Chapter 4:
"Welcome, King Ziren." A grand voice boomed across the echoing hall. "May your visit finally bring peace, prosperity, and good tidings for our fair lands."
She sighed, lamenting her situation. Despite having been marginally more interesting than staying cooped up in the family manor, practising 'proper etiquette', pruning her to be the 'perfect offering', or attending vapid 'audiences' with her local barons and countesses, it was still a pitiful bore. She had indeed managed to visit new lands, but the trek to get here was much too long and now having to listen to the dry politicking of two kings was not the ideal change of pace.
Her eyes roamed the great hall, bathed in blazing red; sunset streaks flitted through the westerly windows, shadows rapidly lengthening. This was a great honour, she had to remind herself of that, to be entertained as a foreign guest and given the chance to sightsee all the way down here. It was definitely different, a good different, she supposed. It couldn't be helped that the carriage had taken so long, and it had been her choice to volunteer for this expedition; she'd have to take what she could get.
"My gratitude for your hospitality, Palladius! Indeed may our two kingdoms finally find peace despite the great turmoil that has haunted our relations like a shroud." The regal Umbreon responded with a raise of a black-furred paw, which tightly wound around the cup of spirits he held, possibly as a show of strength.
She stifled an eye-roll, instead opting to eye the rolls and puffs that were being laid in front of them, one after the other. Various dishes, to a mouth-watering degree; whether that be confectionaries crisp to crunchy perfection, baked Magikarp with a sharply sweet glaze, or cut Spoink-chops rich in, well, richness. Enjoying the local cuisine would have to make up for enduring torturous negotiations. She eyed the surroundings, seeing the preoccupation and slow doling of food, she decided now was the time to strike, to dig into a few choice meals. Her small paws worked the special cutlery to skilfully stab and partake in a delicious jam-filled bun, this was one of her favourite meals back home and it was comforting to see it shared transdesert even if this variety was much too savoury for her palate.
Looking around, again. It seemed to be slowly growing more crowded, she had to act the part, but internally she was in deep musing. It was far too stuffy here, and her wanderlust struck her at inopportune moments, how remarkable it was for the mind to wander. That brief second where she was able to slip the watchful eyes and enter the Oudian markets had truly astounded her, the vast trade that floated across Lake Ön. It was unlike anything up North. Silks fluttered with breathy sighs, the smell of spices slithered into her sensitive nostrils, gesturing with promises of overpowering sensation, honestly it had been a bit stifling.
"Why hello there, little one. My, you're quite the vision!" A bubbly Sneasel had gestured with a wavy claw, another such claw traced a few expensive-looking pendants that exuded local air before continuing, "Haven't never seen a face like yours. Fare you well?"
She blinked, not one to yield to so sudden a salutation. "As well as the wind blows"
The Sneasel amusedly appraises her. "Say, you're not from 'round here, are you?" The accusation caught her off guard. "Here, on the house." The Sneasel hooks a small pendant with an Espeon etching, clearly seen from the little gem on its forehead. With a deft flick, he threw it to her, which she caught in a forepaw. "Consider it a welcome gift. Good tidings as well as the river flows. Make sure to spread the word. Tell 'em to come to Sly, Sly the trader." He winked with a grin.
That was something, or rather it could be considered the only thing. A few moments later she was being corralled away from the rickety stalls, so if anything, she was grateful for the memento.
"I'll be right here if ya ever need me, 'kay?" The trader had given her a lopsided grin and waved her farewell.
In a slow blink that relieved her of her daydreams, the world seemed to shift forward dramatically. She focused her gaze and noticed a number of other Pokemon filing into the great hall, having now gradually taken their seats. The familiar murmur of dignity spread throughout the dining hall, and the intriguing lilt and short quippy dialogue of the sub-desert accent provided a pleasant amusement to the atmosphere.
She surveyed the hall, teeming with various noblemon who were made to assemble to this congregation. Of course, there would be much to talk about; heated conversation, debates exuding pomp, meaningless concessions and compromise. She supposed it had to be done, ultimately some Pokemon just had to take up the mantle and deliver remarks to ensure peace remains and no more incidents happen. The local dignitaries and their unique customs filled the air; the way their paws curled up around the cups, the variation in colloquialisms that seemed to be shared. Or perhaps most attention grabbing to her were the sauces that seemed to be cognate to theirs up north, ones that they also made to liberally cover atop their protein. She poked at the morsel and hummed, before popping it into her maw, it was strangely sour yet savoury, like returning to one's hometown after many a long years of estrangement.
