Mystery Continent ~ Northern Pines

[Namohysip]

North of Destiny Village, in a frigid yet dry tundra and between the rocky mountains, was a patch of pine forest whose fragrance was so strong that the edge of Destiny Village had a hint of its scent. It was peaceful within the pine forest with only wild Pokemon to call it a home, and only the hardiest seeds and berries could grow in a place like this. A thin layer of snow covered the trees and the smallest disturbance would threaten to knock them down in piles, and the ground itself was covered in a few inches of frosty slush as well. With winter fast approaching, it would only get colder as the days went by...​

 

[Disco]

Anyone who may have passed by would be very likely to see a lone Charmander digging into the snow and dirt with what was very likely a very off-putting determination. Whether or not she answered any attempts at conversation very much depended on who was making the attempt, but enough prodding would probably get her attention either way.

 

[windskull]

Nip had briefly stepped into the guild to get his bearings, but had silently slipped out after only a few minutes while the others were distracted, and had only returned well after nightfall to sleep. He left again before sunrise, and before anyone else would have noticed him.

Now, he was out in the forest, quiet as the snow crunched underneath his paws. This. This reminded him of home. The sharp scent of pines, the cool feeling of snow, the smell of earth and slush. He felt far more at ease here than he had back in the village. Any of the settlements he'd been to thus far, really.

He stopped beside a large stone and clambered on top, laying out on top of it to relax in the sunlight. Out here in the quiet, away from the hustle and bustle of the village, maybe he'd be able to just... think.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Celeste needed a break. Something had been nagging at the back of his ming since his chat with Icetales and Vix, and he was hoping a walk would help get it out of his head.

He smelled someone. Were there ferals so close to the outskirts of Destiny Village? Oh, it was Nip. Nip was nice.

“Nip? Ah, I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

 

[windskull]

His ear twitched at the sound of a pokemon approaching and he tensed, ready to flee if it was trouble. It was unlikely to be anything that might attack him - they were making far more noise than a predator trying to sneak up on prey would. But it never hurt to be cautious.

A voice? Who was it? Nip rolled over, then sat up. Celeste. Ah, that was fine.

"You're fine," he said, turning so that he was facing the absol. "I wasn't expecting anyone else to come out here." Well, he had seen Mellow at some point, something that really surprised him. But still, he expected few of the other pokemon in their party to want to come out to the forest like this.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

“I was trying to get my bearing in Destiny Village, but it’s... busier than any place I’ve been before. Once I worked my way out to the outskirts, I decided I could use some space.”

He took a deep breath. “I’ve been feeling on edge for... well, reasons.” He figured Nip would assume what he meant. “Hopefully some time out here will help me work off the tension.”

 

[windskull]

Nip brought a paw up to his mouth, nodding along with Celeste's explanation. He supposed it wasn't too far off from his own. He decided to try and focus on the first part of Celeste's statement. Neither of them particularly wanted to focus on... everything that happened in the fight. "You too? I thought Treasure town was busy, but this? I've never seen anything like this where I'm from. The only village I've seen in my world was... small. Perhaps..." His face scrunched up in concentration, tapping his claws together. "There were maybe twice as many pokemon living there as there are in Diyem's party. Not many."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

That put the size of Nip’s home at around... 50 people? Smaller even than Celeste’s home.

“Huh. That’s definitely small. Treasure Town... Well, it’s larger than anything I’ve known, too. My home was somewhere between yours and Treasure Town. Destiny Village, though... Well, it’s certainly no village, not in scale. I don’t think you could find anything like Destiny Village anywhere in my world. Treasure Town is more reasonable.”

 

[windskull]

"Well... The village I'm talking about isn't... exactly my home. I was staying there when I answered the call, but it's not anywhere I'd settle in." He paused, there was just a second of hesitation. How much should he share? He went with a half-truth.

"The tribe I'm from is... similar in size to that village, but it is so wildly different from anything I've seen here. The closest to what I grew up around would be... probably like what we saw in the Shaymin Village, but smaller."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Hmm, another person giving him what felt like a knot of words to unravel. It seemed simpler than what Cuicatl had said, at least. He was sure he could figure it out.

So, the place where Nip had been staying was not a place he’d call home. He didn’t like it there. Hmm... If that was the case, he must have preferred his original home. He’d even compared it to Shaymin Village, which... Well, the team hadn’t had the best of stays there, but that aside it seemed pretty nice. Maybe talking about that would help Nip relax.

“Ah, like Shaymin Village? Sounds like a nice place... Well, assuming you mean it’s like the not-possessed version of Shaymin Village. What was it like there?”

There. That seemed like a safe line of questioning.

 

[windskull]

Ah, right. That. Nip took a deep breath and put the smallest of smiles. If he only focused on the good then... maybe this wouldn't go too bad?

"Sort of, I suppose. The climate was more like here." He paused to gesture to the pines around them. "But the homes... they reminded me more of the structures we made. Instead of building these artificial dens with wide-open spaces and few hiding places, we dug out our own dens within the earth, and then used more earth, plants and wood to make it sturdy, and brambles and thorns to protect the entrance from invaders. We lived near the base of a mountain, and some of the bigger pokemon made their home in caves there."

