March 25th, First Year
Akari found her fingers twitching as she moved to secure the fabric of the sling around Rei's neck. Ever since the accident- the one that she couldn't remember- had occurred, she had been taking numerous lessons on administering first aid though her nerves were so bad that she had been told numerous times that day to take a breather or to just relax.
She just couldn't get the image of Yuki's broken body out of her mind. He had screamed in agony and had gone so deathly still and quiet that Akari was afraid the boy had been dead. But he isn't. She had lied partially to the guards upon waking up in the medical tent in the Fieldland Encampment. She had remembered entering the distortion with Rei and Yuki. She remembered running into the behemoth Luxray and of Yuki blindly charging into battle with his Shinx. What she didn't remember was what came after. All she could remember was a blinding flash of light. What came after, Akari would never know.
Rei knew. He was the only one that had seen everything but for some reason, he refused to say anything about the matter. Akari took a deep breath in and moved the securing knot down to Rei's collarbone. It's not Rei's fault. Yuki is okay. Everything will be okay.
"Nearly thought you were gonna choke me there," Rei commented snidely. He stood and made a show of trying to swing his splinted arm around. "Nice and tight, too! Great job, Akari!"
"...Thanks. I wonder what we're going to do next."
"Tourniquets." A Pearl Clan scout eagerly approached them, her eyes shining as she passed the two of them long strips of fabric and a thick sturdy branch each. "You're going to hate these. They're pretty easy to do but having them done on yourself? Sheesh."
"Oh, I know," Rei commented dismissively. "I had to practice these all the time when I was in my first year of being a scout." Rei quickly took his strip of fabric and his stick, a grimace on his face. He turned to Akari looking a little sheepish. "Perhaps we should switch partners? We'll be practicing on bare skin... Wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable."
"And?" Akari muttered sarcastically. "I don't care. I'll be the practice dummy first. How's that sound?"
The Pearl Clan scout gave them both a peculiar look. "We don't usually allow for same-gender partners during tourniquets, but…" She then shrugged. "Eh, it's better practice anyway. Hold on while I get the overseer. He's much better at judging than I am. I think he's nearly finished with the other group, anyway."
"Sure." Akari watched as the scout left, not bothering to hide her look of annoyance. "Alright. Let's start. You go first."
Rei had given Akari the order to lay flat on her back with her limbs splayed out to her sides. She thought she looked absolutely ridiculous, but she figured it would be useful knowledge to have in the future. Rei had been right about to start rolling up the sleeve of her tunic when a large shadow fell upon them.
"You are addressing the left arm, correct? Please, do continue."
Akari glanced up to see a tall man standing right behind Rei, his silver eyes almost glowing as he watched Rei tie the strip of fabric two inches above Akari's elbow. Rei hadn't seemed to take notice of the man at all. He then slipped in the sturdy branch and resecured the fabric around it.
"Your speed is to be commended, young man!" their overseer cheered quite loudly. "You have exceptional handiwork! Bravo!"
Rei practically glowed at the praise, his smile splitting his cheeks ear-to-ear. "Thank you very much, sir! I try my best!" Rei then gave Akari a worried glance. "Okay, Akari. Get ready. This is going to hurt." He gave a small countdown under his breath before he began twisting the makeshift windlass.
The tourniquet tightened harder and harder and Akari winced. She gritted her teeth as the fabric twisted tighter and tighter around her arm, the pain causing her upper arm to throb. Is that my heartbeat? It seemed to take ages before Rei stopped turning the stick, firmly tying it down with another strip of fabric. "Are you done yet?" she gasped.
"Yup! Sorry about the pain."
"I told you it stinks," came the teasing voice of the Pearl Clan scout. She was standing right next to the overseer who looked distinctly uncomfortable at her proximity.
Their overseer knelt down beside Rei, nodding to himself as he quickly scanned over Rei's tourniquet. "Exceptional work, young man! You've done a fantastic job! Go ahead and loosen the tourniquet. Then it will be your partner's turn."
Akari would be lying if she said she wasn't intimidated by the man. The overseer said nothing as he watched her work, giving her polite pointers and at times demonstrating the proper motions with his assistant- the Pearl Clan scout- when her nerves were getting the best of her. As they were finishing up, the overseer gave her a curious look, his mouth parting as though he wanted to say something, but he faltered at the last moment.
She was a bit sad for the first-aid lesson to end. She wasn't looking forward to when she would get sent out back into the fields again. Sure, Rei had been a good help in determining where certain pokémon were and he had a good eye for details… but he's also… annoying. Is it a bit childish of me? A little. But then, nobody ever said that I have to constantly partner up with him.
