Chapter 16 - Running
Spiteful Murkrow
Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
- Partners
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Es wird gesagt, dass Pokémon Kreaturen sind, die schon immer von Ereignissen vor ihrer Zeit fasziniert waren. Es ist unser Kanal zur Vergangenheit und zum Wissen unserer Vorfahren, denn selbst Wilden geben ihr Wissen und ihre Geschichten von einer Generation zur nächsten weiter. Man sagte auch, dass Menschen Geschöpfe mit ähnlichen Neigungen seien, mit der Ausnahme, dass sie das Handwerk der Chronik vergangener Zeiten beherrschten, bevor unsere Zivilisationen erstmals unsere meist archaischen Runen verfassten.
Viele dieser Geschichten sind im Laufe der Zeit verloren gegangen, von dem glühenden Blitz und den Unruhen der darauffolgenden Jahre. Daher sind wir bei der Geschichte, die unserer Welt vorausgeht, oft auf widersprüchliche Mythen angewiesen, um einen Einblick in das zu bekommen, was davor kam.
Eine der ursprünglichsten Sehnsüchte ist eine Antwort auf die Frage "Wie sind wir entstanden?" Viele Volksmärchen unter Wilden und Zivilen scheinen darin übereinzustimmen, dass wir unsere Existenz einem Schöpfergott verdanken, einem Architekten unseres Universums, einer Großen Monade, aus der alles, was wir um uns herum sehen und wissen, hervorgegangen ist.
Spezifische Geschichten darüber, was dieses Wesen ist, variieren von Erzähler zu Erzähler. Dass er seine Schöpfung ins Leben gesungen hat. Dass er mit tausend Armen unser Universum und alles, was darin ist, geformt hat. Dass er auf einem schneebedeckten Thron in einem fernen Land regierte. Alle sind sich nur darin einig, dass dieses Wesen es für angebracht hielt, Helfer zu erschaffen, die Bruchteile seiner Macht widerspiegelten, und dass er nur selten direkt mit unserem Universum interagiert.
Woran das liegt, darüber besteht keine Einigkeit. Abgesehen davon, dass dieses Wesen existiert, ist nicht bekannt, dass es seit der Geburt unserer Welt aufgetaucht ist. Selbst als das Gefüge der Realität in Aufruhr geriet und die Schöpfung, wie er sie kannte, auf den Kopf gestellt wurde.
- Auszug aus »Die Gesammelten Legenden aus Wunder«
Lyle's heart stopped as time seemingly froze for a moment. Right in front of him was the armored head of the glaring Bastiodon Puller who was blocking off most of the wagon's exit. Off to the right, the Puller's Bewear bodyguard was hurrying over just behind and peeking under the wagon. The bared-fang snarl she let out as her line of sight fell under them only confirmed the worst was coming to pass.
"Oi, Ardun! There's another one under the wagon!"
Yup, things definitely weren't going well for them right now.
Lyle flinched as a sharp crackling noise rang out. The next thing he knew, the Bewear was stumbling back with a sharp cry, and sparks were flying out from under the wagon that made even Bastiodon recoiled in surprise. Everything went by in a blur after that. He briefly saw a flash of black and red as Kate lunged forward and cut the Bastiodon off with a swipe of a glinting set of claws just behind his armored face. Without thinking, the Quilava spewed out a cloud of smoke out the back of the wagon at the reeling dinosaur, tugging at a stunned-looking Irune with an impatient shout.
"Time to go! Help me grab Dalton and let's get out of here!"
He all but dragged Irune off the tailgate as the Puller and his guard wheezed for air amid the blackened haze. It was already starting to thin, but Lyle could just make out Kate helping tug Dalton to his feet from the side of the wagon. The Quilava ran over and hurriedly pulled the Heliolisk up by his right shoulder, drawing a brief wince after jostling the lizard's wounded arm.
