich und westlich des Meeres schlug Galea die Maschinenschlosserin ihr Lager in einem Land auf, das der Gott, den wir „Wunsch" nennen, als Ruheplatz von seinen Wanderungen inmitten der Welt, die wir Heimat nennen, auswählte. Es wird gesagt, dass sie wünschte, dass die Pokémon, mit denen sie lebte, immer von der Sehnsucht erfüllt würden, ihren Wünschen nachzugehen und um ihre umgebende Welt so umzugestalten, wie sie es für richtig hielten. Auch sie gründete ein Königreich zu Ehren des Gottes, der dort wohnte und ihr Hilferufe des Landes beherzigte, das zu Ehren des ersten Helfers noch heute „Ideale" genannt wird.
Weder über König Klaus noch über Königin Galea ist wenig bekannt, da selbst die Arten von Pokémon, die sie waren, im Laufe der Zeit verloren gegangen sind, aber Aufzeichnungen über ihre Sprüche sind erhalten, zusammen mit ihren Namen, ihren Beinamen und dem Wissen, dass die beiden einst von einem gemeinsam stammenden Land herkamen. Es wird angenommen, dass die beiden irgendwann eingeschworene Feinde wurden, denn solange unsere Geschichte aufgezeichnet wurde, haben die von ihnen gegründeten Königreichen noch keinen Frieden miteinander geschlossen, der nicht von bitterer Feindschaft befleckt war.
- Auszug aus »Die Wahrheiter Chroniken – Eine kurze Geschichte der frühen Jahre unseres Königreichs«
Kate's question lingered in the autumn air for a moment, and in his exhaustion, Lyle wasn't sure he had an answer. What were they supposed to do now?
They'd slogged through Waterhead Cave all night, and for all they knew they were the last 'mons standing from the army raid on their encampment. They were dripping wet. They were exhausted. And they were hungry on top of it all, no thanks to the effects of the Mystery Dungeon's Distortion. By some mercy, at least, they had shaken the soldiers pursuing them—but that was just about the only positive he could think of. They had nothing to their names but the little loot they could carry off and some depleted stores of berries and seeds.
Just trying to make sense of it all while lying on the grassy bank of the stream they were next to made his head spin. Götterblut, where were they even supposed to begin?
"Well we could start by taking stock of just what sort of situation we're in," Dalton harrumphed, propping himself upright. "We've been up all night, we're wanted with an entire Fähnlein pursuing us, and all of the potential allies we could turn to are likely captured if not worse. On top of it all, all we have to show for everything are a couple bagfuls of loot that will likely not last us more than a couple moons at most if we tried to lie low. Am I missing anything here?"
The Sneasel sat up after the Heliolisk's litany of trials they were staring down, pinning her ears against her head as she scrunched her face into a sharp frown.
"Well gee, since you're that much of a pill about it, guess we should just lay down and wait to die," she spat.
Lyle sat and looked out at the stream exiting Waterhead Cave blankly for a moment, before motioning to his partners with a shaky breath.
"C-Come on, we need to put some distance between us and that exit," he insisted. "We'll get some ideas later."
Nobody protested the idea. The exit they'd found would probably buy them some time to rest before that Salamence and his underlings caught up, but after a night as disastrous as the one they'd just endured, it was best to play things safe for now.
The four hurried off into the undergrowth, and kept going through it under a canopy of autumn leaves with the ground coated in fallen ones. The trek felt like an eternity, and with the crunching of leaves under their slow footsteps came the paranoia of someone following them. But nobody was. Eventually, they reached a shaded clearing, where Lyle slumped against a rock, panting as the adrenaline finally wore off.
… Lyle tried to take stock of his circumstances, only to keep finding himself at a loss of ideas of what to do. There was no band of fellows to turn to, and splitting up and attempting to each go to ground on their own meant having no one to come to their aid if they were spotted or identified. Besides, part of him was terrified at the thought of being alone right now. Especially with those damned soldiers surely still skulking about to hunt the lot of them down.
The Quilava folded his ears back and grimaced, when Irune plodded forward and gave him, Kate, and Dalton an askew glance.
"Do you believe me now when I told you the army wanted to use me to get a treasure from the Divine Roost?" she asked.
The three Outlaws traded looks with each other for a moment, before grudgingly agreeing that as fantastical as it all sounded, maybe the little axe-face really did have something going on with the place. Something important enough that soldiers would shake the heavens to try and snatch her over it.
"I mean, they kept calling you a 'Dyad'…" Dalton murmured. "Whatever they're after you for, it's not for simply stealing a couple things in the hinterlands."
"Look, you've established it's possible your story's isn't completely bunk," Lyle harrumphed. "But where are you going with this?"
Irune bit her tongue and hesitated briefly, looking over the three Outlaws before sucking in a sharp breath and sighing.
"Well… I need to still make it to the Divine Roost, and it's not exactly a journey I can make on my own," the Dragon-type began. "That's… why I was going to ask for your help to get there."
The Axew's offer made the three Outlaws' faces fall. The Divine Roost was an island floating in the air above the middle of the sea, only accessible by traversing to it through one of a handful of particularly harsh Mystery Dungeons about Varhyde, with the nearest ones being almost halfway across the kingdom from where they were. After everything the little scaly runt had brought on them, she expected them to stick with her on some journey across the entire kingdom?!
"No way," Kate retorted. "Those Grünhäuter kept singling you out every time we ran into them."
"And the approaches to the Divine Roost are all the way at the other ends of Varhyde from here!" Dalton added. "You can't be mad enough to think you can get there with that sort of force chasing after you!"
"Look kid, we were lucky just to get away from everything last night," Lyle huffed. "We're already in a deep hole right now, so why on earth do we need to get involved in your problems?"
The Axew squirmed briefly, her eyes shooting wide as Lyle and the others waited briefly. The Dragon-type gave no reply, prompting the three to already start to turn away. With an almost desperate air to her voice, Irune stammered and cried out to her fellow Outlaws.
"D-Do you really think those soldiers are just going to let you go if you abandon me?!"
