Wigglytuff's Guild

[Namohysip]

"It sounds like we're all prepared to go," Maple said, nodding as the team collectively steeled themselves for what they were certain would be another battle. It had been a while... but it seems, indeed, it was time.

There was no telling what it would be, though Diyem's pessimism made it clear. With any luck, you'll be fighting a whole village.

Maple carved a portal, where somehow cleaner air flowed out from the other end. "Let's go."

<><><>​

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa had enough time on her walk from the beach to the guild infirmary to work off some of her emotional surge from her... her weird moment with Curio. What was that, anyway? She hadn't felt quite like that since...

Well, since Cathy.

She made her way inside and made a brusque push past the staff to check on the casualties from the battle at Shaymin Village. She soon learned that Starr had already discharged herself. Meanwhile Zane was fully out cold, and would remain so until after he was transferred to Destiny Village.

But Astrid...

"Uh, how d'you do, Astrid?" asked Brisa as she entered her ward. "That makes both of us who've exploded now. Not a great feelin', huh?"

 

[TheGOAT]

Astrid would have responded coherently if she could, but her body had other plans.

“Mnn.” She shifted in bed slightly—was that a voice she heard?—and then went still again. “…Hmmnn.”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa's heart tripped. Was Astrid... okay? Yeah. Yeah, she'd be fine. Brisa came round pretty fast from her own explosion. It was fine.

"It's me, Astrid."

Wait, they'd barely seen each other in ages. ...did Astrid recognise her?

"It's Shinx Brisa. Are... are you alright?"

She found a cushion to sit on while she waited for Astrid to come to her senses a little more, and wondered if she ought to have brought a book...

 

[TheGOAT]

That voice...

Astrid rolled over, caught in a dream that was rapidly fading. Certainly now she was awake, and yet everything felt fuzzy. Some parts of her body didn’t feel like anything at all. What had she…?

‘Brisa,’ she mouthed, eyes peeking open. Foreign light flooded in, and she quickly shut them again. No sound came out when she first tried to speak; after a few moments in vain, she coughed, then cleared her throat, then rolled over again to face the Shinx.

“Hey—” She could not talk much further. “Do you—w-water.”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Water's comin'. Hang on."

Brisa busied herself fetching a glass for Astrid. Fortunately she knew where they were already from her stay here. It was still so weird how everything in Cibus was smooth, but stuck to your paws as if by magic. She was used to contoured vessels with a rough grip meant for quadrupeds with underdeveloped dewclaws, like herself.

"Here y'are, Astrid..."

Brisa held the glass for her friend, just in case. She seemed really out of it. Had Brisa been this bad when she exploded...?

 

[TheGOAT]

Astrid wasted no time. Glug glug glug. No time at all. The liquid crystallized as it poured down her throat, giving it the light slushie texture that always made her feel a little better. The rest of her body still felt like shit, but this was enough for now.

“Th-thanks. Thank you.” She set the glass down and gave opening her eyes another attempt. This one was more successful.

“…Did I get them good?” she rasped.

Her eyes widened a bit; that explosion could’ve…

She sat up straight, panic in her eyes. “Did—is everyone safe?”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Something in Brisa's head momentarily reset her to being Ranger Escarpa in response to Astrid's panic.

"Everyone is safe, ma'am. Some folks are hurt, yourself more'n most, but they'll all pull through."

She shook her head. Did she just call Astrid 'ma'am'?

"And yeah, you got 'em good. Astrid, you just about took out the entire shaymin force alone. You were fuckin' brilliant out there."

Don't make me worry like that again, she didn't say. It would be far too hypocritical of her...

 

[TheGOAT]

Astrid nodded soberly. The battle came back to her in flashes, but it was little better than a poor resolution slideshow.

And…

“Those shadows.” Astrid hasn’t meant to say it out loud, but her thoughts tended to make themselves known that way. “What were they? They… hurt. Almost as much as the radiance. Did we destroy the machine that was creating them? I-I don’t think I got close enough to tell. I heard a big commotion, I heard your voice and Cabot’s and…”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa broke eye contact, heart starting up again. Gods, ever since she got to Cibus, it was one emotionally turbulent moment after another. She was gonna have to tell Astrid what happened before she found out from someone else.

"We got the machine. It was tough, and... there were some complications. But we destroyed the fuckin' thing, yeah. Turned out there was some kid inside it, or somethin'. I guess I'll find out about that later. Uh."

She rubbed the back of her head and tried to remember to breathe.