For a moment, Lyle worried that he'd hurt the Heliolisk, only for the Electric-type to stumble and take off running with Kate following suit. He didn't question it and drug Irune along before dropping to all fours, running for dear life after his teammates for the alleyway they'd come from. Lyle's heart pounded in his chest and frightened fire poured out of the vents along his head and back. The one good thing at the moment was that he couldn't hear the Bastiodon and Bewear right then...
"Thieves! Thieves! Get back here!"
Well, so much for that. Just then, Lyle heard the two's voices shouting and heavy footsteps chasing after them, loud and nearby. He didn't dare look back as the shade of the alleyway popped back into view, the Quilava keenly training his eyes on Dalton and Kate's tails to follow after them.
There was a brief shout from behind him, when a glassy blue sphere passed his head and shattered against the wall just above him. The Fire-type's vision abruptly exploded in white, and he and his teammates cried out as sticky silk suddenly gummed up fur all over his body. Gottverdammt, he hadn't seen a Slow Orb in those two's stuff! Where'd they get that one from?!
Lyle desperately tried to fight against the silk tangling up in his fur and get his limbs moving again when sharp missiles abruptly clip him from behind. He tumbled head over heels in the alleyway as stray rocks whizzed past and crashed to the ground, the world spinning around him until he came to a stop on his back. The Fire-type woozily rolled onto his feet, where just past his shoulder, Kate and Irune were also knocked down. Ahead of him, Dalton was stumbling back onto his feet and cradling his splinted arm with bared teeth, staring down the Bastiodon and Bewear as they approached with piercing glares.
"Hrmph, going through all this trouble for a few Seeds and Orbs?" the Heliolisk snarled. "You asked for it!"
Dalton attempted to throw his frill out and fling sparks forward at the pair, when he abruptly froze up with a sharp wince and his electricity abruptly sputtered out beyond a few stray arcs that landed in the dirt. … Right, the nurses warned it'd take a couple days before he could open it again properly.
Lyle ran forward to intervene but came too late to stop the Bewear from lunging forward at the Heliolisk. The Fighting-type threw an arm back, before throwing a punch forward that landed with a wrenching thud against Dalton's stomach. The Heliolisk shot away from the blow, screaming in pain as Lyle's limbs went stiff in fright. His eyes briefly made contact with the Bewear's and widened, only for her to brush past him and go for Dalton with a crushing pin. He briefly saw Kate and Irune run in to aid him and frantically tried to gather fire to force the Fighting-type off when a loud bellow filled his ears from behind.
"Gottverdammte furry rat, I'll stomp you flat!"
Lyle screamed and rolled out of the way as the Bastiodon came barreling through the alleyway, briefly glimpsing Kate frantically spewing an Icy Wind before the Puller rammed her and sent her flying into a wall along with Irune tumbling out of the way of his legs. Hoarse cries from Dalton's end revealed the Bewear had pinned him underfoot, the Heliolisk frantically flailing and desperately trying to summon crackling static as the Fighting-type pulled her arm back for a crushing blow aimed at his head.
"G-Get off of him!"
The alleyway suddenly lit up with a brilliant orange hue. In the flash of an eye, there was a searing flash of heat as a fireball that looked bigger than him sailed in and sent the bear flying into the wall. She struck it with a crunch as the plaster around it cracked, before she flopped over stunned. Lyle looked back and noticed that the eaves and wall near where the Bewear's head had been looked visibly scorched and trailed smoke. Everyone else in the alleyway, even the Bastiodon, abruptly froze with their eyes shrunken to pins as they stared at a figure in their midst.
Irune. The little Axew now had smoke curling up from the corners of her mouth. Her teeth were bared, and much to Lyle's alarm, her red eyes were narrowed with a fierce, almost primal expression.
"I-Irune?"
He stared blankly at the panting Axew for a moment. A sharp clatter rang out, and a quick glimpse out the corner of Lyle's eye revealed that the Bastiodon was nervously backpedaling. He didn't know whether it was actually happening or just a trick of the light, but the dinosaur's armored face looked visibly drained of color.