Lyle and his teammates froze at the Axew's question. They weren't exactly notorious Outlaws. Why, the last time Lyle saw a bounty posted for him, it was worth about a thousand Carolins. About two weeks worth of pay for the sort of field work he did. … At the same time, after letting Irune free in the first place and everything that had happened since then, betting on that Salamence Graf not sparing a few soldiers to seek them out in the area and make examples of them was… an optimistic assumption, to say the least.
Irune seemed to notice the other Outlaws' hesitation and shook her head, hardening her features into a stern scowl.
"Look, I know that we've all been through a lot and this isn't exactly a good situation, but we're all in a boatload of trouble right now," she insisted. "The only way that we'll get through it is if we stick together!"
"Yeah? So then why the Divine Roost in particular, then?" Lyle asked. "As much as everyone wants to get paid, how lucky do you think we're going to get while taking on a whole Fähnlein?"
"The idea wouldn't be to take them on, it'd be to beat them there," the Axew said. "If we're going to need to get out of these parts anyways, what's a little extra distance?"
The Dragon-type looked at the other Outlaws, who gave wary glances back at her. She paused briefly, before sighing and shaking her head with a low grumble.
"Besides, I'm aware of how tough this journey is going to be, and I'm prepared to make it worth your while if you'll help me. When we get to the Divine Roost, we divide the treasure that I and the Balance Bandits were after. Evenly, four ways."
Was this 'mon nuts? After everything they had been through, how could this scaly runt still be thinking about treasure right now?!
Lyle reflexively opened his mouth to loudly reject her offer only to catch himself. As much as he just wanted to melt away and hide, it was hard to say with a straight face that he had much of a future if he did that. From the wavering looks on Kate and Dalton's faces, it seemed like they'd come to the same realization themselves.
The more the three brigands thought about it, the more they realized that maybe this kid was onto something about this 'treasure'. Graf Wellenhafen₁ wouldn't have gone around with an entire Fähnlein for the sake of a few baubles from the Divine Roost. So then, it begged the question…
"Just how much treasure are we talking here?" Kate asked.
"There's at least one chamber that hasn't been looted yet. Big enough for a Wailord to fit in!" Irune exclaimed, waving her claws out wide for emphasis. "From the stories I heard of it, it's supposed to be filled to the brim full of gold and jewels that were brought to the Divine Roost as offerings through the ages."
Kate and Dalton seemed to ease up tentatively at the idea, and even in his fatigued state, Lyle couldn't help but smile at the thought of the idea of a payday that would allow him to live like a literal king. He'd never have to worry about eating well again, he wouldn't have to work another day at a place like that damned berry field, and it'd keep its value even if the rest of Varhyde burned to the ground!
Seeing that she'd piqued the brigands' interest, the Dragon-type warily studied the three's expressions, and after a brief, hesitating quibble of her mouth, continued on.
"It's not just Mystery Dungeons from Varhyde that link there, either. There's ways of going to and from that place to other parts in Wander," the Axew insisted. "If you felt like it, you could vanish off to a distant land that might as well be a whole different planet."
Kate flattened her ears out at the Axew's appeal. After all, there were but two lands who had Mystery Dungeons that were said to directly link to the Divine Roost. Varhyde was one, and the other…
"Oh yeah, jump from Varhyde to Edialeigh. I wouldn't call running away to a warzone where our accents will give us away an upgrade," Kate scoffed.
"That's… only partly true," Dalton explained. "There's said to be connections in those Mystery Dungeons that radiate out throughout Wander. Granted, they're volatile enough to not be mapped, but…"
"With the sort of treasure at stake, it wouldn't matter," Irune said. "Assuming you didn't drink and gamble it all away, it would be enough to buy you a comfortable existence for the rest of your lives anywhere you wanted in all of Wander!."
Lyle… admittedly didn't know if he was ready to flatly leave Varhyde for parts unknown. He knew he wasn't on good terms with his family, but even if he was in trouble now, something about just giving up hope entirely of ever smoothing things over with them didn't sit well. But if this treasure was big enough that Irune was talking about buying a peaceful life anywhere on Wander… wouldn't it also be enough to pay off prying guards like Nils to just let him be?
It might not work in a bigger town, but maybe it would in a place like the frontiers near the Great Mist. That seemed like a good place to try and avoid the attention of prying Grünhäuter, and Edialeigh's troops were unlikely to ever come through and sack the place even if they outright conquered the Kingdom. He could at least pass letters to his family from a place like that. If they bothered to accept and read them.
… He didn't know whether he was crazy or desperate, but considering the alternative was waiting for poverty to overtake them again in the dead of winter, something about Irune's plan didn't sound half bad. Sure, stealing from a shrine to the gods, which included Varhyde's patron goddess among them, was… not the proudest idea he'd entertained. But they'd hardly be the first 'mons to do so since the gods last died, and there weren't any guards to it beyond the Wilders in the Mystery Dungeons that led up to the Divine Roost…
Besides, it wasn't as if the owners of that treasure were still alive to claim it.
If the four of them were any less desperate and they had not already seen the army send a Fähnlein after this kid, it'd be the sort of offer and story that even Kate would laugh off without a second thought. But Irune had been insistent that there was a treasure at the Divine Roost since they met, and they saw what that Lacan 'mon had done to try and get at her. Why else hunt down a little Axew so ferociously—in the middle of a war where their strength was being denied from the frontlines, no less?
It was about as good a break as they could hope for with the situation they were in.
Too good of one, actually. Which meant that there had to be something wrong with it.
"Okay—what's the catch to all of this?" Lyle scowled and crossed his arms. "I didn't start ripping off 'mons overnight, and I know when a deal sounds too good to be true."
Irune folded her arms in return and let out a quiet snort in reply.
"Aside from the dangerous journey, risk of death or capture, and all that? I guess there's one catch," she retorted. "When we find the treasure, I get to pick the first item when we divide it up. Not that big a deal, right?"
Kate flattened her ears and let out a grumbling murmur to her companions. It was hard for Lyle to blame her. From the way this kid was talking, he just knew they were going to regret agreeing to that condition down the road.
