PMD: Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Chapter 5 Subtitle Goes Here
Gauner grimaced as the wagon wheel yet again squeaked just behind him. For three days they had been traveling along a narrow road through lightly wooded grasslands, for three days he had been padding along in his designated position beside one of the many loaded wagons. This wouldn't have bothered him at all if it wasn't for the fact that once per revolution the wheel let out a high pitched squeak.
At first he had tried just ignoring it, but that hadn't worked for long. Now he had his ears tucked inside his leather hat instead of poking out through the holes, and thanks to Gypsy they were padded well with soft cloth. It managed to keep the wheel from hurting his sensitive ears, but did nothing for the irritation from the repetitive sound, and he was far from comfortable with having his hearing impaired.
He cast a glance around the grasslands, there wasn't much to see aside from gently blowing stalks of short grass stretching out to the horizon and the sparce small trees. A shadow passed over him causing him to look up. It had taken a lot of self control to finally get over his fear of flying pokemon. Now he looked up to his fellow guild members as they swung lazy circles over them and felt quite safe knowing that their keen vision was keeping a lookout for any trouble his cloth deadened ears would miss.
He then turned to look at the rest of the caravan following behind him. There were six wagons in total, all but the lead wagon he walked beside was pulled by a large animal he had learned was called an ox, a remnant from humans apparently. The lazy seeming beasts just trudged along as if oblivious to the load they pulled with them, blindly following the cart in front of them.
Looking to the lead cart a smirk found its way to his muzzle. At least there was something of interest to look at. Pulling the lead cart was none other than their new commander, Flare. If anything she took even less notice of her burden than the oxen, practically moving with a skip as she lead them down the road to their new home. Her happy attitude was quite contagious, and her swaying, bouncing posterior made for a nice distraction.
"Gauner!" a swat from Gypsy brought him back to his senses, "Quite staring! That's rude."
He was about to respond when he was struck from the other side by something soft. He turned back to see Flare's tail, and past that her large face with a big grin.
"Don't stop sweet heart. I'll have to sit on you again if you do." Flare said with more that a hint of her normal flirtatious attitude.
The big dog then arched her tail up and changed her stride to give him a better look. Gauner smirked again at her antics.
"You really shouldn't encourage him..." Gypsy had her arms crossed and practically stomped along in irritation.
"I do understand Gypsy. I really do. But it was just a quick look! I wasn't staring, besides, it's Flare, she likes it." He said with a quick sidestep to bounce his hip against Gypsy's, "I wouldn't do it with anybody else, and certainly not if anyone was watching."
"There are people watching!" The irritated Riolu snapped back, gesturing the the rest of the caravan behind them.
Gauner spun around and walked backwards, "Oh yes! Look how attentive they are!" He said, voice ripe with sarcasm.
Gypsy looked back as well, each of the remaining wagons had only a driver guiding the oxen. A job that required no effort as most of them were either asleep, or close to it. The remaining rescuers flanking the carts all trudged along with bored out of focus eyes.
"Well, okay I get your point but still! And turn around before you hurt yourself" She swatted his backwards moving rump.
"Calm down Gypsy." Flare's voice interrupted, "A casual glance never hurt anybody. Besides, do you REALLY think that no male has ever taken a quick peek at you before."
The inside of Gypsy's ears reddened in a deep blush, "I... um..."
"You've got your work cut out for you Gauner. Despite your efforts she is still way to shy." Flare teased, "Do you need me to give you lessons on how to treat your girl?"
"We are not like that!" Gypsy said, mortified by the Arcanine's lake of subtlety, "And how do you even know about that?"
A loud laugh could be heard from the other side of the wagon, followed by the sound of someone climbing up to look over.
The were soon looking at the face of Cubone, peering over the wagon, "We all know 'boud dat one Jip." Zee said with a chuckle.
Gauner had been quite happy to find out that Zee and Elation had both been selected for this post. During their stay at guild headquarters they had become quite good friends with the two members of Team Wingbone.
Gypsy was now looking at her feet, wringing her hands together as she walked.
"Stop dat now! I was just teasing. Almost everyone does dat wiff der team mates." Zee said to the embarrassed dog, "Even me 'n Elation have." He pointed up above them to were the second member of team Wingbone could be seen flying.
Flare watched as Gypsy continues to redden in her ears, "Alight, that's enough teasing. Back to work!"
Zee dropped back down to his side of the wagon, Gauner's quadrupedal position allowed him to still see his feet padding along on the other side of the wagon. Allowing his eyes to continue back he could also those of Maria.
His night with Gypsy had done him wonders with his interactions with females. No longer did he feel nervous under their attentions, except for Maria. He still found something about her subtle hints and flirtation troubling. Pulling his eyes off her graceful stepping feet he wrinkled his muzzle in though, maybe it was just her persistence.
While team Wingbone's presence had been a pleasant surprise, Maria's had been a bit of a shock. He wouldn't have imagined the Mienfoo would have left her team to follow along to a new village on her own, yet she had.
The wagon wheel's squeak brought his attention back to the task at hand. He shook his head clear of any remaining thoughts and swept his gaze across the grassland again, still nothing. This far into guild territory wild pokemon were unheard of, and they were traveling too small of a road for their to be a bandit group large enough to take on a guild convoy.