"Wh-What in the-?"
"I said, get off of him!"
Irune lurched and convulsed as brilliant fire built up in her mouth, before she turned and spewed another gout of fire at the Bastiodon. Lyle stumbled back as the fireball missed his body and felt an overpowering flash of heat, briefly making out a fireball surrounded by what looked like two rings before it swallowed up the Puller. The most godsawful screams followed and Lyle flinched as the heat lingered along with the woosh of strong flames before the light and heat dissipated almost as quickly as it came.
Lyle turned towards where the Bastiodon Puller had been. The dinosaur was there, getting up feebly and whimpering in pain with singed scales trailing smoke as he nursed a fresh burn that ran along the length of his right flank. The clatter of broken plaster shifting turned Lyle's attention to the Bewear stumbling up in the background. Her eyes fell on Irune, where they at once shrank to pins and she stumbled back and stammered in fright.
"O-Oh screw this!" the Bewear yelped. "Our clients aren't paying me enough for this!"
"S-Stay away from us, you little freak!" the Bastiodon cried.
The Bastiodon and Bewear turned and fled down the other end of the alleyway for dear life. All the while, Lyle looked on in blank confusion, before he snapped back to attention from hearing his companions' hurriedly scurrying away. He turned and bolted after the sound, briefly glimpsing Kate dragging Irune along by her claw as the four tore along down the alley.
They ducked around the first corner they came across and propped themselves up panting against the wall among a few piles of autumn leaves heaped up out of sight. Lyle turned towards his Axew teammate as his breaths came out ragged and noticed her own eyes seemed shaken.
Wh-What the hell just happened?!
"I-Irune, what did you do there?!" Kate demanded. "Was that Fire Blast?! Since when did Axew know how to use that?!"
Irune cringed and shrank back against the wall, looking much as if she'd been cornered by a snarling Grünhäuter. Was that a Fire Blast? Lyle could've sworn those Hunters back in Moonturn Square said she'd used one on their Grovyle friend, and he supposed there were move tutors out there that taught it to other Pokémon.
Except, Irune wasn't saying anything back. She just stood there, her mouth open in shock as her eyes drifted towards the ground as she fumbled with her words.
"I- I-"
Lyle flicked his ears uneasily. Something wasn't adding up about this. Even if the Quilava supposed it was possible for an Axew to know Fire Blast, he'd never seen a little 'mon like an Axew spew up anything like that. And… there was something strange about its shape, too. Didn't Fire Blasts branch off from their fireballs in five directions instead of four?
His mind turned back to the electrified tackle Irune used in their battle with Rankar back in Primordial Woods. Dalton said that he thought it was a Shock Wave, but was it? Even if it was, just how many Axew were there around who knew both Shock Wave and Fire Blast?
He supposed there were stories of prolonged exposure to the Distortions of Mystery Dungeons sometimes making Pokémon evolve unnaturally early. Did something like that give Irune those abilities? Did the army make her like this?
Lyle opened his mouth to ask her, only to hear loud cries in the distance. Götterblut, of course those two would go off crying to the Gendarmen. The Fire-type stiffened up as his vents came alight with a start. He shook his head and dropped onto all his paws, motioning with his head for his teammates to follow.
"Whatever's going on with her, we'll figure it out later," the stoat insisted. "This is a small town, and it won't take long for the guards here to get on our tails."
Kate flattened her ears at the response and clicked her tongue with a low scoff.
"Oh come on, who on earth's going to believe that an Axew just stomped their tails that badly?"
Lyle opened his mouth to protest when he noticed Dalton looking off at the opposite wall of the alleyway and his mouth flopping open. The color visibly drained from his face as he raised his uninjured arm and pointed off shakily past Lyle's shoulders.
"M-More than you'd think," he gulped. "Look!"