"Tch, she's probably going to pick some giant golden statue as her first thing, isn't she?" she scoffed.
"I dunno, she strikes me as the type to pick something she can actually carry off," Dalton whispered back. "Though admittedly it's a curious condition. Just what's in that chamber that she wants for herself so badly?"
"So, do we have a deal or not?"
Lyle and his companions looked over to Irune as she stared at them intently. The three whispered to each other, quietly debating over whether or not to humor her offer. The condition didn't seem that unmanageable, and if they actually got their paws on that treasure and things came to blows… well, they'd rather be them than her in a scuffle. With their minds made up one after the other, the three Outlaws each came to a common conclusion:
"Yeah, I'm in," Kate said.
"I suppose we are limited on options right now…" Dalton sighed.
Lyle sucked in a breath and hesitated. What else was he supposed to do with himself? Go back to his Oran Field? He winced internally at the idea of going back there, and quickly grew doubtful that it was a workable plan to begin with. If Irune was right, that Salamence and those Grünhäuter would be hunting for him for some time.
… Blauflamme, there had to be more options than this. But where else was there? His parents?
Lyle bit his lip and looked away after the thought crossed his mind. It was better to shelve that one away. There was zero reason to believe that would go anywhere, and it carried just about all the same risks as trying to wait out Lacan and go back to his meager existence. In light of those bad options before him, if he had to choose one, then it was best to go with the one that had the most upside.
"Sounds we've got one," Lyle sighed, before letting the fire on his vents come out and narrowing his eyes.
"Though you'd best not cross us, kid," he growled. "We might not have gangs to push around, but we can sure take things out of your hide if we need to!"
The Axew gave an annoyed glare back and opened her mouth to shoot back a retort, only to catch herself and let out a sharp growl. "Hrmph, glad to hear. In that case, we should start moving before Lacan figures out we've made it out of the dungeon."
Kate rolled her eyes in reply. "Now hold on a moment. You can't expect us to just keep going on like this after spending an entire night running from soldiers in a Mystery Dungeon!"
"And why not?" the Axew demanded. "Are you planning on just dozing off in your Outlaw scarves while those soldiers catch up with us?"
Lyle was about to open his mouth to retort that they could just as easily ditch their scarves before getting some rest. Except… their original scarves had still been kept for 'safekeeping' before the raid. He supposed that pretending to be Wilders was an option, but they didn't know the first thing about how the local Wilders lived or staked their territory in the area.
Besides, Wilders dealt with each other according to the rules of nature. If they fell asleep without scarves, and a hungry one came across them…
From the sound of it, Kate didn't have any of that train of thought in mind, as she let out a sharp huff and narrowed her eyes back at the Axew.
"Versus walking aimlessly in said scarves, too exhausted to fight back?" the Sneasel retorted. "After everything that just went down, just how well do you think that's gonna end?"
Irune caught herself and looked down at her scarf, along with the other brigands' patterns. After a moment of realization, the Dragon-type bit her tongue with an awkward hem and haw as Kate let out an unimpressed snort.
"Thought so," the Sneasel replied. "Point is, we're gonna need a solution to that first, even if it's only a temporary one. So as long as we line one up, there shouldn't be any harm in getting shut-eye, right?"
"I… guess that would be fair?" Irune admitted. "Though just what are you suggesting?"
About half an hour later, the sun had fully poked over the horizon and lit up the sky in a calming blue. In a clearing a short ways off from a forest path, a Dewott in a red scarf with a silver three-pronged spike on it stirred on a reed mat. The Water-type lifted his head from a small satchel he was using as a pillow as smoke curled up from a spent fire pit, yawning and stretching as he rose to his feet. After shaking his head to rouse himself, he glanced over over at a similarly-garbed Grovyle who walked up.
"Eh? Did I oversleep? Sorry, got caught up in an epic nap," the Dewott said. "Guess you were right that I wouldn't need a blanket."
"You are the one with the thick coat of fur on you right now, Cruz," the Grovyle replied, giving a bemused shake of her head. "I get that autumns are supposed to get chilly around these parts, but when that pelt's made to get by sleeping in the middle of the sea, this should be child's play."
The Grovyle trailed off and said nothing back for a moment, before looking down towards the mat with a quiet sigh.
"I never imagined this is where life was going to take me," the gecko murmured to herself. "You think we'll ever have the run of the land here?"
Cruz paused a moment and glanced up at his teammate, before shaking his head back with a dismissive wave.
"Ah, it's nothing, Vilma. Just some jitters about the new neighborhood," the Water-type insisted. "Come on, let's hurry and wake Nellie and Bel up. Those missions aren't going to complete themselves today."
The Dewott and Grovyle set off, Cruz leaving his satchel behind as they headed for the other end of their humble encampment where an Eevee and Houndour were dozing on a similarly constructed mat.
As the two went to rouse their teammates, neither noticed a pair of red eyes peered out from the brush. Nor did they notice when the Sneasel popped out and snatched up the Dewott's satchel into her claws, before dashing back into the undergrowth.
Lyle watched the treeline from a small clearing in the forest, anxiously fidgeting alongside Dalton and Irune. They'd been prowling these woods for half an hour half-asleep, and after finally having a stroke of luck and coming across a mark that Kate insisted looked promising, she insisted on being allowed to handle things on her own.
Except that had been five minutes ago, and he and his new teammates were starting to get worried she'd bitten off more than she could chew. The Quilava turned to the others with a low shake of his head, sucking in a sharp breath as he approached the wooded hillside.
"Come on, let's go and check up on her-"
"Hold on a moment, Lyle," the Heliolisk insisted. "Look."
The Heliolisk raised a finger and pointed off at the treeline. Lyle glanced off and at first struggled to make out anything from the distance—Quilava were always a bit nearsighted—but where after squinting a bit, Lyle caught a glimpse of a black blur with white claws knifing through the undergrowth. Thank gods, so she had made it back.
Kate darted along with her mouth curled up in a small smirk, sliding down a small embankment and sneaking along following rustling undergrowth and footsteps left in the dirt for about a minute when she made her way back onto the forest path. Lyle brushed off some stray leaves off his body and approached with Irune and Dalton. The Dark-type gave a passing wave as she walked up and set the bag on the ground, throwing its mouth open as she began to rummage through it with a low murmur.
