EPISODE II - DARK, WONDEROUS PAST
CHAPTER XXI - TAKING STEPS
On the coast of one island, a large town stood separate from the surrounding jungle by a flat no-mon's land in between them. Scouting amongst the edge of the town were small teams of pirates, each one equipped with a sword, knife or axe that they held in hand, paw or tail. Above their heads, flying and bug types patrolled the skies, observing the areas that the ground units couldn't watch. From their vantage point, they could see the extensive presence in and around the water. Water types moved purposely around the nearby bay, whilst a small ship was at anchor within the mouth of it as a more predominant guard.
Under the cover of the jungle canopy, atop a small mound, a trio of green Pokemon looked down at the village. Bruce looked across the so-called Libertalia with narrowed eyes, simmering with clear frustration. Behind him, hidden amongst thick ferns was the form of Zeke, not quite looking at the town and looking towards the ground with a conflicted look. Above them both was the grass-type Denzel, who hanging upside down from a thin tree branch, his face twisted with disgust.
"Arceus, how are we going to break through that!?" Bruce hissed, loud enough for his companions to visibly flinch.
"Could you quieten down a bit?" Denzel grumbled, the stick in his head leaf bobbing noticeably.
The Bulbasaur bit of a curse, "Sorry." He replied, "Just… thinking out loud."
From their vantage point, they could just about peer over the wall, allowing them to look inside. Plenty of pirates moved freely around inside, sometimes pushing other Pokemon who looked scrawnier than themselves about without anyone else batting an eye. Prisoners, Bruce reckoned.
The question that plagued Bruce's mind however was all to evident, as he couldn't see what he was really looking for. "I don't see Nia or Dan down there. Not Edward either."
"If they're not locked up in cages then they are probably being put to work on their boat places." Denzel replied, pointing towards the masts of ships in the distance. Bruce shivered as he could make out those belonging to the so-called Vengeful, the one that took out the Crow and Penguin in a matter of moments.
"Shipyard." Zeke quietly said, still not lifting his gaze up.
Denzel scratched his head, still hanging upside down. "Shipyard… okay, I'll keep that one in mind."
The Bulbasaur meanwhile glowered in Zeke's direction, feeling the vines on his back quiver. "Okay, can you look up for five seconds and help look?" he grunted.
The Electrike's head snapped up, a leg instinctively reaching back. "H-Huh? Sorry."
Bruce chewed on his lip for a moment. He knew he wasn't exactly the brightest Pokemon in the world, but he could tell as bright as day that the electric type was still bothered by something, and it was slowly beginning to grind his gears! Feeling the anger coming, he took in a sharp hiss of breath. Okay, remember what Nia said, deep breaths.
As he released the second breath, he finally spoke again, "Still thinking on all that stuff back home right?"
Zeke's flicked back down towards the ground again, but unable to stop himself from rolling his eyes, Bruce flicked a vine out and snapped it against the ground with a faint crack, shaking the electric type back into focus again. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself!" Bruce growled, "All that fucked up shit you got caught up in? You keep thinking about it, you are only going to get more people hurt. Hell, if my team gets hurt because you've got the guilt stick up your ass, then we're going to have a real big problem!"
"Err… what… events?" Denzel uttered, flabbergasted at the choice of language.
"Long story." Bruce replied, not evening looking up at the monkey and instead looking towards the shivering Electrike, "Dude, we're going to need that guy who started blasting pirates out of the sky with lightning like, super easy. I heard you got possessed, but you are not that guy. That Kali girl? I don't know what she saw exactly, but I can tell she's seeing the same thing I am. You want to help people? Then let folks in and help us out here and now."
He rubbed his head with his free vine, whipping off a sliver of sweat across his brow. He had had enough of Zeke's self-pitying behaviour. He didn't know all the stuff that happened to him, but it wasn't going to help them now. The Electrike seemed to recoil again, but the shaking had ceased. Instead, he could see his jaw tighten, eyes screwed tightly shut as if fighting some internal battle.
What was going on in his head?
Zeke could feel his heart tighten as Bruce's words echoed inside his head. He knew what Bruce was saying, but what would happen if he just… went all out again? The faces of those that… that thing! Kain! The faces of those that he killed fluttered across his closed eyes. He tore them to pieces! He nearly killed Kaliani after she tried to help him remember what happened in the dungeon! He swore he could feel something cold and dark inside him, unmoving but just… present. As if there was a part of that monster still inside him, waiting until he let his guard down for just a moment.
Or maybe he was just a monster, and Kain had just unlocked that side of him.