With a soft flutter of wings Elation came to the front of the wagon, landing on the empty drivers seat, "Commander Flare, we can see the next camp site up ahead. At this pace we should be there just before sunset."
Flare looked to the horizon where the sun was just sinking ever lower in the sky, "Thank you Elation, could you please ask the Fearow brothers to take a few of our rescuers up ahead with supplies to get our camp set up so the cooks can get our evening meal going when we arrive."
"Aye ma'am." Elation replied with a happy chirp, lowering herself and spreading her wings to take off.
"One more thing," Flare said, causing the Rufflet to skip comically mid take-off, "Make sure they ASK the rescuers and don't just randomly pick them up without warning this time."
"You got it!" Elation took off quickly, rising up to where two impressively large Fearows flew side by side. Rake and Talon, of team Fury, the only veteran team present.
Beside him Gypsy shuddered. Gauner nearly suppressed a snicker by looking away and holding a paw to his mouth, earning him an unseen glare from his partner.
"Let's just see how you like it if they pick you up and fly off without warning!" Gypsy growled. She had been among the first to be taken by the Fearow duo when they picked up 'volunteers' for meal duty. They hadn't bothered to ask and had taken to simply swooping down, grabbing someone and taking off.
With a large thump accompanied by an equally large puff of dust marked the arrival of one of the brothers. He had landed right beside them, causing both Gauner and Gypsy to jump. Gauner looked the dark brown bird of prey over closely, still not able to tell the brothers apart. The bird lowered his chest to the ground and spread one wing out of the way.
"Fox comes to set up." The bird shook his outstretched wing at Gauner.
Gauner's eyes lit up, they had covered riding a flying pokemon in training, but he hadn't actually got to go flying yet, "Okay!" He quickly climbed up on to the Fearows back and settled himself as he had been taught to do, looking over to Gypsy he stuck out his tongue, "Looks like I get warning first."
Any response Gypsy wanted to give was lost in a cloud of dust as the bird launched himself into the air, snagging a large bag of supplies from the wagon as he did.
Gauner closed his eyes against the rush of wind, holding his hat on tight with one paw. With each wing stroke he could feel the power of the bird as he lifted his burden into the air. Leaning over slightly he was surprised to see how high they had already climbed, and how far behind the caravan already was.
A loud screech from his left had him swinging his head around to where the second member of team Fury was now flying next to them. Carrying on his back three excited Eevees and in his talons one less than thrilled Leafeon, dangling precariously with the birds talons only holding onto one hind leg.
"Rake asked this time yes? Fire dog wasn't happy last time." Gauner's ride said to the new bird.
"Yes! Asked. Brown ones said yes, green one tried to run." Rake replied with an angry squawk.
"Good! Fire dog will be happy!" said Talon. The Leafeon just whined.
"Your not supposed to pick them up if they don't want to go!" Elation chimed in, flying between the much larger Fearows, "Sorry Tussock."
"It.. it's okay Elation, not your fault..." Tussock responded in a shaky voice, evidently not one for heights judging from his eyes bulging toward the ground, "I do wish you would hold me a bit better please."
"Can't change now! Should not have ran, would hold good if not run!" Rake replied angrily, giving the dangling Leafeon a shake.
"Just hang on, we're almost there." Elation said flying close enough to Tussock to brush him with a wingtip.
"Just don't let them drop me this time." Tussock said in resignation, closing his eyes tightly and going completely limp in the Fearow's grasp.
As Elation had said, they were starting to head down, getting lower as they approached a wide area of bare dirt beside the road. Gauner could see several fire pits as well as some various logs and stones gathered from near and far to serve as benches and tables.
Talon dropped down first, setting the supply sack on the ground and simply remaining perched atop it. Gauner slid down the Fearows back and landed lightly on his feet. His first flight had been both exciting and brief.
He watched as Rake slowly let himself down, Tussock reaching desperately towards the ground with his front paws. Finally making contact he dug his claws in and was simply dragged across the ground as Rake landed softly, one foot on the ground and the other still grasping the Leafeon.
As soon as he was let go Tussock darted away from the irritated bird, only to be tackled by the mob of Eevees jumping from Rakes back. Each apparently had several questions about the trip for their older Leafeon brother and were rapidly asking them all at once.
Together this group was Team Handy-Dandy, another new team that had graduated along side Shadow Strike. Along with their odd team name they had chosen an equally odd team roll. All throughout their training they had often been seen working as janitors, messengers or any other miscellaneous roles that the guild would otherwise have to hire someone outside the guild to perform
While they had all the combat and skill training any of the other teams, and had in fact scored quite well, they had opted for a job that would prevent them from being send on any patrols or missions. They would instead continue to stay around the guild properties, doing any and all of the odd jobs and random tasks needed.
Watching the randomly bouncing brown blurs pestering the larger Leafeon made Gauner think that perhaps they should have picked a different job. That though was pushed out quickly when they suddenly changed to bounce on the supply bag, shooing Tallon away so they could get to work.