"Come on, come on…"
Lyle watched as Kate hesitated a moment after her claws brushed up against something inside, her eyes light up. The Sneasel poked her head in, and pulled out a fistful of red cloth with hemmed fringes, taking one and unfurling it to reveal a red scarf with a silver three-pronged spike on it in front of her teammates.
"Heh, looks like those Hunters were planning on recruiting!" the Sneasel said. "This'll solve that scarf problem of ours real good!"
Kate returned her attention back to the bag's contents and after pawing through it, revealed to everyone that much to their fortune, the 'Hunters' she'd stolen from had four spares in the bag she nicked. Their sizes were not as nice a fit for them as they could be, but they'd do well enough. The Sneasel passed them around to Lyle and Dalton, who each took one and set to work replacing their colors, and offered one out to Irune, only for the Axew to pause and shoot back a disapproving frown.
"Are we seriously stealing scarves from some random Exploration Team?" Irune scoffed.
"Correction, we're stealing a bag from them," Kate retorted. "For us, the scarves just happen to be the most important thing in it right now."
A quick glance by the Outlaws revealed there was not much else in the bags. Some stray Poké and Carolins. A couple berries, some seeds, a Blowback Orb, an abridged copy of The Explorer's Handbook to Mystery Dungeons. Why, there wasn't even a single Looplet in this thing! Just how new was this team? Dalton pawed over the contents and let out a low sigh, turning his attention back to the Axew in their number.
"We do need a disguise that won't draw attention, Irune," the Heliolisk reminded. "It seems like those Hunters Kate took this bag from seem… unaccomplished, to say the least, so I doubt we'll be drawing anyone's suspicions by using their team colors."
"But what about our scarves?" Irune asked. "What if someone roots through our bags and finds them?"
"Tch, the solution to that should go without saying," Lyle scoffed back.
Lyle took his Terra Tyrant scarf and draped it over his head. The Quilava's head and tail vents abruptly came alight and held it in place until he felt the fabric start to give way from its fire retardant burning off. The Quilava whipped the smoldering scarf off of him, throwing it to the ground and stamping on it before it could make smoke, and left a singed mess behind in the dirt that was barely recognizable as having once been a scarf. Irune stared wordlessly as Lyle reared up and tugged the pilfered red scarf about his neck to tighten it, glancing back to the Axew with a stern shake look.
"They won't do anything other than get us in trouble if we were found with them," he answered. "With the crews that wore them gone, they won't bring us shelter anywhere. It's best to just burn them and throw them away."
Kate had already changed into her new garb as Lyle torched his old scarf, and passed her blue Mistral Marauder colors for Lyle to disfigure and cast aside into the brush. Dalton visibly hesitated as he undid his Riparian Raider scarf, giving a wistful sigh before he too surrendered it for the Quilava to similarly ruin. All the while, Irune shrank back uneasily, before Lyle turned to her and motioned for her to come.
"You too, Irune," the stoat insisted. "I doubt that Lacan 'mon is magically going to forget about that scarf and pendant around your neck.
The Axew reflexively grabbed at her pendant and gave a sharp glare back at Lyle.
"No. Way. I have history with these!" she fumed. "You can't expect me to just burn them up like that!"
"Irune, was it? I understand the feeling, but we're on thin ice here," Dalton insisted. "You can't risk a passing guard happening to recognize you either wearing that scarf or keeping it in your belongings. And if it doesn't get damaged before throwing it away, someone could come across it and use your scent to find you."
Irune seemed to be wholly unmoved by the Heliolisk's appeal to empathy, turning away with a sharp huff. Lyle narrowed his eyes back at the young Dragon-type, as a sharp frown spread over his muzzle.
"Look, you either play by the same rules as everyone else, or our deal's off," the Quilava snorted. "We didn't sign up to get given away by some rookie's vanity!"
The Axew hesitated for a moment and pawed nervously at her scarf, before shaking her head and scowling back. "Fine, I'll let the scarf go. But I want it buried. And I'm keeping my pendant."
Lyle pinned his ears back at Irune's reply, as he tried and failed to stifle an annoyed growl back at the Axew.
"Oh, for crying out loud-"
"I mean it. Burying my scarf would mask the scent on it just as well, and I need this pendant for when we make it to the treasure," the Axew growled back. "Either you give me this, or else I'm calling the deal off right now and trying my luck getting to the Divine Roost on my own."
Lyle let his mouth hang open in frustrated astonishment. He'd heard that dragons were stubborn 'mons, but this kid was something else. He was about to take her up on her threat and stomp off to try and find a place to lie low on his own when Kate pawed at him and cupped a claw to his ear to whisper quietly.
"Come on, Lyle. I don't fully trust her myself, but she's clearly made her mind up," she scoffed. "Besides, it's a rock. If she keeps it hidden under her scarf, just who's gonna notice it?"
Lyle paused on the path and froze after he felt his stomach growl and his mind turned back to the idea of being all alone in winter with no pay and no job. He glanced at his teammates, and noticed that they weren't budging from beside the Axew. Clearly they didn't find her demand to be as much of a deal-breaker as he'd anticipated. Lyle bit his lip, before sighing and rolling his eyes. With a low grumble, he raised a paw out and gruffly huffed back to the Axew.
"Fine, but make it quick, alright? We should be finding a place to sleep anyways," the Quilava said, before sharply narrowing his eyes.
"Though I'm just going to say this upfront," he warned. "If that little spike of yours causes us trouble later on, I'll break it myself."
Irune tightly grasped onto her spike-like pendant, undoing her gray scarf and balling it up in her claws with a disgusted snort as she passed Lyle for the brush.
"Hrmph, you tell yourself that."
Lyle waited as Irune ducked into the brush and tapped his foot impatiently. He glanced around warily for any sign of onlookers, but barring a dozing Wilder Starly in a nearby tree, there was no sign of any eavesdroppers. After a few moments, the Quilava grew impatient, and after trading some glances with his teammates, sighed and turned for the brush just as Irune came out much to his blinking surprise.