What else could he talk about. "Some of the pokemon there were nice. Miasma. She's a stunky. You would think others would want to be around her, but she was one of the kindest pokemon in the tribe. And then there's Mimic. He's a zorua. In all honesty, he's... kind of annoying, but he has a golden heart beneath all that. They're both great." Of course, neither of them seemed to pay enough attention to notice when...

No, he wouldn't dwell on that right now. the corner of his mouth twitched, then he pressed onward. "And then there's Tempest. He's an amazing, majestic ninetales that always looked out for me. I guess you could call him my mentor of sorts. He's... actually the pokmon that taught me how to use ice shards in battle."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Perfect. Sounded like he was more or less correct... Some of the things Nip had said seemed odd, though. Did he really have to worry that much about invaders?

“Oh, neat. I suppose Tempest is one of the icy ninetales? Funny, I’d never seen any like them before coming here, but now I’ve hardly heard of anything but.”

Should he leave the point about “invaders” rest or should he ask about it. It could be a touchy subject, but... he was curious! Did they really have to plan the village around them? Thorns and whatnot sounded like things you normally wouldn’t want in a home.

“Too bad there are ‘invaders.’ Sounds stressful. Are they what chased you off?”

Say yes! Say yes! It makes so much sense that must be it!

 

[windskull]

"Up until recently, I didn't know there ninetales that weren't icy. But I suppose it makes sense. Tempest told me that the ice was part of Kyurem's blessing. Or perhaps Kyurem's curse, depending on who you asked. He says that Kyurem's first followers, the pokemon that chose not to abandon their original leader when his two haves were torn apart by war, were given frozen forms so that they might follow him into the mountains, away from the conflict that had taken root in our world in ancient times."

That part of the question was easy enough to answer. The rest, however...

"My reasons for leaving were... complicated. Invaders were a problem, though not a common one. Stealing our supplies were a much bigger problem than attacking our homes directly."

Tell him, some small part of him whispered.

You can't, another part whispered back. Tell him about Umbra and he won't believe you. Tell him about everything else and he'll chase you away for being a monster.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Oh, Nips reasons for leaving were... complicated? That sounded like code for ‘I don’t want to wall you this.’ Did he mess up? Oh gosh, did he make Nip uncomfortable? Is this why people kept walking out of the middle of conversations with him?

“Oh. Well, whatever the reasons were, I hope it works out for you. A-Anyways, you’re here with us now. That’s... Well, all things considered it might not be a good thing but it’s some kind of thing. You seem to be getting along okay here, at least.”

 

[windskull]

"Things here are... weird. Wildly different from my tribe, and still different from the village I'd been staying in when I came. But I'd still rather be here than there." She can't follow me here... I hope.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Wow, Nip really preferred to be here? That was no small hint as to the state of his world. Anyone from a nice world wou-

I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be here. Can’t we just be done already so I can go home?

Celeste forced a smile. “Ah. That’s... nice. I’m glad you’re happy here. It... It’s got some nice things going for it. The, uhh, the food is easy to get. Saves us the burden of hunting, no?”

 

[windskull]

"It does," Nip agreed. Then he hesitated again. "I mean... it's not perfect here. Everything here is... so much, you know? It's so different that I found myself a bit... overwhelmed at first. But... I'd rather be here than where I was." He paused, scratching at the side of his face. "I guess I always kind of knew Diyem's thing about calling heroes had to be false. I... guess I didn't really come here to save anyone - not that I mind doing so; it's a small price to pay. But I accepted Diyem's offer because... I'd rather be almost anywhere than where I was, so long as I was alive."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

“Well then...”

That was a lot to unpack. Nip’s situation must be pretty bad back home for him to prefer this. Still, best not to press him. He wanted to be a friend, not an interrogator. If he handled this well, Nip might not even walk out on him.

Celeste couldn’t help but wonder, though. Knew Diyem wasn’t calling heroes? Left under complicated circumstances? Would rather be almost anywhere else? Could it... all be connected, somehow?

No, best not to get conspiratorial. Nip was clearly a nice person, he was just caught in difficult circumstances, that’s all.

“I... I hope you’re happy here. It’s not exactly the best possible place, but you clearly deserve better than your world of origin.”

 

[windskull]

Do you really deserve better?

Of course I do. My world would have been fine if anyone cared, but they didn't.

Tempest cared.

But he didn't do anything.

And whose fault is that? You told him not to worry about it.

"Happy enough," Nip agreed, ignoring his inner thoughts. "If I could just... get used to these bigger, pokemon built places, it would be great. Cabot was helping with that, but..." He didn't want to think about that.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

“But for... what he said in the battle, I assume? I overheard...”

What to say?

“He... I... I don’t know what to think about that. We can only hope the things they said under the machine’s influence don’t reflect the way they really think of us...”

Having experienced it himself, he was pretty sure that was naughty but wishful thinking. He tried not to let that show on his face.

“I’m sure Cabot doesn’t really think that way...” His voice did not reflect sureness.