The big bird let out an angry squawk before taking to the air in a ruffle of feathers. The sack was quickly pulled open and it's contents organized in a brown frenzy. Tussock took to directing the rapidly darting mess of brown fuzzballs. Watching them it was hard to believe that he had only evolved a few days ago, the oldest brother by only a few minutes.
"Hey Gauner! You going to just sit on your lazy rump or are you going to help us?" Tussocks usual timidness was instantly swept away the moment he took charge. "Come on, move your feet!" The Leafeon barked.
"Sorry!" Gauner sprang forward to help the little Eevees only to find the sack already empty by the fast paced little foxes who were now giggling at him. "Err, sorry?"
The Eevee's giggles became outright laughter, matched in intensity by Tussock's sigh, "Well there is still plenty to do. The damn bird brains didn't grab anyone with hands again. We will have to work extra fast if we want to get this set up in time." He said while waving a paw to the mess of tents and cooking supplies his brothers had set out.
Gauner's groan was drowned out by the Eevee's cheer. Looking at them, now bouncing up and down in rapid excitement, Gauner shook out his fur. He was not going to be outdone by any fox! He made a few practice bounces of his own and waiting ready for Tussock's commands.
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By the time the rest of the convoy arrived at the camp, the main tent along with the cooking equipment was set up and a roaring fire was heating a large cauldron of water.
Team Handy-Dandy was easy to spot, Tussock sat still and patent, waiting for their arrival, flanked by his never still brothers. Gypsy had to look around several times before she finally saw Gauner, well, at least a single hind paw sticking up from behind one of the large stones serving as a bench.
Hopping up on the stone she leaned over to look at him, and immediately fell over laughing. He was sprawled out on his back, all four paws hanging in the air with his tongue dangling from his heavily panting mouth.
"What happened to you?" She said between spasms of laughter.
Gauner's response was a series of coughing spasms followed by several deep breaths.
"He kept pace with my brothers while they set up camp." Tussock informed her, walking around the bench and propping Gauner up so he could pour a water skin down his throat.
"Thank you..." Gauner managed after another coughing fit.
Gypsy felt bad, she hadn't though to give him any water, and with it he now seemed to be improving rapidly.
"You're welcome," Tussock slung his water skin around his neck and started back to the main group, "I must say, I am impressed. Nobody has ever managed to keep up with us for that long before."
Gauner sat up, shaking his hat off after it fell over his face he watched Tussock return to sit next to his brothers who appeared to be having a wrestling match
"How do they have that much energy?" he asked, wide eyed and chest heaving.
"Beats me," Gypsy looked at the red tipped fluff on Gauners head and added in a whisper, "Would you be as tired if you hadn't kept your fur red?"
Gauner looked at her and sighed, "Probably... I've done it for so long I don't even feel this illusion anymore." Gypsy started to speak again and he stopped her, "I know I could drop it, really I do. I know nobody here would do anything bad with that knowledge. It's just, I've lived like this so long it's become part of me."
Gypsy looked him over once, he was no longer panting, but he was still breathing hard. Having only seen him show his true color a couple times she did have to admit, it was hard to imagine him with blue fur tips instead of crimson.
"Guess we better see if Flare needs us for anything before food is ready." Gypsy starting walking to the main group scattered around the cooks, where Flare could be seen sitting, watching and drooling slightly.
Gauners light footsteps were more felt than heard, she knew he was beside her but as always he made very little sound. She wasn't sure if it was a fox thing or something he had picked up living on his own. The first few weeks of thier training it had bothered her, now it was reassuring, knowing her partner would always be able to sneak off for help if they ever needed it.
She turned her head until she could barely see him out of the corner of her eye. He had his hat on again, as always, he no longer wore it down over his eyes though. He had taken to wearing it tipped back just a bit so that his eyes could be seen, it was a slight difference, but it let her know that he was himself changing, adapting to his new life.
He had come so far from the thin sneak thief fox she had first met. She had been so concerned with how he would take to guild life when she first brought him back with her. Looking at him now she was sure she had made the right decision. He had made remarkable improvement from day one, at this point, she was possitive that nobody would peg him as a wild without being told his past.
If only she could get him to stop hiding. Perhaps one day she would get him to drop his illusion and his sneaky ways and just be himself. She turned her head back to the front, still deep in though, maybe that wasn't a fair assumption either. Gauner's stealth was part of his personality, part of what made him, him. No, she didn't want him to stop it really, just stop hiding behind it.
Gypsy suddenly found herself walking face first into something large, wet and cold. Falling backwards with a cry of alarm she bounced up quickly to defend herself without looking, only to be knocked back by the same object.
Hearing everyone around start to laugh she looked for the first time at what she had ran into and immediately felt her ears burn in embarrassment. Just past the large dark item, which turned out to be Flare's nose, were the fire dog's big eyes, which sparkled with the chuckling laughter that was more of a big bass rumble than anything else coming from such a large pokemon.
"I was going to send you two on a patrol, but since you seem to be lost in your own world today I guess you can help secure the wagons instead." Flare said, turning her attention back to the cooks or more precisely, the cooking food.
"I... Er, yes ma'am!" Gypsy stood back up and looked at Gauner who surprisingly was the only one not laughing at her, although that was probably because he was still trying to catch his breath. "I guess we go help with the wagons."