"What on earth took you so long out there?"
"I needed a moment to mark the tree I buried my scarf under," the Axew explained. "Just in case."
Lyle noticed a stray splinter clinging to the Axew's right tusk and frowned. He didn't like the extra risk involved, but remained silent and opted to move on. This kid was their only hope at the moment, and it didn't make sense to pick too much of a fight over a scrap of cloth they'd never see again.
Lyle sighed and tugged the Axew along retracing their steps under the red and yellow boughs of the treetops above as the four set off southward along the road. There was bound to be an encampment left behind along the path they could take over and play off as having slept in. They were taking a brave leap forward into the unknown for the dangerous journey ahead of them, and they were going to need every last advantage they could claw together.
About fifteen minutes down the path, the scent of smoke and cinders tipped Lyle and his fellow Outlaws off to the site of a small encampment in the brush.
Recently vacated, and built around a still-smoldering firepit with a tree trunk on one end that served as a crude table. There were Dodrio feathers left shed on the ground, with some rubbish left behind as a sign that the occupants had left in a hurry… or else just didn't care to clean up after themselves. An empty jug with a few drops of lager left in it evidenced that those 'mons had been drinking the night before. Nearby, a gag-inducing smell from the bushes suggested that that hadn't turned out too well.
The four settled down on the bare ground, curled up, and let sleep quickly overtake them.
As the world faded out, time seemed to drift by in a blur for Lyle. The smells and sounds of the woods about him faded away. And yet, in spite of the shade of the trees and the fatigue from the sleepless night dragging him off to slumber, Lyle kept finding his rest marred by fits and starts.
Instead of the sensations of his resting place and the forest about them disturbing his sleep, the Quilava kept finding himself returning the Outlaw encampment in his mind.
It was exactly as he had left it. The screams, the baying cries and roars of charging soldiers, the smell of burning wood and fabric. Time and time again, he helplessly watched Alvin slumping over to the ground and being flung into the remains of the tent by the back exit. The stoat squirmed in his sleep and pawed at the air as a low whine came from the back of his throat.
"No, no…"
"Hey," Kate's voice cut in. "Get up, Lyle."
Lyle's eyes shot wide, and the Quilava reflexively curled up as his head and tail flames came alive with a start.
The Fire-type panted tensely for a moment, the world about him running muddy and unfocused as he cracked his eyes open and discovered that he was back in their commandeered encampment surrounded by the red-leaved forest. Lyle sucked in a sharp breath and rolled onto his feet, before looking up to see Kate peering down at him, giving her right claw a shake as she hadn't been quick enough to draw it back.
"Götterblut! Would it kill ya to open your eyes before lighting up like that?" she grumbled. "Look I know a 'mon needs beauty sleep and all, but it's almost noon already. Scales found a map in that book those Hunters had, so we should settle on where we want to go and get moving while we can."
Lyle looked to see Dalton was already up and waiting on him at the tree trunk with a slim book spread out open on it, the Fire-type muttering back an apology before he stretched and yawned. The stoat put out his body's flames and grabbed his satchel, slinging it across his back before he shuffled over for the tree trunk with his teammates. Along the way, he spotted Irune picking up a few glassy spheres and putting them back into her bag, prompting him to stop and train a puzzled frown.
"Why are you just picking up that clutter anyways?" he asked.
"… I like my shiny baubles. They help me sleep better," the Axew insisted. "If I'm having a bad dream or the like and wake up from it, it helps calm me down a bit."
Lyle heard the Dragon-type's bag rattle slightly as she shifted it onto her shoulders when he realized that her bag must've been filled with similar clutter. He swore it was the most stereotypically 'dragon' thing he'd ever heard of a 'mon doing in his life… and yet after a night like the one they'd all been through, he couldn't say he'd begrudge anyone indulging their creature comforts. Who knew? If the firepit had still been going with warmth for him to curl up beside, maybe he'd have dreamt of something other than that damned raid.
"… Whatever," he harrumphed. "Let's just look through that map and get out of here."
Lyle, Kate, and Irune crowded about the tree trunk where they noticed Dalton had propped the book open to a page with a map of Varhyde on it. Land to the east, with sea to the other three cardinal directions. Except there weren't any maps of roads or the likes on it, just natural features, some dots to indicate settlements, and triangles on the paper seemingly scattered about at random.
"… The hell's wrong with this map?" Kate asked. "I'm pretty sure we could've found a better one rooting through a trash pile."
"That's because it's focused around the Mystery Dungeons of Varhyde," Dalton explained. "That's what all these triangles are."
Lyle blinked and looked down at the book as Dalton brought a claw over to a dot with runes neatly labeled 'Moonturn Square', with strange glyphs written directly above them, including some that looked vaguely like Unown. There was a triangle northwest of it, which he guessed must've been Waterhead Cave that similarly had the strange scribbles over its label. Kate glanced over the map, noting many of the triangles had faint lines drawn between them, and gave a puzzled frown at her companions.
"… I'm not sure if I follow here, how does this map help us again?" she asked.
"By helping us get a sense of where we want to go," Dalton explained.
Right, the approaches to the Divine Roost were Mystery Dungeons. So it was only logical that they'd pick one of those approaches, and then make their way towards it. Irune went up and pawed at the map, highlighting a few triangles near the eastern edge of the map where a few fog-wreathed hills and plains lay.
"The closest Mystery Dungeons that link to the Divine Roost from here are in the frontiers with the Great Mist," the Axew explained. "Those were the ones that I was trying to make my way to before I got caught."
Kate pinned her ears against her head and frowned over at the Axew. The frontiers that Irune spoke of rubbed up against a great mass of Mystery Dungeons that cut Varhyde off from the rest of Wander to the east and were sparsely populated by Civils. It wouldn't be a bad place to go to to try and lay low after shaking heat, but…
"You realize that almost nobody lives out that way, right? At least nobody that's not a Wilder," she said. "Just how are you planning on getting there?"
"It'd only be a few days' journey," Irune insisted. "We wouldn't need that many supplies just to get there."