She heartily helped herself and began devouring her morsel, a few stray glances caused her to slow down and put up the courteous front. She seemed to be an early outlier. Her people stood in stark contrast to her, yet they all eventually followed the lead of their hosts, a few snouts scrunched up at the unique blend of tastes, and others widened in surprise as if to say: 'Oh, this is actually pretty good!'
It was the small things that made this worthwhile. Not the serious talk that bubbled around her, the ones she stubbornly refused to tune into; nor was it the formalities, but rather the novelty yet familiarity that seemed to transcend their situations.
Whispers and peculiar gazes followed to the head of the table, causing her to jolt to attention. She had to reign in her errant thoughts.
'Oh Arceus, pull yourself together.'
She swivelled her small ears to hone in on the words being said at one end of the long dining table. It seemed that quite the hubbub had erupted at the head. The perturbed Flareon king seemed to be talking in hushed whispers. Palladius, she recalled.
"Felix … With the visit, we should choose a more fitting … Absurd!" Her ears managed to glimpse a few phrases the orange monarch uttered, some random tidbits that spoke of scathing affront. This was unusual, for such regality, His Majesty was growing increasingly agitated. To the point where the Flareon's crown was ever so slightly crooked, something that no one seemed to dare mention as she saw many eyes linger on the explosive scene that had appeared out of nowhere. Then, there was her father, the trickster Umbreon had a knowing smirk and that glint in his eyes that she knew meant trouble.
He set the cup he was confidently holding down on the table. "Oh my, Palladius, it seems you're having quite the crisis… Would you mind if I shared my two shillings? Of course in private to discuss this matter." The Umbreon seemed to unwittingly speak louder than was comfortable, the sympathetic tone he directed echoed around the hall, filled with understanding and pity. The thoroughly humiliated Flareon bowed his head with a fierce scowl and muttered a few words, eyes darting to a Glaceon with a head piece.
The Umbreon replied loudly yet again, "Great. We'll be off then, much to discuss, it seems you may need a fellow king's counsel in familial matters such as these, agreed?" The Umbreon proceeded to readjust his steel circlet and stalk off down a small corridor on the other end of the great hall's main entrance. His shoulder blades rotated with coordinated ease as a few Lucario filed out after him with a few rickety clanks. They were outfitted with gleaming plate armor, a hole in said armour of the royal guard allowed for their signature chest protrusion.
Palladius was aghast as he stared at the empty seat beside him, he sighed, a fierce red that eclipsed his fur signified the immense showing of failure by the king. He rose wordless, as a gaggle of meek Pokemon rose with him, along with his guards.
She observed the gang. Various Pokemon stood in the midst, such as a Noctowl, Rampardos, Ninetales, Sylveon, or whatnot. A set of striking purple eyes seemed to pierce her soul as they sweeped, it came from a Flareon, a different one who seemed meek.
A thought struck her, what was she doing observing these random nobles, this was the perfect time to strike. The guards were all focused on whatever weird conflict happened between the royals.
She discreetly pushed her chair back, which emitted much too loud a screech for her liking. She dabbed at her muzzle, Set her cutlery down, and slinked off. As she crept with belly low to the ground she revelled at the success, it had been perfection with no one having batted a single eye at her disappearance. She began to bound, only to stop after having realised she had entered the foyer, and that was improper. She slowed to a curtly amble as she walked to her guest room to retrieve her little pouch, she figured she had to be inconspicuous.
A flurry dashed straight through the open gates.
"Uh, did you hear something?" The Sentret poked her head from the window of the guard house as her sensitive ears wiggled in alarm, a small yellow badge glinted on her floundering left ear.
The Snorlax blinked open an eye before yawning and responding,"Mmmhh… Nuh." The Sentret took one more look left and right before withdrawing once again.
She padded down the streets with a worried frown, these feelings crept into her breathy whispering, "Was it this way? Right, or left… Um, I think it was…
"Aha!"