She made her way to her assigned long tent, packing away some of her supplies under her cot before making a start toward the dining tent. There was still the issue of filling in pages for the pokédex. She had stashed it away in her larger pack, deciding that if she was still stuck waiting around tomorrow, she would do some more page filling. And preferably not with Rei, she added on silently.
To her utter dismay, her paltry meal that she'd been waiting so long for had been interrupted as the older scouts began piling into the dining tent. Then came a handful of guards and clan scouts. The distinct scent of mud and sweat began to sting at her nostrils.
The Pearl Clan overseer and his assistant were standing off in one corner with a young boy swaddled in bandages, a large, beaded stetson hat hiding his face. The overseer was talking animatedly with his hands, his booming voice almost loud enough to hear over the din of the rest of the tent's inhabitants. On the opposite side were a few Diamond Clan scouts. Akari recognized Jaku in the far back, her expression unreadable under her large head scarf as they stared in the direction of the tent's opening. She also recognized Warden Mai as the older woman grouped up with her fellow clanmates and began briefing them on something.
Akari's hands began to twitch again. It was rare that either clan was in the same place at the same time without ripping each other's heads off. At least, it was what she had heard from her fellow scouts; that the Diamond and Pearl clans loathed each other. Akari wondered what could have been happening at that time to gather their full cooperation.
"Ahem," came a small voice. "Could I please have everybody's attention for just a minute or two?"
Akari turned, perplexed, as the little boy from earlier had taken up the center of the dining tent. He looked awfully small standing before the much larger overseer behind him but he stood defiantly, hands on his hips as he surveyed the crowd.
"That'll do. Anywho, we've finally got news about the situation here in the fieldlands," the boy drawled. "S'not good either. Most of you know that the lords are all frenzied. That is partially our fault to blame," he admitted, his one good eye shooting to Warden Mai who gave him a terse look in response. "I did some lookin' around and I managed to figure out where Lord Kleavor has moved to. I'll be needing ta' take a group over to Oreburrow tomorrow."
"As for Lord Wyrdeer-" Warden Mai spoke up- " we have also managed to pick up on its frenzy and where it seems to be roaming. Both myself and Warden Lian will be leading separate groups to survey the lords and detail their behaviors so that we may plan to quell them." Mai beckoned to a handful of her clanmates. "I will be leading a group into the Deertrack Foothills tomorrow."
Jaku came forward, sharing a quiet snippet with Warden Mai before retaking her position at the side of the taller woman. Another Diamond Clan scout quickly took Mai's other side. Three galaxy scouts stood up from their benches and hurried to join the group. She recognized Komuro, but not the other two teenagers with him.
"Akari, pay attention!" Rei hissed in her ears.
When she came to, she found herself being stared at by the entire room. She swallowed and gave a nervous smile. The group behind Warden Lian seemed to be looking expectantly at her as Rei led her toward them. "What's going on?"
"We've been chosen to go with Warden Lian to survey Lord Kleavor. You weren't paying attention at all, were you? Come on, before I catch secondhand embarrassment." He grabbed hold of her sleeve and ushered her forward onto the stage.
March 26th, First Year
"Felled tree up ahead."
Akari paused and moved in closer as her group took in the sight before them. A thick swatch of birch trees had been sliced through cleanly, their withering tops decaying on the ground not too far away.
Warden Lian carefully felt along the cut stumps, his lips pulled into a worried grimace as he tipped back his hat. "Definitely the work of Lord Kleavor, no doubt about it." He turned. "Hey Ingo. You think an Onix might be able to withstand a hit like this?"
"Most likely, though, a Steelix would be a more preferable option for your unruly passenger. Good thinking."
Akari had only just recently figured out that the kind but intimidating overseer from the day before was the revered Warden Ingo of the Pearl Clan. She was anticipating meeting the man that would take care of most of the heavy lifting and her initial perception of him was… daunting to say the least. The Pearl Clan scout- the one that had been watching Akari through her first aid lesson- Gale- had been feeding her a bit of gossip about the man but compared to the woman's words, watching the warden in person was a whole new experience altogether.
Warden Ingo was an intimidating man. With his towering height, his well-worn scowl, the full clip of worn pokéballs at his belt, and his tattered hat and jacket, the man looked as though he regularly fought Luxrays and Gravelers bare-handed. The man had long, silver hair that curled around the sides of his sharp jaw, the rest forming a fringe that trailed along the collar of his jacket. At her first impression, Akari had presumed the man to be quite old since all of his hair was silver and that he also had a goatee. It was upon the man briefly taking off his cap that Akari realized that Warden Ingo possessed a full head of hair- and most importantly- that without the shadow from his hat obscuring his face, Warden Ingo's face appeared youthful if only a little tired from the bags underneath his matching silver eyes.