Gypsy started walking towards the assembled wagons, Gauner began following his friend but was stopped by a large paw. He craned his neck to look up at Flare.
Flare leaned down to whisper in his ear, "Patrols were already assigned, you were on wagon detail anyways. You are too worn out to do much else, I was just teasing her a bit. Please let her know that after you finish with the wagons."
Gauner couldn't help but feel small, with Flare blocking his path completely with a single hind paw and at the same time whispering to him with a muzzle big enough to engulf his entire body. Yet looking into her big eyes, he couldn't feel any safer.
He reared up an put both for paws on her muzzle so he could look her in the eye better, "Sure thing. Thanks Flare." Before he could settle back down he felt air pulling across his belly as Flare took several deep breaths, taking in his scent.
He returned to his quadrupedal stance and gave her an odd look, kicking one ear to the side. She said nothing, just gave him a crooked smile and returned to watching the meal being prepared.
Gauner snorted and followed after his partner, who was now nearly to the wagons. Flare was still a bit of an anomaly to him. With their size difference there was no way he could perform up to her standards, but she was still clearly earnest with her flirtations.
When he first met her he had thought she simply flirted with everyone. He has since learned that simply wasn't true. She only flirts with those she likes, her friends. From what he has heard, from others and the big dog herself, she never flirts unless she means it. Any attention from her is an open invitation.
An invitation the small fox was quite tempted to take. Sure his experience is limited to one drunken night with Gypsy, but the temptation with Flare was something other than simple sexual desire. She was an enigma, he couldn't figure out why she would be so open with everyone. As a fox, he couldn't just ignore a puzzle like that.
Then there was Gypsy, his first true and most precious friend. The one who saved him from himself and gave him his new life. It would hurt her if he began dabbling around with different females. They weren't a couple, far from it. They were merely good friends, with one alcohol filled night where they might have been a little more.
No, he didn't want Gypsy as a mate, but he also didn't want to cause her any grief or pain. He would just have to figure out the puzzle that was Flare another way. Shaking his head clear of these thoughts he picked up the pace to catch up to his partner.
Another team already had the oxen taken care of, tethered to a pole not far from the wagons with enough lead for the beasts to graze a bit on the fresh grass. That only left team Shadow Strike the task of putting the blocks under the wheels so the wagons wouldn't roll away in the night.
Gauner, not being able to adjust the blocks without hands would hop up into a wagon and kick the large tapered wood blocks down to Gypsy. She would in turn wedge one block in front of a wheel, and one behind.
The task was simple and a quick to complete. In just a few minutes they had all the wagons secured and were back to the main group, just in time to be dished out some thick substance the cooks had been calling "trail soup." Apparently what it lacked in flavor and texture it made up for by being nearly universally filling and sustaining for all pokemon.
He took his bowl of the stuff and sat down to eat. After two nearly flavorless bites Gypsy sat beside him. Reaching behind her ear she pulled out a small paper packet. Tearing one end off she sprinkled some of its contents into both their bowl. She gave his bowl a quick stir with her spoon then her own. He gave her a puzzled look.
"Some of Uncle Vurdon's seasoning. The cooks don't like it when you alter their food, but I couldn't take another night of this stuff." She finished speaking and shoved a large spoonful of the soup into her mouth.
Gauner sniffed his bowl, instantly picking up a familiar scent. Taking a mouthfull the new flavor danced across his tongue. Vurdon definitily knew how to cook. He quickly finished his bowl off, then licked Gypsy's clean when she was done.
With mealtime complete, most of the teams began setting up small tents. Gauner simply walked a ways from the group, turned a few circles to make a nest out of the long grass and laid down for the night. He managed to stay curled up for a few minutes before a quick glance at the sky had him sprawled out on his back, using his hat as a pillow to look at the stars.
So far Gypsy had been sleeping on one of the wagons each night, so he was surprised to see her walk up and stand over him with a smile.
"You really are a silly thing you know." She settled down beside him, patting the ground, "This spot taken?"
"Nope." Gauner snuggled against his friend without taking his eyes off the sky.
The two of them watched the sky together until sleep began to take them both. Gypsy drifted off first, Gauner would have been right behind her if a large shape hadn't suddenly appeared beside them.
The foxes initial scare was quickly washed away when the shape materialized into Flare. The big dog walked a few circles around the pair and settled in, curling around the both of them easily, resting her head beside Gauner and laying her tail across them like a blanket.
Gauner, still laying on his back, now with Gypsy on one side and Flare's head on the other snuggled in tighter. He had spent years alone, sleeping in a damp cave, missing the closeness of the tribe he had left behind. He was eternally grateful to have that back, and so much more. With that happy though he fell fast asleep.
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Several days later they finally reached their destination. The first view of the new village was a welcome, though not impressive sight. After traveling through the forest the guild was located in, and across days worth of grassland Gauner wasn't sure what he expected, but this was definitely not it.
The village was small, really small. Comprised of only a few large buildings and a couple dozen small homes it was the smallest settlement he had ever seen. Smaller even than his tribe, though spread over a much larger area.