"You went through a lot!" came Kaliani's voice, ringing in his ear, "I just want to help!"
The Electrike shivered. Why was she and so many others so eager for him to… get help? Even after everything he did? He… he didn't plan on this for sure but…
He stiffened, That… that doesn't matter now…
Yeah. He was scared of what he could potentially end up doing, but if he stood back and did nothing out of fear… well, someone else would have to fight in his place. The Guild members, the tribesmon… all their lives were in danger. Come on… you fought the pirates on the ship… you can do it again.
Shaking his head, the electric-type straightened himself up and opened his eyes again. "Alright." He said more firmly. "Let's try and move round towards the shipyard, see if we can get a better look there."
Kalilani touched down with ease, using the wind to gently ease herself down to the ground. Good thing the wind wasn't too strong this high, otherwise she'd be having to hobble up the mountain side on foot and frankly at this point, there was no way was she doing that again for a bit.
Denver and the chieftain, Odessa, were already ahead of her, approaching a short rocky tower that was about twice as tall as the tribal leader, one that was barely reinforced with wooden trunks, not even turned into planks. The top looked bare, likely to hold a flame inside and shelter it from the wind.
The Skorupi clicked his pincers sharply, "Are you serious…" he grumbled, his jaws firmly clenched. "This is it?"
The chieftain gave the bug-type an incredulous look, "What were you expecting?"
"I don't know, something bigger I guess?" Denver replied, rolling his eyes as he skuttled towards the base. "Least we won't have to rebuild the thing. Do we have something that can shield the light from the flame in this thing?"
Odessa cracked the knuckles on her wings together, "No, but I can fashion a cover to hide the flame from some of the rocks we have here, it won't be perfect, but it'll stop the pirates from noticing."
Kaliani cast a look over the structure. She didn't know exactly what kind of lighthouses Denver worked on, but she knew her light sources out at sea. This was very basic compared to what she had seen before. Like it was just needed too…
"We need a shutter!" She blurted out, hopping forward to join the others.
Denver's stinger twitched. "What?"
"A shutter!" she said again, reaching the base, "This is a light beacon for navigation! Not a signal light for communication! It won't matter if we can shield the light from the pirates, the guild will just think it's another star unless we can reveal it on and off!"
The blue bug didn't look that convinced for a second, right until he thumped a claw against the side of the tower. "Aw shit." He grunted, "You're right."
Clearing his throat, he turned towards Odessa, "Er, Ma'am." He said more respectfully, "Do you have something that can do that?"
Odessa carefully fiddled with a feather atop her head, looking over the structure in thought. "We don't have anything like that, but I could use my wing in it's place."
The Trumbeak started looking towards some of the nearby rocks, it wasn't exactly safe, but it would work in a pinch. All they needed now was a direction… oh, it would have been handy to have Zeke up here now with all of his electricity-
"Err… you wouldn't happen to have any iron, right?" Kaliani asked sheepishly, already picturing the final product…
When Kyra returned, arms stuffed with leaves, bark and fruit, night had started to fall. The team had retreated from the pyramid back to the high ground, where they could get a better view of the defences at the sight. Sam and Alice had already run an extra search around the parameter, trying to find the best route through to… anywhere really. The roof top was the primary potential target, if Kyra's suspicion was accurate, but they wouldn't know how useful it would be until they reached it.
With what little light they had, Kyra soon got to work mixing her ingredients together, drawing the rescuers attention. Sam leaned forward to have a closer look as she worked, "So, what's this tribal secret you're cooking up?" he asked.
The Sobble snapped some green shoots, allowing some powder to fall out onto the leaves. "I'm making a flamekracker." She explained, "A big one. Loud, flashy, something that'll get them all running."
"A bomb." Alice stated plainly with a faint smirk.
"That will definitely get their attention." Sam replied, rubbing his hands as he imagined some giant explosion that sent some pirates flying. "Didn't think you guys could make this kind of stuff."
Kyra fiddled with the fin on her head, "Well, it won't go boom on it's own, but when it mixes in with their food supply… that will be a different story." She frowned slightly, "I've only got enough for one though, and the pirates will get the fire out quick. So when I set it off, you are going to need to be running yourselves."
Sam tapped his foot, partly feeling disappointed at the lack of a big explosion, but he also couldn't shake off his concern so easily. A few minutes to find the entrance? That wasn't a lot. He and Alice weren't archaeologists, Gah… where's Edward when you need him? Too bad Squishy wouldn't know either.