Warden Ingo had a deep but boisterous voice, one that could distinctly be heard from a distance even if it was windy or if it were storming outside. And unlike the other Pearl Clan scouts, he was the only one to carry a weapon at his side. A breeze had lifted up the man's jacket, revealing the cold, gleaming edge of a chiseled stone pickaxe. But despite his initial appearance, the man had been cordial. Always polite and eager to be of assistance, Akari had observed that the man was virtually well-respected by those who came across him. Even Warden Lian, who came off as having a standoffish, cold demeanor was constantly asking about Ingo's opinions of this and that and the two held a sort of familial conversation at best.
The group continued deeper into the fieldlands. At one point, Warden Ingo had split from the party, his eyes narrowing with displeasure before he disappeared into a patch of tall sprouting cattails. Warden Lian had halted the group for an entire hour to wait and when Ingo eventually came wandering back, his clothes were a bit more tattered and he smelt strongly of charcoal.
"Lesser Lord Rapidash has been set on different tracks for now," Ingo rasped as he drew closer, latching a pokéball back onto his belt. "We should be safe on our way to our final destination."
Akari thought her jaw would fall off of her face. He went to fight that Rapidash? And he won? She shared startled glances with both Rei and Daigo who looked just as stunned as she was. It was settled; she would definitely need to get pointers from him before their expedition was done and over with. She wondered where the man had come from where he was already that experienced with battling pokémon and for that matter, dealing with alphas. Do I come from a place like that too? I hoped so. I want to grow stronger so that nobody else will get hurt under my watch again. Not after Jaku. Not after Rei. Not after Yuki.
"More signs over here!" Warden Lian called. He was crouched low, eyes wide with both terror and fascination as he stared at the black-and-green sky overheard. "Look. They're swarming."
It was almost as though Akari were seeing it for the first time again. The strange hum in her ears that she supposed was a fly had grown to a fever pitch, the clicks of mandibles and flapping wings almost deafening as her group drew closer to the riverbank. The noise seemed to even reverberate through her bones. An unimaginable amount of bug-type pokémon were swarming across the mud-strewn rocks either jerking involuntarily or flying headfirst into trees or branches, tearing their wings or mandibles in the process. The conifer trees had been stripped bare of their needles and any stalk of grass unlucky enough to be poking out of the snow had been whittled down to their roots. The bugs flew in great black swarms, circling and wheeling and dipping as if unsure where they wanted to go.
They crashed into one another. They cannibalized one another. They fought and clawed, and tore at one another. A few of the bugs had even been torn open, their innards strewn about the rocks like fallen leaves, their exoskeletons crushed to dust under the stampedes. A group of Heracross were picking apart the carcass of a dead Ponyta, their infamous horns sticky with fresh blood. Amongst a cluster of tree stumps covered in bodily fluids, a massive stained web stretched over the ground, clusters of Wormadams, Cascoons, and Silcoons struggling to free themselves. Beautiflies descended in crashing waves, stabbing their proboscises into the struggling pokémon to drink from their still-living bodies.
Scythers crawled along the forest floor, blood leaking from their damaged exoskeletons as they tore apart the earth scavenging for what little gore they could find. One particular Scyther, chirring as it fought viciously with another over the mutilated scraps of a Dustox carcass, stumbled into a Scizor. In one moment, the Scizor had split the lesser Scyther in two, unhinging its hidden jaws wide to completely consume one of the Scyther's dismembered arms.
"My god," Akari muttered shakily, taking a step backwards. "It's even worse than last time."
Rei trembled beside her, the fear eminent in his eyes as he kept his position, gagging as the Scizor decapitated the Scyther and consumed that too.
"You've seen this before?" Warden Lian asked incredulously. "This only ever happens in the summer when it's breedin' season and it's at a much smaller rate than… this. Where'd you see it? Here?"
"No. Rei and I- we ran into a swarm like this back near the Floaro Gardens. I knew the swarm was moving but I- we didn't think it would happen again. Not like this. This is worse. Way, way worse."
Warden Lian paled. "If they've managed to spread all the way to Floaro- I gotta warn Warden Mai! This ain't good! We need to head back to camp, pronto. If they're swarmin' all over the fieldlands now then come spring, it's gonna be real bad for everybody. We need ta' hurry up and deal with Lord Kleavor before this swarm moves and consumes everything."