The surrounding terrain was an interesting mix of woods and grasslands that turned to scrub dessert toward the horizon. The main road they were approaching on lead down to the village, where instead of going through it forked. One road went beside village serving as a main street then meandered off into apparently nowhere. The other went in a very straight line out into the dessert.
The far end of the village had the only impressive feature, a wide, slow moving river that became a large lake beside the village. Most of the homes were scattered about the rivers edge. None of the structures, Gauner noticed were on the far side of the river.
"Finally. Everyone, be on your best behavior. We are the first real guild presence here. Let's make a good impression." Flare announced to the group.
Suddenly Flare looked completely different. Nothing physically changed about her, but Gauner still had to look twice to recognize her. It was like their first encounter, Flare was in work mode. Her posture, her expressions, all of what made Flare an individual melted away, in it's place was left the model of a guild officer.
They started walking down the slight hill towards the small village when a though came to Gauner.
"Flare." He called, waiting to be acknowledged before asking his question, "What is the name of this village? If I'm going to be living here I should probably know that."
Although Flare answered flatly Gauner had the feeling she would have done so with a chuckle if she wasn't trying to maintain her air of a guild officer, "It doesn't have one yet."
She paused a moment, "There are a few ideas, but nothing has been picked finally yet." Flare motioned to the river with her snout, "River's Bend is the current contender, but Trader's Lake is popular too."
"Popular? There can't be enough pokemon here for something to really be considered popular can there?" Gypsy asked.
"We're close enough, see for yourself." Flare told her, continuing her walk, pulling the wagon effortlessly.
Gauner and Gypsy both looked to the village again, where on closer inspection you could see quite a few different pokemon. As they continued to approach they started to pick out wagons and carts moving along a road behind the buildings. The little village was in fact, quite busy.
"Where did dey all come from?" Zee asked from the other side of the wagon. "Zhere can't be dat many pokemon here.
"Trade to our guild is just starting along this route, but it's been a major path between The City of Gold and the southern guilds for a long time." Flare then motioned to the road heading into the desert, "City of Gold is only a couple days travel that way, this road goes from our Guild, through the wild lands and to the southern Guilds."
A small party of pokemon had taken notice of their approach and were walking to meet the group. What seemed to be the leader of this group was an elderly looking female Delphox, surrounded by a gaggle of young pokemon of various types.
"Welcome friends!" She called out to them, "I am Ephemeris, I am the temporary leader of this village. I assume you are our new guild representation here."
Ephemeris spoke in a friendly tone, yet somehow still seemed to express her dislike of the guild presence. She quickly looked about the smaller pokemon gathered around her skirt like fur who were now obviously the villages children, "Off you go young ones. We will continue our lessons tomorrow, do try to be useful the rest of the day, or at the very least stay out from underfoot."
The group of children wasted no time in running off joyously back into the village and towards the lake. Ephemeris watched them until they were safely back before turning to face the party again.
Flare had been waiting patiently for her to bring her attention back, "Greetings Ephemeris Flamespath of the Suns Hearth, I am Flare, guild officer of the Tranquil Grove Guild. We are here to assist with the local wild pokemon as well as to provide any aid this village requires."
"This village needs no aid." Ephemeris practically spit, which would have been more intimidating if she hadn't lit up when addressed by her full name, "We guard ourselves." She almost succeeded in returning to a respectful stance.
"That's good to know. We will focus on the wilds then." Flare looked at the obviously upset vixen, "We are here to become part of the village and help, not overtake."
Ephemeris tipped her head back and looked down her nose at the group for a minute before sighing, "I am aware Miss Flare, it's just... old habits and all that. The Sun knows we need the help with the wilds. The poor things have gotten their fur bent out of shape and keep raiding the village to make us leave."
"Raiding! Nobody said anything about them raiding." Flare said in surprise, "I didn't bring anywhere near the force to deal with raiders."
"Apologies, I didn't mean to make it sound so severe. It's small, what we would consider almost childish actually. They sneak in, grab a little bit of food and leave. Never more than a few berries or a roll of bread." Flare calmed down as Ephemeris spoke.
"That makes sense, that's how you chase someone out of your territory without a fight. If you have no food you have to go to where there is some." Gauner spoke without thinking if it was okay to interrupt.
"Who is this then." The Delphox stepped closer and looked down her muzzle at him.
"This is Gauner, a tribal wild who recently joined the guild. The Riolu next to him is Gypsy, she is their team leader. They were brought so Gauner could use his expert knowledge of wilds to assist." Flare told the vixen.
"I see." Ephemeris crouched down to get a closer look at Gauner, "Never seen a fox like you... hrm... an expert then." she stood and began walking towards the village, "Follow me then, I will show you to your guild housing. That one will be in the far building, AWAY from my grand daughters if you would please." she motioned towards Gauner.
"I... er..." Gauner stammered, then looked to Gypsy and whispered, "What did I do?"
Gypsy stifled a giggle, "You look like a sexy little rogue. Any mother would keep you from her children." Realizing what she just said she turned her head slightly, Gauner still caught the red blush inside her ears.
Gauner cracked a large smile, "Thanks Gypsy, rather like how you look as well." He pushed his muzzle against her hip and rubbed full lenght against her.