"That commotion you heard... the machine pumped a few of us full of whatever that shadowy energy was, and it did a number on our cognition. Brought out all the most painful parts of us, I guess. Uh. Myself included. Maybe it's best you don't remember what was said too clearly..."

Gods, how could she explain how much worse it was than she'd already made it sound? How could she explain that she had turned on her friends and damn near torn their throats out? That she'd become a predatory beast and had a shadow-self float above her body displaying all her pain for anyone to see? It was too fuckin' much.

 

[TheGOAT]

"Uh. Myself included."

Astrid choked on her breath.

"Maybe it's best you don't remember what was said too clearly..."

“Brisa—” She fought to stand up. Her paws hit the floor, knees wobbling. “Oh my g—are you okay?”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa stood from her cushion and met Astrid's eyes again as Ranger Escarpa.

"I'm fine. But you need rest. Proper bed rest, y'hear?"

She moved forward, intending to lift Astrid back into bed herself.

 

[TheGOAT]

Astrid had learned that walking was hard when her knees were made of jell-o. Fortunately, her target was approached her.

Astrid raised a foreleg and threw it around Brisa’s neck. The hug stabilized their forward momentum, canceling one another out. For a few seconds, she simply stood there.

“I didn’t realize, holy shit… I thought, I thought the Shaymin were the biggest threat, so I-I didn’t even think about the machine.” Her voice cracked, mostly from disbelief. “…Do you want to talk about it?”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa automatically put a paw around Astrid to steady her, and then after a few moments, recognised that this was another... hug. Her third in less than a week. After four years of- oh, she was gonna need to lie down after this... but not before she leaned in and returned the hug as best she knew how.

"Like I said. I really am fine. If I help you back into bed, d'you promise not to get back out if I tell you how it went down?"

Deep breaths, Brisa. It's just a hug, this is just how normal pokémon behave. Better make the most of it while you can. You won't be getting more of these once the mission's over and you go home.

 

[TheGOAT]

“O-okay.” Astrid complied, but concern lingered in her tone and eyes. Getting comfortable, she continued, “How many others? D-did it—um, I’ll just let you tell it.”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa made a low whistle as she churned through what there was to say in her mind. Behind her, her tail brushed against the floor in mnemonic patterns to help her hold it in her head.

"Well... a fair few of us were feelin' the effects of the shadows. Celeste said a couple choice things when it got bad for him. But the real problem was when Owen, Cabot, that mudkip fella who don't much like company, and meself were all hit by concentrated shadow..."

Did she tell Astrid everything up front and honest? Describing it would be hard, but pretending it had gone differently would be harder.

"Turns out when you take on too much shadow at once, it turns your mind inside out. We were all taken over by our most painful, private thoughts. Or it sure felt that way. In my case..."

Deep breath. Deep breath. Deep fuckin' breath.

What was she gonna say? 'In my case, I tried to provoke my friends into murdering me! No big deal!' Fuckin' hell maybe this was a bad idea...

"...y'know, Astrid, you don't gotta hear this. The last time we saw each other substantial-like, I was a mess, and you helped me out of it. I've done nothin' but screw myself up harder since then, and I'm two seconds from doin' the same thing again. I wanna be your friend, not a burden."

She'd surprised herself by saying that. Oh hell. Her ears were getting warm.

 

[TheGOAT]

“You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to,” Astrid said simply, dragging over a pillow to rest her chin on. “But if I went through that, my heart would be heavy too. Bedridden or not, I’m not going anywhere.”

Her gaze traced the vines running along the guild wall, interlacing with the cobblestones. The doubt running through Brisa’s eyes, the unnatural movements of her tail… That wouldn’t be enough, would it?

“…Brisa, look. You’re my friend,” she continued, digging for words. “I noticed you didn’t want to talk these past few days, but if that’s why, then, y’know, you have nothing to worry about. Friends should be burdens to each other, because that way they don’t have to be alone.”

She pawed at the ground, subconsciously mimicking the Shinx’s tail movements with one of her own. “And stuff. I don’t know. I know we haven’t talked all that much, but, I dunno, I just wanted you to know that I care.”

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Oh. Oh hell. What Astrid was saying was nothing but reassuring, so why was it getting harder stay composed? Brisa nodded and gave herself the tiniest jolt of electricity to perk herself back up. Get a grip, ranger!

Time for the truth.