She walked under the flowery arch that symbolised the entrance to the market, despite it being around closing time. At dusk, the sky's clouds were imbued with a messy deluge of purples, blues, and oranges, the sun's spluttering rays spat out their last, fastly fading, breath of illuminance into the growing dusk. It created an almost ethereal presence above them. Maybe Rayquaza was looking down at her now, it made her feel at peace even if Rayquaza was a fairytale for pups.
She daintily placed her paws onto the counter, peering into the stall, the large lettering clear for all to see:
'Trader Sly: Tomes, Trinkets, or Tools.'
If her eyes hadn't deceived her, this must be it, so where had that interesting Sneasel gone off to? She clutched the tiny pouch that hung by her neck, a bit of the foreign currency clanking. She pulled out one glinting gold coin, apparently, this was an Oudian "crown". On one side, the massive number one was etched onto its face with two of the word "crown" in flowery letters curling around it. The crest of Oudia was etched onto the other side, the same design as the pendant she had received from this Sly figure, her paw subconsciously went down to also grip the pendant that dangled from her neck.
"... That's about thirty two percent profit." The voice of a Sneasel sounding mighty pleased echoed from behind tall piles of aesthetic knick knacks and a bookshelf overflowing with books. The black furred pokemon hummed as it emerged from deep within the back of the stall throwing up and down a little baggy of clinking coins.
Her eyes lit up and she immediately stowed away her one-crown and approached the trader."Oh hello again! We didn't have time to properly talk earlier. I'm very sorry for the lack of gratitude, so I came back here to give you a great big thank you for this pendant." She extended a paw and continued, "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, my name i—"
The dark type gently whacked her paw away. Her mouth opened into a small 'o', positively flabbergasted. "I'm mighty sorry, but a li'l Pidgey told me that there'd be a visit from one of those royals? And that you might be one of 'em, eh?" The Sneasel laughed nervously and his eyes swivelled around as if looking for hidden ambushers to jump out from the woodworks. "Best if we kept this brief, and by brief, I mean that we've never met. 'kay?"
She felt a sharp sting, much more than the mere physical harm brought about by the slap. Her form quivered as she forced down the hurt that emerged from her throat, in doing so she shrunk down below the Sneasel, more than she was already.
The Sneasel began hesitantly, "Look. I'm sure you're a nice enough girl, I just can't risk associating myself with one of them, er, Dzagarenes." He grimaced apologetically and scratched the back of his head with a claw.
"O-Okay…" She whispered and backed away, before turning tail and bolting.
Her paws quietly scrawled some notes in a little leather bound tome, it had been a few days here and she had already accepted her self-imposed isolation. She didn't feel all that bad, in fact, in spite of her hopes of wandering around the streets of Oudia and exploring all that existed down here, she got plenty of entertainment. She's taken to writing down the consistently interesting tidbits she remembered from what she heard earlier today—a flurry of chambermaids gossiping like schoolchildren.
"Did you hear the absolute state of the scandal that His Majesty has had to contend with?"
"My, I heard that upstart King managed to cause quite the ruckus!"
"No, no, you two. I heard that Prince Felix himself said he wanted to go! And that this foreign ne'er do well was simply causing trouble."
"Well, I still think that Umbreon convinced the young prince to leave the kingdom! Or if what you say is true, then the prince must have curried favour with that racketeer, to allow foreign meddling to pressure our great king."
"Not true!"
"Why, yes it is!"
"Nuh uh!"
"Yuh h—"
At this point she had tried to interpose between the two arguing Deerling maids, one pink and one orange, questioning them about the state of events. Both of them quietened as if a Draco Meteor had descended upon the room. The fourth tawny Deerling silently eyed the scene with a muted sombreness, and finally, the nervous first pink Deerling piped up, "U-Uhm. We're sorry for interrupting you, m-miss. We shan't talk to your folk about such concerns."
She had questioned them why not, and repeated herself again, asking for more information.
"Um, miss—"
"Princess!" The orange one chided the pink one.
"Oh sorry! Er, Your Royal Highness, I don't think we're qualified to talk to you about this, exactly."
"And if we were, we wouldn't tell y—"
"Shh!"
Falling to her haunches and hitting the wooden floor, she implored them, practically begging. One by one, she asked the pink, green, and orange one, and one by one each one of them refused.
"No, sorry…"
"No can do."
"Hell no."