"What, you really think it'll take a few days for a Salamence to catch up with you?" the Sneasel pressed. "That you're going to outrun him on foot? Traveling to a place you already tried going to once?"
Irune blinked and bit her tongue as Kate and Dalton paused for a moment. The Heliolisk looked back at the map, and saw that of the lines coming from the Mystery Dungeons that Irune pointed out, that none of them linked any others that were relatively close to the one marked 'Waterhead Cave'.
Irune faltered a moment, before shaking her head with a low sigh.
"I… suppose that'd be a good enough reason to want to keep other options open," she murmured. "But how are any of the other options better when they're even farther away?"
"Farther isn't necessarily a bad thing," Lyle said. "From experience, we've likely got at most a day to work with before wanted posters of us start going up around Moonturn Square, and begin circulating around to other guilds."
Kate blinked and raised a brow puzzledly at her Quilava teammate.
"Not that I'm super confident about those first couple options, but—how's going farther out gonna help us, huh?" the Sneasel asked.
"Because," Lyle explained, "depending on where these other Mystery Dungeons are, we could pay off a Carrier to let us hitch a ride and skip a few days' worth of walking. It'd put distance between us and that Fähnlein, except…"
"They follow trade routes, since there's not much sense for Carriers going where Pokémon don't live," Dalton finished. "Though you might be onto something there, Lyle…"
The Heliolisk brought a finger towards the eastern edge of the map and hovered over a treacherous-looking mountain range that seemed to spill out from the Great Mist and jab into the middle of Varhyde. He then moved it off towards an island not far from the western coast that bore the brunt of many a past invasion from Edialeigh, and finally brought his digit over an inland desert towards the mountainous southern coast of the map that Dalton seemed to linger over briefly before shaking his head.
"It certainly wouldn't be hard to get a Carrier to take us towards any of those Mystery Dungeons," Dalton remarked. "Not a direct flight, but close enough for the journey afterwards to be shorter than going towards the Great Mist from here overland. We'd just need to settle on where we wanted to go first…"
"How about that big dot there?" Kate asked. "It looks far enough to be a couple days' journey from here normally. If we went there, we could just go towards whichever of those Mystery Dungeons you spotted would be the least likely to get us in trouble."
Kate's companions fell deathly silent and stared at her wide-eyed for a moment, before Dalton narrowed his eyes with an annoyed growl.
"… Are you even bothering to read the labels before you speak?" the Heliolisk snapped. "That big dot's Newangle City, the royal capital. Why on earth would we want to go there as Outlaws?"
Lyle looked over at Kate as she seemed to recoil from the charge. Right, Kate's ability to read had always been shaky. There was some story behind it, about how she'd gone much of her childhood without schooling thanks to something about her parents' job requiring them to move around constantly.
"L-Look, I just overlooked it, alright?! It happens to everyone sometimes!" she insisted, prompting Lyle to shake his head.
"To some more often than others, clearly," he sighed.
The Sneasel shot a sour frown over at him. Kate was always tight-lipped about what exactly happened with her parents, and always got a bit defensive when her lack of literacy made a fool of herself like this.
But there was no need to dig out the truth behind all that here and now. Besides, after stopping to think it over, Kate might've been onto something.
"Though her plan's actually not all that bad, Dalton," Lyle spoke up. "After all, there's not exactly a shortage of Carriers going to Newangle City…"
Lyle pawed at the map just east of the large dot and rubbed a circle around it, before looking back up at his teammates.
"We just need to go towards it," he explained. "There's a bunch of trade routes that converge on the capital, and it shouldn't be that hard to convince a Carrier to make a stop at a smaller town along the way."
The other Outlaws paused and thought the matter over to themselves. The plan didn't seem unreasonable, and even Irune seemed to show signs of wavering over the idea. Even so, the little Dragon-type couldn't help but paw uneasily at herself as she couldn't think her way around one last problem.
"There's just one problem, Lyle," she said. "How are we supposed to come across a Carrier in the first place to make an offer after all the trouble we got into?"
Lyle paused and hesitated for a moment, before glancing down at the stolen scarf about his neck and turning to his fellows with a wary click of his tongue.
"There's a town nearby we can try, but we're really going to be counting on these disguises to carry us if we go there…"
Not even two minutes later, the Outlaws came to a shared decision to try their luck finding a Carrier as Lyle proposed, and made their way back onto the dirt path through the forest.
The four headed south along the path, stepping around occasional ruts left behind by wagons that had come through and brushing past red-leaved bushes and trees. Their destination, as Lyle explained, was a nearby trading town called Moonturn Square, and as a 'mon who lived in the area, one he was uniquely well-prepared to help them navigate around.
A quick glance up in the sky revealed that it was already past noon. While their rest had been much-needed, it was unlikely that Lacan hadn't already realized that they'd found a way out of Waterhead Cave. As they made their way forward, the group's eyes caught the sight of a tiny shingled rooftop poking out from a bend in the path ahead. The Quilava blinked briefly at the sight but otherwise paid it no heed, while Irune cocked her head curiously at the structure.
"Huh? I didn't think that anyone had a shop or a house all the way out here…" the Axew murmured. "I thought that Civils that lived this far out in the hinterlands usually kept nests or burrows."
"That's because it's not a house," Lyle said. "Though I think I have a pretty good idea of where we are right now."
As the four came around the bend, they came across a tall column made of white stone topped with a spindly enclosure made of whitewashed wood and light gray shingles. There inside, was a statue fashioned of white stone of a Pokémon with broad wings, a cone-like tail, and a wispy split mane that trailed off behind a head with lupine features. A glance at the column's surroundings revealed that it had been built slightly off-center of a space fashioned from gray tiles. Off to the left, in the direction the statue's head was facing off in, was a stub of a column formed of black stone. The wear on it seemed to indicate it'd been broken some time ago, but like so many things in Varhyde these days, it had simply never been repaired or replaced.
"Well, that'd be a half-truth, Lyle," Dalton remarked. "It's still a place for a Pokémon, but not a normal one."