The group silently followed the Delphox to a small cluster of houses just down the river from the village. These had been built by the guild, not the village, although they had the same natural wood siding and thatched roofing the rest of the village had.
Flare quickly assigned each team a house with instruction to settle their belongings and make their way to the village where they were to introduce themselves to the villagers.
As Ephemeris said, Shadow Strike were given the last small house that sat as far from the main village as possible. Even at that there was only a handful of buildings so there were still a short walk from the main building of the village, that at this range appeared to be a large inn.
They went inside where they happily shrugged off their packs and looked around. There wasn't much to see, the door opened into an empty square main room, on each side of which was a doorway with no door. Gauner walked straight across to the far doorway and peaked in.
"What's through there?" Gypsy asked, walking over to look through on of the side doors.
"Storage room, full of shelves and cabinets. How bout that one?"
"Bedroom, two beds one on each wall and a couple storage chests." She replied, then walked across the the other while Gauner began opening cabinets, finding them all empty. "Same over here, looks like these were built for teams of four."
Gypsy walked over to their packs and started dragging them into one of the rooms, "Guess we will just sleep in this one then, save the other in case we get new members."
"Okay." Gauner walked into the room behind Gypsy and helped her unload the extra items from their packs into their respective sides of the room.
With that complete they left their new home to venture into the village, taking note as they left of the surroundings. The guild housing was apparently build in pairs, with two teams sharing an a fire pit surrounded by a few wood benches. Between each pair of houses was a communal outhouse.
Gauner looked at the outhouse, then back at their own home. "Well, that's sure going to get old fast..."
"I was just thinking the same thing." Gypsy said, then added, "But hey! If they add more houses we will be right next to the new one they will have to put in."
"That really doesn't sound much better." Gauner replied, rethinking their proximity to the necessary, yet unpleasant building.
They continued on in silence until they made it to the village. They stopped so Gypsy could straighten out her fur a bit, as well as Gauners hat. Then looking a bit less like they just marched for a week straight they walked down the main street where their fellow guild members could be seen talking to the locals and the even more plentiful travelers.
"Ooooh! I've never seen a fox like you before!" Came a high pitched voice from beside them.
They both looked over to see a yellow vixen with tufts of red fur coming out of her overly large ears.
"So what are you?" She asked with her extremely fluffy tail wagging quickly.
"My name is Gauner, I'm a Zorua." Gauner said in his best, meet the locals friendly voice. Then motioned to his partner, "This is Gypsy..."
"Hi." She said quickly to Gypsy, cutting off the rest of Gauners introduction, "So your going to be living here now?" She said with interest, shuffling her feet closer and closer to Gauner until they were nearly nose to nose.
Before Gauner could react a hand grabbed the vixen by the scruff of the neck, lifting her away. "That's enough from you." Ephemeris scolded the little vixen, then with her free hand pointed to Gauner, "You. Stay away from my grand daughters."
She gave him a long, cold stare before walking off, carrying the little vixen who waved a paw with a happy smile, "By Gauner, I'll see you later."
Gauner watched wide eyed as they disappeared into one of the buildings, "Just great," he though, "Another female to worry about."
"Well that was interesting..." Gypsy said, "Let's try not to deal with them too much okay."
"No arguments here." Gauner replied, part of him knowing it couldn't possibly be that simple.
The rest of the introductions went much smoother, the villagers apparently didn't share Ephemeris' strong distrust of the guild pokemon and were quite happy to have them moving in. They all seemed quite grateful to finally have someone to protect them.
Shadow strike had just finished their circuit of the town when an angry voice had them stopping.
"Nobody wants more of you all showing up." The voice called from beside them, before Gauner could turn his head to look a sharp kick to his ribs had him on his side with his hat knocked off, "If you think you can push us out that easy you're dead wrong."
Gauner quickly looked his assailant over. He couldn't decide if he was the largest, or the smallest Raichu he had seen. While the obviously male rat was by far taller then any of the Raichu he had seen in Tranquil Glade, he was also much thinner.
The irritated rodent stood over him with his tail lashing wildly. He stooped over and picked up Gauner's hat, a stream of sparks crackled from his cheeks when Gauner growled.
"I'm not afraid of you fox," He stood back up, putting on Gauners hat, "I'm going to find out what you've been doing with everyone. If they aren't returned safe you will regret it." One the final word of his threat the Raichu turned and ran out of town towards the bridge that led across the river to the bordering woods.
"Are you alright?" Gypsy asked, helping Gauner to his feet, "Should we go after him?"
Gauner started to speak but was cut off by one of the villagers, "Don't bother, that was Plick, he's one of the local wilds."
"One of the wilds?" Gypsy said skeptically, "What was he doing in town then?"
"When we first settled in he would come in and look around, kinda skittish at first but he started to trust us a bit. That was before the wild ones started to disappear. Seems his Pikachu friend went missing and he blames us."
"That's terrible, didn't anyone tell him it wasn't us?" Gypsy asked.
It was Gauner's turn to interrupt the villager, "He would believe it if you did." He turned to look at Gypsy, "Stay here, I'm going to get my hat back."
