CHAPTER TEN:
THE HIDDEN VILLAGE
-Udon-
Fluttering my eyes open, I could feel I was laying down on a cold, damp floor.
"What the…?" I mumbled, trying my best to get words out.
I sat up and looked around me. I was in some kind of dungeon, and Ruffles and Amp were knocked unconscious beside me. I also noticed we were trapped behind bars, with two Pokémon guarding us outside.
"Where are we?" I said to myself.
One of the guards turned around and stared directly at me.
"I see you're finally awake," it said with a gruff voice.
The other guard turned to face me as well. They both looked like giant living suits of armor, but they also had a slightly robotic appearance to them as well.
"You will be seen shortly," the other said.
Seen by who exactly? I had no idea what they were talking about.
"Can one of you tell me what's going on?" I asked.
"You will be seen shortly," the same one said in the same tone.
Were these things robots? They weren't answering my question.
Just then, I heard a mumbling behind me, and I turned around. Ruffles had just woken up.
"What's going on?" he asked. "What is this place?"
"I see you're finally awake," the first guard said.
"You will be seen shortly," the other one said.
Ruffles looked about as confused as I did. These guards definitely did not seem like living Pokémon.
"Who are these guys?" he asked me.
"We are the guards to the Hidden Village's dungeon," one of them said.
Finally, something new from them. But I was still confused. What was the Hidden Village?
"Why are we here?" I asked them, hoping to get some more information.
"You have been caught trespassing on the grounds of the Hidden Village," the other said. "You will be seen shortly."
"Ugh," I heard. Amp had woken up too.
"I see you're finally awake," the first guard said again.
"You will be seen shortly," the other said.
"Okay, listen," Amp said. "One of you better tell me what's going on."
"You will be seen shortly," the guard said again.
This wasn't gonna be good.
"I said, one of you better tell me what's going on." Amp said, this time with more aggression.
"You will be seen shortly," the guard said.
Amp was starting to get more and more upset.
"Is that all you dipsticks can say?!" he asked.
The guards looked at him, saying nothing.
"Oh, that's it," Amp continued. "As soon as I get out of here, I…"
"I wouldn't advise getting into a fight with those two." I heard from down the hall.
As footsteps kept getting closer and closer, I could see who had just spoke.
It was a Pokémon that looked like a blue, bipedal canine-like creature. It had black appendages that hung from below its ears, and spikes that stuck out of its chest and the back of its hands.
"They're Golurk," the Pokémon continued. "They're mainly just used for protection around here. Not much of anything in their heads, however."
So that explained why they only were able to speak three different sentences.
"Who are you and what is this place?" Amp asked, still furious from before.
"I go by Aura," the Pokémon answered. "And you are prisoners here at the Hidden Village."
Just then, it dawned on me. The Hidden Village must've been on the blurred section of the map. Maybe that's why it was obscured in the first place.
"Look, we don't want any trouble." Ruffles said, scooting back. "We're just trying to get somewhere, we don't mean any harm. I promise."
"You three are trying to get to the Mountain of Mew, aren't you?" Aura asked.
Huh. He knew about the mountain too?
"Sorta," I answered. "There's just something we gotta do there."
I didn't want to give away too much about us being from another world. What if they frowned upon that here? We didn't want to be in more trouble than we were in now.
"Yeah, when Otherworlders hear about Mew, their first thought is usually to get there as soon as possible so they can wish themselves home." Aura said.
I froze. Apparently, he knew we used to be human. Also, there were others like us? How many others?
"Don't worry, you're in safe hands here," he continued. "The leader just wants to have a little talk with you to make sure you don't tell anyone else about this place."
"Wait, so you're not gonna hurt us?" Ruffles asked.
"Well, if you keep this a secret, then you're good." Aura answered.
Ruffles and I breathed a sigh of relief. Amp, however, was still upset.
"How do we know for sure you're gonna set us free?" he asked. "How do we know you're not gonna backstab us?"
Aura laughed. "You have every reason to be afraid," he said. "I mean, you were just captured and put in a dungeon. But it's just standard protocol to make sure no bad guys find us. You guys seem decent enough."
"Alright," Amp said, starting to calm down a little. "But if you ever even think of hurting us, I'll go Jason Bourne on you."
Aura stared at him. "I don't know who that is," he said.
He then took a key that had been hanging on the wall across from us and unlocked the door.
"Follow me," Aura said, beginning to walk down the hall.
The halls of the dungeon were dark and damp, only being lit up by small torches on the walls. There were other cells like the one we were just in, but there was nothing inside any of them.
The Golurk that were guarding our cell were walking beside us, making sure we wouldn't try attacking and breaking free.
As we continued walking, I could see a light peeking from the end of the hall, and there were stairs leading up to the ground floor.
"Hey, you said before something about us being 'Otherworlders,'" I said, cutting through the silence.
"Yeah, I could read your aura when they brought you in," Aura said. "It's how I could tell you weren't from around here. It's kinda my special gift."
So, this creature was like the psychic back in the city. Maybe even more powerful.
"How many others like us have you found?" I asked.
"That's a question for another time," Aura answered.
We then walked in silence until we got to the stairs. After walking up them, we were greeted with the outside world, and the Hidden Village.
The village was quite small and quaint. The houses were mainly one story tall, and were very rustic. Outside of them were small farms where you could see many crops growing.
We made our way through, and soon we stopped in front of a much larger building.
"The leader is right in here," Aura said. "Just a fair warning, she may seem a little harsh, but she's got a good heart."
And so, with that in mind, Aura opened the door, and we stepped in.