"Okay. That's... I feel the same way, Astrid." She chuckled sharply. "It's been more'n a few days, though. You remember I was so broken up about accidentally hurtin' Curio bad enough to lose her friendship? Well, it wasn't just about that. The truth is... I've spent years thinkin' of myself as a violent animal who oughta be put down before I can keep hurtin' people."

She noticed the expression on Astrid's face and put up a paw to forestall her reply.

"It's okay. I've just been with Curio at the beach, we talked about it some. We're okay. But when I got hit by that shadow energy, all my fears came tumbling out of me. My body turned into a snarling, feral beast, and my- my shadow turned into... some kinda floating apparition, shackled and bleedin'. It was all kinds of disturbin'."

She took a steadying breath.

"I attacked Curio and Starr. Paralysing bars and teeth at their necks, the works. I was tryin' to make them see I was dangerous, so they would... So they would put an end to me. It made sense at the time, inside the shadow."

Her cheek felt... damp.

 

[TheGOAT]

"The truth is... I've spent years thinkin' of myself as a violent animal who oughta be put down before I can keep hurtin' people."

She noticed the expression on Astrid's face and put up a paw to forestall her reply.

One sentence to the next, Astrid couldn’t quite keep up. Pause, pause, pause. What did she just—?

Her mouth fell open on impulse alone, a breath drawn, but Brisa’s paw rose before she could speak. Her thoughts rang loud in her ears: Holy shit. This runs deeper than I realized.

"I attacked Curio and Starr. Paralysing bars and teeth at their necks, the works. I was tryin' to make them see I was dangerous, so they would... So they would put an end to me. It made sense at the time, inside the shadow."

It took several moments to internalize what she’d said, and several more to think of something to say. I’m sorrys and you’ll be fines had no place in this room, not now.

“Hey, hey.” One of her tails snaked over to Brisa’s shoulders, resting there. “That’s… okay, you know that isn’t really true, right? It was just the machine playing unfair. You aren’t a monster or anything.” Something occurred to her, and she continued, “And I don’t care what you did before coming here, if you did anything bad at all. I think you’re a good Pokémon. You’re here with me, right? You didn’t have to check on me, but here you are.”

Astrid’s gaze could find nothing to settle upon. She certainly didn’t look at Brisa, because she could not let her see the doubt running through them: not towards her, but towards…

The machine. Those shadows… those Shadows were like nothing she’d ever felt before. The pain they inflicted was unnatural, and uncomfortable, and not something she could fend off with strength alone. It had felt like her heart had been nearly pulled from her chest. So many voices telling her that she—

Her head shot upright. They were still there. They were still there. They weren't talking but they were still there. Dormant, but a part of her. Infused into her tails. Circling her pupils. Pumping through her heart. Tingling at the tips of her toes. Just like her Radiance.

Her gaze drifted down to her paws. She wasn’t sure if Diyem could hear her; she wasn’t expecting an answer anyway.

What… is this body?

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa shut her eyes and tried not to tremble as Astrid's tail came to rest on her shoulder. Astrid was a normal person, a sweet person, she wouldn't know what a gesture like that would do to Brisa. Get a grip.

“Hey, hey. That’s… okay, you know that isn’t really true, right? It was just the machine playing unfair. You aren’t a monster or anything. And I don’t care what you did before coming here, if you did anything bad at all. I think you’re a good Pokémon. You’re here with me, right? You didn’t have to check on me, but here you are.”

She nodded, and forced a smile. "Thanks for comfortin' me, Astrid. I sure do appreciate it, believe me. Look, I'm sorry, I know this is all pretty heavy stuff, but... I had to be out with it sooner or later. I really am fine. Curio still wants to be friends, I'm darn sure, and I wasn't the only one to go haywire like that, and... I remembered somethin' that helped me make sense of my feelings."

She leant her forequarters on the side of Astrid's sickbed and tried to relax her body. Everything was fine. She was safe.

"The last time I got real close to someone, I... I made the most awful mess of things, and I've been afraid of hurtin' people ever since. Which... made it hard to take, when I got here and I just kept hurtin' people without meanin' to. I guess I just- I really like a lot of the folks in our posse, y'know? ...includin' you. I don't wanna let my patterns get in the way of that. So..."

Brisa tentatively put out a paw, but stopped short of touching Astrid. It was just- she couldn't do it. Not yet.

"I'm sorry, Astrid. I shouldn't've been avoidin' you. I wanna be your friend, and I should've trusted you wouldn't turn me away just for bein' in yet another fight gone wrong."