Before Gypsy could respond Gauner was running full force after the Raichu. In just a few moments he was across the bridge and into the woods. He hadn't trailed him long when he found his hat lying on the ground. He picked it up in his teeth and flipped it back on his head, shaking his ears to settle it down properly.
Having his hat back Gauner was about to turn and leave when a slight movement of yellow and orange had him walking farther into the forest. There just out of sight of the village was Plick, sitting on a fallen log in a small grass clearing.
Gauner watched him for a few minutes. Plick didn't seem to notice the foxes presence, he simply sat on the log facing away from Gauner, his head down and his tail making sad slow passes.
Gauner looked around the area he had stopped in. Te small grass clearing had small burn marks scattered about, a clear sign of the presence of fire or electric types. In the center of the clearing was the log Plick currently sat on, as well as the tree it had fallen from. The old oak must have once been a proud, tall tree, now it was just a single dead trunk with no remaining branches. About half way up was a large hole through which Gauner could see grass bedding piled in.
This must be Plicks nest. It was no wonder the Raichu had been seen in the village before, he lived so close. Gauner walked slowly into the clearing. He knew better than to surprise a wild in their own territory so he sat and coughed quietly to get Plick's attention.
Plick spun around with sparks flying from his cheeks, "You! What do you want? A fight?"
"No," Gauner said softly, "I just want to talk."
"I have nothing to say to you, leave now!" Plick jumped from the log and landed on all fours, his nose inches from Gauners.
The fox could feel his fur beginning to stand on end from the nearby electrical charge, still he fought to keep calm, "I wasn't always with the guild. I started off on my own, just like you."
If they were going to help the local wilds it was important that they made friendly contact with as many as they could. If this Raichu had started to visit the village he would be a good place to start.
Gauner opened his mouth to speak again and found himself knocked back by a slight electric shock, "Lies, you don't know what I've been through. Everyone abandoned me, everyone but Nib, and now he's gone to."
Fighting down the urge to snarl Gauner stood slowly, the shock had been controlled, it had hurt but done no damage, "No, I abandoned my tribe, left them and lived completely alone." Gauner swallowed the fear he always felt when telling someone of his past.
Plick had been charging another attack stopped, allowing the electricity to discharge from his tail, leaving another burned spot on the grass.
"Why are you here then? And with them?" Plick first stood upright then flopped down, sitting and watching Gauner.
Gauner sat down as well, "Gypsy found me, well, I found her I guess. I tried to steal food from her and got caught. She let me go and long story short we work together for the guild now."
"You stole from her and she just let you go?" Plick tilted his head to one side in confused disbelief.
"Yup. I know you wont believe me when I say this but, nobody in the village would hurt you or your friend. We don't know who took them or why but that's why Gypsy and I are here. We are going to find out what is going on. I promise you that." Gauner watched Plick while he spoke, trying his best to convey his honesty.
Plick stared at him for several minutes, "I don't believe you, part of me really wants to but I don't."
"I know. I lived on my own out here too, I know how it goes. I just don't want you causing any more trouble in the village. I am going to find out what is going on. I'm taking that responsibility myself, if you feel you must confront someone, come to me." Gauner said, "Just, try to use words and not feet or shocks okay?"
Plick looked at him for a minute then sighed, "Fine, you find out what's happening to everyone," He turned and quickly ran to and up the tree to his nest, "But I'll be watching you, and I'm not going to be sitting around doing nothing either. I'm going to find Nib."
With that Plick disappeared into his tree, leaving Gauner alone in the clearing. Gauner turned and began walking back to the village. Taking a closer look at the woods as he walked he started to feel a strange sense of familiarity causing him to walk faster.
Back at the village Gypsy was pacing back and forth on the town side of the bridge, "Where is he..."
"Easy now Gypsy," Flare responded, sitting calmly beside her, "Gauner knows how to handle himself in the wilds, that's why we wanted him here."
"We should have followed after him. If you hadn't grabbed me he wouldn't be alone out there!" She shouted at the much larger pokemon.
Flare looked at the angry Riolu for a moment, "You know you couldn't have kept up with him running like that. Gauner will find his way back. No sense having him return just to have to go find you."
Gypsy started to say something back and stopped. As angry as she was she knew Flare was right. Absently she rubbed the now sore scruff of her neck, "Okay fine, but did you have to grab me so hard?"
"Don't be a baby, I stopped you as gently as I could. Besides, Gauner is back," she motioned across the bridge to where Gauner had just emerged from the forest, "You don't want him to see you crying now do you?"
"I am not crying," Gypsy looked across the bridge to the small black fox that was now walking across to them, relief washed across her, followed by more anger. She walked up to meet him as he crossed the bridge, then swatted him across the face.
"Don't run off and make me worry like that again!" Gypsy practically screamed, "What if you had gotten lost or hurt or something?"
"Sorry," Gauner said sheepishly, hurting more from seeing what his actions had done to Gypsy than from her strike, "I couldn't wait if I wanted to catch up to him."
The angry Riolu continued to give him a stern look, "What took you so long?"
"I caught up to Plick and had a little talk with him, he isn't unreasonably, just worried about his missing friend." He told her. Gauner then ran Gypsy and Flare both through his conversation with Plick, leaving out no details.