She even asked the tawny one, who responded in absolute silence. She felt her soul being crushed, until the green one spoke up, "Uh, she's mute."
She shook her head, relieving herself of that mortifying memory in that stuffy library. She was being silly, there were much more useful things about these interactions than some silly Deerling being tight-lipped! She had, over the course of her three days in Oudia, pieced together some of this drama! Well, she didn't actually, she just knew the Prince of Oudia was having a go at running away, and it had something to do with her dad.
"Running away," She furrowed her brow, musing under her breath. Her posture couldn't lie, she was definitely intrigued by the boldness of the Prince, supposedly a Flareon. She tore her eyes from the page and noticed the time, gee it was getting late!
There was one thing she wouldn't compromise on doing, one thing she promised herself to do coming to Oudia.
The waves of Lake Ön lapped calmly around her hindpaw, pondering on one of her forepaws, she looked out across the gentle waves of the great body. She supposed this was what it was like to finally see water; not just the measly thin strips of earthen tears that would run down mountains, or gurgle their way across plains. No, she thought, this was water. A vast expanse of gentle lapping that rose and fell like a breathing lung. This was just a lake too, albeit a vast lake, when at the coast the lake filled up a good one hundred degrees of her horizon. The coast seemed to stretch and bend around the lake until they too disappeared out of sight behind its vastness. She had to wonder what the 'sea' was like from the books she read.
She gently brought her paw and crashed it down onto the surface, the tiny rings began to emanate across the shore, only to fade quickly to the silent breathing of the lake. Small ripples pushed against her hindpaws, it was oddly comforting, a mother's embrace wrapped itself on her legs and lulled it.
The landscape, illuminated by the strengthening waxing moon, seemed to stretch in two directions. Up and down. The twinkling of stars shimmered on the glassy surface. The little pinpricks of mystery seemed to not only be infinitely above her, but also infinitely below her. The magic didn't seem to exist only in the water, the very air seemed alive with crisp murmurings, small windswept secrets that travelled across the lake filled her ears. She could almost hear those stories of far away kingdoms and Pokemon right here, just by sitting at the shore, as if their chatterings across the lake had travelled far and wide to dock into the port of her mind.
She stared at the image, imprinting it bit by bit. It was magical, beyond magical, she couldn't quite put it into words. But it existed, in the here and now.
"Whatcha doin'?" She practically jumped out of her skin, startled by the voice that broke her out of her spell, it was a pink and white Pokemon with big green eyes that seemed to leer at her. She backed away a couple of paw-lengths.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! Did I startle you?" The Sylveon cocked her head and grinned apologetically. "That's my bad, are you okay? I'm Emerald, but everyone calls me Emmy! I hope we can still be friends!"
"U-Uh, s-sure!" She steadied her breathing at whatever had just happened there. She suddenly had the intense desire to return to staring at the lake, but that seemed impossible with this "Emerald" here.
"Wait… You're one of the ones from Dzagar, right?" The Sylveon eyed her even closer, analysing her every move.
"Y-Yeah? So what! So what if I'm from Dzagar!" She scoffed.
In response, Emerald backed away a bit, sitting on her haunches and gesturing her two forepaws and her four ribbons in the air, a peace signal perhaps? "Woah, woah! Sorry 'bout that. I think it's pretty cool, I daresay I think it's pretty swell that you're from up there!"
"Y-You are?"
"Yeah, sure I am, I bet the mountains are absolutely gorge! And I've heard you guys have all those sweets, gosh have I ever told you I have a sweet tooth? Oh, yeah, that's right, I guess I've never told you anything about me! So, basically…"
This was going to be a long day if she didn't stop this now.
"Stop." She held up a paw. "Tell me why you're here."
Emmy blinked and cocked her head the other way. "Uhh, bit rude? I just wanted to talk to my new friend." She huffed and muttered, "Well, if that's how it's gonna be, sure! I'm here to meet up with my other, better friend. So there!"
There was silence for a brief moment, where Emmy wrung one ribbon with another. "So um, why are you here, friend?"
"First off, we're not friends. Second off, I wanted to be here, to appreciate the view"
Emmy seemed to ignore her first comment. "Oh, okay, well it sure is Ön-forgettable!" She giggled.