The Heliolisk wasn't wrong. Lyle recognized the column as the Bildstock₂ on the western approach into Moonturn Square. A shrine built around a roadside pillar to the kingdom's patron goddess right before travelers would start encountering its ringing fields and earthier accommodations fringe-dwellers kept like the dingy burrow he'd called home for the past two years. The four neared the pillar, where they noted a triangular insignia with circles at its corners, the same Schild der Wirklichkeit₃ emblazoned on the armor of every Gendarm and soldier in the army… except it felt like it rightfully belonged here. As the three made their way up to the column, Dalton cocked his head puzzledly, before letting out a quiet murmur.
"Huh. Looks like it's not all that old either," the Heliolisk said. "If I had to guess, it couldn't possibly be older than King Sansa's reign."
Irune looked over with a stunned blink at her Electric-type companion, her mouth hanging slightly agape.
"… How were you able to tell that from just looking at it?"
"Well, I did learn a few things before I became an Outlaw. But the biggest tell is that the runes engraved on it are the same ones we use for everyday writing," he replied. "Older shrines of this sort usually have ones that look like footprints, and the really old ones that are still around use a different script that looks completely different."
Lyle blinked a moment at the Heliolisk's explanation, but it did seem to check out. Along the column were inscriptions on its different sides in neat rows of runes. Their orderings revealed segments that were clearly meant to be read in Commontongue and others meant to be read in Hightongue, a mark that whoever had commissioned the shrine up had been learned and likely had deep pockets.
There were notes wedged in between gaps in the stones, and one of them had chanced to have fallen out. Lyle couldn't help but let curiosity get the better of him as made his way up to the slip and stooped down to open it. The Fire-type darted his eyes back and forth along the paper, reading a string of muddy runes…
"… 'I have a crush on my cousin, Lime'?"
Lyle blinked, and flattened his ears out with a befuddled frown as he double-checked the slip to make sure he didn't misread it. As he gaped over it, he felt a scaly set of fingers brush at him, as he turned to see Dalton narrowing his eyes at him with an unimpressed frown.
"You shouldn't read through those, Lyle," the Heliolisk harrumphed. "Someone obviously felt deeply in over their head to be moved to appeal to this goddess for help like that."
"Well obviously if he had a crush on a 'mon named 'Lime' of all things," Kate scoffed, drawing a disapproving frown from her Axew counterpart.
Lyle glanced further down the paper, and instantly felt a pang of guilt over having read it. There, right below the confession of the author's feelings for his cousin, was a plea for protection from the rumored Army levy that was said to be about to go out in Moonturn Square.
… Right, it was said Reshiram was quickest to lend aid those who acknowledged reality and hid no truths from her, so Pokémon like whoever had written this thing aired their dirty little secrets in the hopes that they'd get divine aid… not that he had any idea how that was supposed to work with a goddess who was dead.
The Quilava slotted the paper back in between the stones as his attention turned to the offerings that less bold or desperate Pokémon brought to such places: a small pile of gummies, berries, and a few hunks of bread had been set out in front of the white column. Lyle felt his stomach growl at the sight of the food, and licked the corners of his mouth as Kate waltzed up beside the pile, waving to her teammates.
"Well look on the bright side," the Sneasel said. "We just found breakfast for ourselves."
Kate stooped down and snatched a red gummi from the pile of offerings and gingerly bit into it.
Her teammates visibly hesitated. Dalton turned his head with an askew glance as she ate, while Irune rolled her eyes with an unimpressed grumble. Sensing the frosty reception, Kate popped the rest of her gummi into her mouth and gulped down the remains, before turning and folding her arms with a sharp scoff.
"Oh come on, what's that look for?" she asked. "If I don't take this stuff, it'll just wind up in the belly of some Wilder!"
Dalton shot her an annoyed look. "That's the point. You leave an offering knowing that the gods will share it with passing Wilders in need—"
"Yes, and the gods are dead," Kate shot back, crossing her arms. "Besides, these offerings are also for needy travelers. See anyone else who fits the bill better than us right now?"
Lyle rolled his eyes with a small scoff. "Kate, that's not what you think that word means-"
"Oh, come off it already!" she snorted. "After everything we've gone through, are you really getting hung up over helping ourselves to a little food?"
The Sneasel stooped down and gathered up a few gummis and berries into her paws. All the while, Irune and Dalton both watched with disapproving frowns, as the Heliolisk shook his head with a low grumble.
"Kate, this is a shrine to the patron goddess of Varhyde," Dalton snapped. "I know that we're in a tough situation, but doing this isn't exactly going to make you popular if you get found out-"
"We're already unpopular, Scales. So are you going to eat, or what?"
Kate took her pawful of food and ducked off a few paces to eat as Dalton shook his head and slipped back out of the shrine with a low sigh. Irune opened her mouth to protest, only to think better of it and slip off muttering to herself under her breath. Lyle went up towards the statue to pull Kate along, when he felt his own stomach growl.
The Quilava reared up and pawed at his belly, realizing that he hadn't eaten anything since their merrymaking back at the Pocket in Waterhead Cave… and that a full nine floors of a Mystery Dungeon and half a day had passed since then. As if he'd been eating much even back on his job at the Oran Field..
… The offerings were supposed to be fair game for desperate travelers, weren't they?
The Fire-type sighed, before grabbing a hunk of dark bread from the offering pile as Kate shot him an aside glance with a quiet scoff.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up too much," Kate teased. "A 'mon's gotta eat."
Lyle flattened his ears in reply and bit down into the bread chunk, grudgingly consuming it. Beyond being a bit stale, there was nothing wrong with the bread. But even so, something didn't sit right with him about doing this.
Lyle didn't consider himself a superstitious type, after all, he was born and raised in Freeden Village. Growing up in a place where the largest shrine to a god was boarded up long before his father was born, one that 'mons who were more superstitiously-minded said was uniquely disfavored by the gods, had a way of inuring one to such sentiments.