"So he lives really close then?" Flare said as more of a statement than a question. "Okay then, if this Plick guy can be reasoned with I want you both to talk to him as well as the other wild pokemon, find out what you can from them. We need to know what is going on so we can put a stop to it."
"Yes, ma'am!" Gauner and Gypsy responded.
"That is your standing order starting tomorrow. Rest up the rest of today and get to work first thing in the morning." Flare didn't wait for a reply before turning and walking back into town.
"You heard her Gauner, let's get some rest. I have no idea how we are going to do this tomorrow." Gypsy said.
"It will be easy, we just talk to people." Gauner replied.
"Yeah, wild people..." Gypsy began walking towards their new home.
"Don't you worry, I wont let them eat you." Gauner said, prancing along beside her, earning him another swat.
Across the river, hidden in the thick underbrush a pair of eyes watched the pair as they walked off. With hardly any sound Plick slowly backed out of his hiding place so as not to be seen by anyone.
He walked slowly back to his nest, deep in though. He had listened to their entire conversation. It seemed the fox had been honest with him, but he still couldn't quite bring himself to believe it. The big dog had told them to talk to him again, he would just have to make sure to keep an eye on them.
He climbed back into his nest and laid down in his nest of soft grass. He looked at the second smaller nest beside his own. He hadn't made any progress finding Nib. As much as he hated to admit it, these new strangers might just be his only hope at ever seeing his friend again.
The next morning Gypsy and Gauner awoke from their first night in their new home. A night in a bed instead of sleeping alongside the road had left them feeling refreshed and ready to take on their assigned task.
After a quick breakfast comprised of left over trail rations they started down the road to the bridge. As they walked Gauner started to smile.
"What's got you in a good mood." Gypsy asked.
"Look ahead. Plick is waiting on the bridge." Gauner motioned to the steadily approaching structure where Plick could be seen leaning on a hand rail, "If he is waiting for us then he must be willing to help."
"Really? Just like that?" Gypsy asked.
"Yup, we wilds aren't stupid you know. He wants to find his friend and must have realized were his best bet." Gauner explained, "Just don't expect him to be friendly just yet."
"Why wouldn't he be friendly?" Gypsy wished for the first time that she understood a bit more about wild pokemon.
"Because we aren't friends yet. We are just the best way to get what he wants. That's just how it works in the wild. Until we prove that we are friends he will be difficult." Gauner said, then after a moments though added, "Just don't let him know that you know this. It will chase him off"
"Wilds are weird." Gypsy said.
They crossed the bridge in silence, stopping in front of Plick. He watched them with a look of displeasure the entire time they approached.
"What is your plan? If I'm leaving it to you to find Nib I want to know what it is you are going to do." The Raichu demanded.
Gypsy was put off by his rudeness but forced herself to respond politely, "We planned to talk to you, and any others who know someone that's gone missing. We need to look at the places where they disappeared and see if we can find any clues there."
"Fine, follow me. I'll show you where Nib was when he was taken." Plick said, then turned with a flick of his tail and started walking briskly into the woods with team Shadow Strike following behind.
Gypsy tried several times to speak to Plick, each time he dismissed her questions with a simple grunt or a waive of a paw. Finally she gave up and the group walked along in awkward silence.
They walked for nearly an hour before they came to the place where Plick said Nib had been taken. Gypsy was about to ask what made Plick so sure he had been taken and not simply left when she looked around the small clearing.
A small stream bubbled around the far side, the short grass waived gently in the light breeze. The entire area was bathed in gently dappled light filtering in from the branches that stretched out over the clearing.
It would have been a beautiful sight if it wasn't for the electric burns marking the trees and cutting blackened trails in all throughout and around the clearing. Gypsy headed toward the center of the burned lines, finding the fairly hard packed soil tore with claw marks and splattered with old blood.
"What happened here?" She asked, looking around in shock.
"That's what you are supposed to find out isn't it?" Plick responded sarcastically.
Gypsy ignored the rodent and continued to look about. Now that she was looking closer there were signs of fighting everywhere she looked.
"You said Nib was a pikachu?" She asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, we were both from the same tribe. Pikachu only tribe. They don't like anybody different, they kicked me out when I became this," He gestured to himself, "Nib was always a fighter, and my friend. He left with me."
"They kicked you out because you evolved? In my tribe we celebrated when someone changed." Gauner asked while sniffing at the old dried blood.
"Pichu evolve, Pikachu are the end." Plick said sadly, "I'm just a freak monster."
"No, you are a Raichu. Pretty common in the city we just came from actually." Gauner said confused, looking to Gypsy.
"Not in the wilds Gauner. Pikachu need a catalyst to evolve. It takes a large group of electric pokemon led by an elder, all channeling their aura together to get one to evolve." Gypsy told them both, noticing that Plick was paying close attention. "You found a yellow stone right? They are really rare but they contain the power needed."
Plick nodded slowly, "There are more like me?"
"Quite a few actually." Gypsy told him, "Your no freak."
They both swiveled their head to Gauner, who was growling loudly at the ground.
"What's wrong?" Gypsy asked, looking to see what he was looking at.
Gauners muzzle twisted into a vicious feral snarl as he gestured to the blood splatter at his feet, "I smell Grimm."