She, however, did not laugh, that seemed to upset the overly energetic Emmy. The annoying Sylveon seemed to be ready to say something, but at that moment, far away up the path, a little orange speck could be seen making its way to the shore. "Oh! I think I see him, gotta go! Hope to see ya, friend!"
What a weird individual. She supposed that was also something.
She snuck back into the castle at the dead of night, thanking Arceus that the Snorlax had fallen asleep at the guard post. She crept from one shadowy corner to the next, the torch-lit chambers and halls now providing numerous alcoves and dark spots to hide in.
The halls were illuminated with the silvery glow of the waxing moon, its light provided a ghostly shimmer to the unfamiliar hallways. Perhaps, if she weren't scared out of her mind at getting caught, she'd feel as if she were walking in a dream that came alive; in a liminal place that didn't seem quite right, a borderland of what existed and what did not.
She instinctively slid behind a billowing curtain as two yawning guards walked past.
"I hate the night shift," said a Crawdaunt shaped silhouette.
"You hate all the shifts, dude," said a Sealeo shaped silhouette.
"Maybe because I have to share them all with you." They walked off, bickering. She let the nervous energy pour out of her at the close encounter, and emerged.
It was almost a haze, silently bounding up the spiral staircase to the third floor, dodging one or two more guards; she was now at the west wing of the palace. She was so close, just a few more doorways until she'd be at her guest room for the visit. She made a break for it, all she would have to do is run a few more Girafarig-lengths and she'd—
WHAM
All she could think of was how much that hurt. In all her training, she had never had to smack into a random palace guard that fast, maybe she was just living the cushy life…
She froze and gulped, dread creeping into her limbs. A guard? Right when she was so close!
"Ow, shit, are you alright?" A Flareon nursing his head appeared at the corner of her eye. He was looming down at her, with a wince. "Here, let me help you up."She felt herself slowly rise and she gasped as a jolt of pain flitted through her right forearm, she nearly collapsed but the Flareon steadied her and she regained her balance.
"You're okay, right?" He asked again, slowly with a flank that still balanced her. The rumbling of his chest reverberated through hers.
"Yeah… Yeah I-I think I'm fine," she responded weakly.
"Good. That's good." He said, she looked over and it was those eyes, those soul-piercing purple eyes. She nearly gasped. After staring into those portals, she could conclude that those eyes were, in fact, violet and not purple. She slowly stepped away and faced the Flareon in full.
"You're that Dzagarene princess, right?" He said with a strong tone, it seemed to lend her strength in turn. "My name's Felix." Her eyes widened as she realised this was a prince of Oudia. The Flareon prince smiled kindly and shook her paw, the one that wasn't hurt. "It's pretty late and I have to retire for the night, I think you should probably get to sleep as well." He smiled and began to pad off. "Don't worry I won't tell," he added.
She smiled softly in return as he began to pad off. It was at that moment she realised that she hadn't even told the prince her name.
Woah what? Yeah, that's right. Ya home-seal, just updated FtoS. *explosions bang bang firework parties*
I'm dedicating this chapter to Sunhat Leafeon, the very one I mentioned last chapter, for being such a champ. You give a recommendation, you get a recommendation! Go check out his stories (including the ones I haven't read… SORRY), he'll be in my favourite author's list, so you all better go check him out. I'm watching you…
Anyways, feeling good. Mhm, most words I've managed to pump out into one chapter, I dunno did it feel too stuffed? Could I have split it into two? Probably, but I didn't want to do two chapters of █████'s POV. Sorry!
Adding onto that, did y'all like the new style? There's a 50% chance everyone despises the sudden voice whiplash. It was for artistic value, I swear! Don't worry, I won't go into limited 3rd person that often! Maybe. It was just for this one thing, I pinky promise. *Crosses flippers behind back*
Also, I'm gettin' kinda bored of asking people to review and all that, so instead how about this: Go to your favourite story, and start reviewing it. It'll make their day, I promise!
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO READERS:
I'll be adding a few new scenes to the prior chapters to fill out some gaps that I really disliked (very likely to this chapter as well!). I've still yet to know if those scenes will be monumental to the story but I'd recommend you, by the time the chapter 5 comes out, reread the whole thing again. Or don't, free will and all that. (This message will also be migrated to Chapter 5 as a reminder)
Okay bye!