"Right… you'll just need to get them far enough away that we can get in and out. The less fighting we have to do, the better." Sam finally said, turning towards the pyramid, looking increasingly dark with the fading light. But it hid the fact that Aidan and Greg were scouring every brick to find a way inside. He had no idea how long it would take before they found a way in, nor did he really know if the others had managed to achieve their aims. They didn't have much in the way of time.
"We'll go for it tonight." Sam stated.
Alice had propped herself onto a boulder, but now visibly leaned forward with her paws tightening together. "You sure? We could do some more scouting."
Sam shook his head, turning back to face the pair, "No, we can't take the chance that they get inside before then." He frowned, "We'll have to go now."
With a rustle, Kyra hefted up a wrapped-up bag made of leaves and bark. "I'd say about forty minutes, I can set this off. It'll take the better part of twenty to get there."
Alice's frown deepened, "Do we really want to rush this? And what if something comes up?"
Sam rubbed his foot across the ground, feeling a brief surge of heat. "You're right." He admitted with a huff, rubbing the back of his head as he couldn't deny that truth, "Probably a good idea to double check which route to take anyway. Kyra, is there a good way you could signal us?"
"Not really, no." Kyra replied, inspecting her improvised explosive. "Short of not setting this off."
"Maybe just… set it off later? Say an hour?" Alice suggested, dropping herself from the boulder, "Gives us all some more breathing room."
"Huh, does make sense as well." Sam replied with a subtle nod, It does give us the extra time we need, and we still get in on time.
With clear relish, Kyra pocketed her contraption. "I'll get moving towards the far side, should give you an extra minute or two before they come back." Then, without even missing a beat, she quickly disappeared into the foliage.
The fire-type clapped his hands together, feeling himself stiffen now that the tribesmon was gone. "Is it just me, or does she seem a little too eager for payback?"
"A little bit." Alice replied, "I can't really blame her though. We never did ask how long the pirates have been here."
Sam let out a sigh, uncomfortable with imagining even a week long occupation. "With Libertalia? Months at least?"
"Eighteen to be exact." Came a new voice.
Sam spun, getting a pebble underfoot for an attack, only for him to just as suddenly recoil from committing to it. "Damn, Tapu Koko!?" he uttered as the Guardian Spirit emerged from the trees, hovering just above the ground. "H-How long have you been here!?"
"Not too long." Koko replied, their posture unchanged. "I see you have already made plans."
Alice visibly chafed, "We did – but weren't you supposed to be talking to the other Tapus?"
The Tapu merely cocked their head to the side, as if to acknowledge it. "I am. Though my counterparts tend to be more… fickle compared to myself. Whilst there was time, I was checking on everyone's progress."
The tightness in Sam's chest faded. Okay, that's actually pretty handy. But… wait, why are they waiting so long fo-
He resisted the urge to shake his head and decided to focus on the other side of the conversation. "How are the others doing then?"
"Your Denver and Kaliani's beacon is already lit." Koko confirmed, "They are still waiting for a response. As for your other friends, they are still scouting the parameter, but they do believe they may have found where some of the prisoners are being kept. But who exactly they don't know. They are planning on trying get closer tonight."
Sam rubbed his hands together, feeling lighter and warm enough to almost lift off the ground. It was good to hear the progress… but at the same time, that was only the first step. And Sam and Alice still had the main problem ahead of them.
"Our only problem is we don't really know how to get inside." Alice said, jabbing a finger at the pyramid behind them.
"That is the other reason I'm here." Confirmed the Tapu, their voice becoming less audible. "And why I only revealed myself after Kyra left."
They drifted closer to the pair as they spoke, "There are multiple entrances, but the most straightforward method would be through the roof."
So Kyra was right!
But knowing all to well there was normally a catch to stuff like this, Sam felt some of the warmth fade away. "I'm guess you don't really know how to get inside?"
Even with the shell fragments attached to their arms, the Tapu still managed a shrug, "I do not. What I do know is that you yourself should be able to scry the means of unlocking the temple. It is supposedly easy enough to achieve."
"Supposedly." Alice bluntly stated.
Sam sighed, "I know what you mean Alice. Still, at least we know where we can look." He turned his attention back towards Koko. "Thanks, we'll head for the roof. See what we can find."
Koko merely bowed their head, "It is not much, but I do hope it helps you." Their eyes drifted towards the darkening sky. "It is time. The other Tapus come. I must parlay with them. Stay safe. And I do hope you find what you are looking for."
With that and a faint crackle of electricity, the legendary shot up into the sky and out of sight, leaving the two rabbits standing alone.
Taking a shaky breath at their new found objective, Sam turned towards Alice. "Ready for this partner?"
With a small smile, Alice returned a firm nod. "Ready."