… Was it those memories of home that made him uncomfortable? Was it the times Alvin had drug him along to shrines like these before jobs he was nervous about? Alvin had always put more stock in Latios shrines since the dragons were allegedly patron deities for thieves. But he'd always play along and leave a few berries or coins from his loot alongside the Marowak. 'Just in case', he'd reassure him…
… and every time, it would never fail to lift the Marowak's spirits or raise his confidence. Not that that his patron was there for him in the end.
"Hey, Princess."
Lyle shook his head back to attention and turned to see Kate prodding at him impatiently.
"We had a town to get to," she said. "Were we going, or what?"
Lyle turned back and blinked briefly, looking down at a half-eaten gummi in his paws. … Maybe it was just those raw doubts of last night lingering on him, and he was overthinking everything. The Quilava let out a low sigh, before turning his attention back to his food.
"Right, let's get going."
The stoat hastily finished up his meal, lowered his head, and returned back to the path with Kate, who downed the last of her pilfered breakfast on the way back, and made their way back towards Dalton and Irune just in time to hear them talking with one another.
"Er… actually, what are we supposed to do for food?" Irune murmured.
"There should be some wild berries we can forage along the way," the Heliolisk insisted. "It'll tide us over until we can snag a better meal. I hope."
Lyle could hear the pair's stomachs rumble as he neared, as Irune cast a glance back at the Bildstock and for a brief moment began to retrace her steps, only to stop herself before begrudgingly continuing on instead. The two sure were an unlikely couple when it came to being judgy over taking shrine offerings meant for the needy. He hoped that wasn't a sign of something deeper about the two…
"Are these two going to be this picky about choosing out marks?" Lyle sighed.
Lyle picked up his pace, leading the group back down the path. After making their way along the path, the Heliolisk tilted his head and spoke up warily.
"You already know where we need to go, Lyle?" the Electric-type asked.
"Well, yeah. I've been through this path a few times," the stoat replied. "Based off the shrine back there, we should be about an hour's trek from Moonturn Square. We should be coming up on some landmarks that'll help point the way forward for us."
The other Outlaws blinked and traded puzzled glances with one another. Lyle was supposed to be from around these parts, but to know signs to find Moonturn Square? From all the way out here in the woods?
"Wait, we are?" Kate asked. "How on earth can you tell? Just what are we looking for?"
Lyle said nothing as they made their way to the top of the hill. There, as they crested it, they could see a tall, vaguely triangular gray tower with missing rectangular patches on its surface off in the distance. It loomed over the surrounding fields and a large river bend that appeared to pass near its base. After moving their gaze towards the ground, they saw it: the stony ledges and earthen ramparts of a bastion fort, which barely hid the shingled and thatched rooftops that rose behind them. The Quilava shook his head in reply as his teammates gaped at the tower in the distance, before speaking up with a low harrumph.
"Signs of civilization. And it's not too much further ahead from the looks of it."
Author's Notes:
Words and Phrases:
1. Graf Wellenhafen - Alternative manner of rendering Graf von Wellenhafen. In German, Graf [Place], Graf von [Place], and permutations incorporating names such as Graf [Name] von [Place] are all equivalent and interchangeable ways of referring to a person holding that nobiliary title.
2. Bildstock - A type of religious wayside shrine found throughout the Germanosphere, the specific style of Bildstock depicted here is more technically a 'Tabernakelpfeiler'.
3. Schild der Wirklichkeit - "Shield of Reality"
Teaser Text - Special thanks to TorchicBellow for Translation:
In the early years after the Great Flash and its great churning of the world, there was a great commotion to try and preserve the knowledge of the bygone humans as long as their works still remained in Wander. From the knowledge they could save, the ancients fashioned the first recipes for the gummis that fill our bellies and the first scripts that we read and wrote.
During this time, two lands across a great sea that opened amidst the turmoil of the Great Flash were settled under the guidance of two wanderers that none know from where they came. North and east of the sea, Klaus the Founderᵃ pitched his camp in a land where the goddess we call 'Reality'ᵇ chose as a place of rest from her wanderings about our unsettled world. It is said Klaus wished that the Pokémon he dwelt with would always seek the fullest understanding of the reality of the world about them, and founded a kingdom in honor of the patron who first lent it aid, which is to this day called 'Varhyde'.
South and west of the sea, Galea the Machinistᶜ pitched her camp in a land where the god that we call 'Wish'ᵈ chose as a place of rest from his wanderings amidst the world we call home. It is said that she wished that the Pokémon she dwelt with would always be filled with the yearning to pursue their wishes to reshape their surrounding world as they found fit, and she too founded a kingdom in honor of the god that dwelt there and heeded her land's pleas for help, which in honor of the patron who helped it first is to this day called 'Edialeigh'.
Little is known either of King Klaus or Queen Galea as even the kinds of Pokémon they were have been lost to the ages, but records of their sayings remain, along with their names, their epithets, and knowledge that the two once hailed from a common land. It is believed the two at some point became sworn enemies, for as long as our history has been recorded, the kingdoms they founded have yet to know a peace with each other that was not stained with bitter enmity.
- Excerpt from 'The Varhyder Chronicles - A Brief History of our Kingdom's Early Years'
a. The most common meaning of Erbauer is a 'builder', particularly a 'master builder' when used to refer to a singular party. Using it in the context of 'founder' like this is particularly flowery / poetic / glorifying in language. In more neutral prose, Klaus here would more likely be referred to as a 'Gründer' ('founder') or a 'Gündungsvater' ('founding father') with regard to his kingdom. 'Erbauer' was ultimately chosen for Klaus' epithet since the term fit his character in this setting under more than one meaning of the term.
b. German has two words that are commonly translated as 'reality', 'Wirklichkeit' and 'Realität'. While the two can be used interchangeably in some contexts, 'Realität' is used more for perceived reality while 'Wirklichkeit' carries connotations of actuality or objective reality.
c. Maschinenschlosser(in) specifically refers to a 'machinist' in the sense of someone who assembles large, complicated machines as a profession, and is most commonly utilized as a job title.
d. Wunsch is normally translated as 'wish' in English, particularly in the sense of a wish as a 'desire harbored or expressed by someone whose fulfillment is hoped for'. As such, in some contexts, it can function as 'desire' and be translated accordingly.