Lyle turned around with his teammates when he saw a damaged wanted poster: the top where the illustration of the culprit normally would be was torn away with only the description and posted reward left behind. He blinked at the sight. Four thousand Carolins? That wasn't half bad for a bounty, but what really stood out to him was the name and the crime.
"... 'Chando Imperagators, wanted for 50 counts of arson in Port Reyn'?" Kate murmured, giving a puzzled tilt of her head. "How in the hell does a Feraligatr's kid set that much stuff on fire without getting caught? Did he have wings or something? Anyhow, how's that relevant to us-?"
"No, not that one!" the Heliolisk insisted. "The ones to its right!"
Lyle turned his gaze right along with the others when they saw them. Three posters, looking like they'd been just freshly put up overnight, with drawings of their species. 'Kate Snibunnas' on the Sneasel's poster, 'Dalton Elezards' on the Heliolisk's, and most worryingly on the Quilava's, 'Lyle Fremders', the false name he'd used to try and hide from his past with!
Lyle's head started to feel faint and his stomach began to knot up as the runes underneath their names came into view. Each of them were wanted for the same litany of crimes: banditry, battery, attacking officers of the realm… and the bounties for each one of them were over twice as high as what that arsonist had! Every team of Hunters in this gottverdammten Provinz would take notice of a bounty that high! The Quilava shrank back and breathed in shallowly when Kate's incredulous voice snapped him back to attention.
"Wait a minute, 'Irune Wildes'? Is that really your Vatername?"
There, on the far right, was a fourth poster pinned up on the wall depicting an Axew. Lyle sized up the poster and saw that the crimes listed were much the same, and yet in spite of it, her bounty was higher than the rest of theirs combined!
He froze with his mouth hung open. Who on earth was Irune? What on earth was she? Just what sort of Pokémon would get Lacan, no- the army as a whole so desperate to capture her?
The Quilava looked over at his Axew teammate and paused after he noticed she was trembling out of fright. She stared up at the listing blankly, before looking back with an almost palpable air of desperation.
"Y-Yes, that's mine," she murmured. "B-But where are we even supposed to run right now?"
Lyle bit his tongue. He'd hoped that they'd have had time to snag a map and size up options, but he was genuinely unsure where they could turn to at this point. With bounties like that, they were lucky that nobody had recognized them in town yet. Fleeing overland was surely a nonstarter since these wanted posters had likely been given out to other nearby towns. Going back to Raptor Rock was similarly out of the question since if Lacan had sent word out here asking the Gendarmen to keep an eye out for them, he had to have at least considered it possible that they'd escaped through Raptor Rock.
The Quilava turned over to his teammates and found that both of them were similarly grimacing. Just then, Dalton raised his head and turned off towards the direction of the passing river, where after a moment's pause, a flash of realization came over the Heliolisk's eyes.
"The river running along the village had some docks along it," the Electric-type said. "There's bound to be some boats and rafts by the water. If we go there, there might be one we can sneak out of here on."
Lyle suddenly stiffened up and felt the color flush out of his face as his mind turned towards the glimpses of the water they'd seen during the day. And the idea of being surrounded on all sides by it, too deep to reach the bottom if he fell in.
"Oh no, you can't be serious–" Lyle started, only to be cut off by a sharp huff in reply.
"Yes, I am serious," the Heliolisk insisted. "Trying to flee out of town means going through checkpoints staffed by guards at all hours. Checks on incoming watercraft are usually done just before docking, and normally the guards wouldn't be paying attention to ones leaving anywhere near as closely, especially at this hour."
The Quilava grimaced and cringed slightly. Sure he wasn't a little Cyndaquil who'd cry for his parents after being stranded on a rock in a stream anymore, but being surrounded by deep water was still an unsettling feeling. Enough so that just looking over the edge of bridges would make his stomach knot up.
Still, it was hard to argue Dalton's point. Even if they did sneak past the village's checkpoints, there was the band of fields and Civils' dwellings they'd have to get past before truly making it into the wilderness. Where for all they knew, there were already Gendarmen combing it and looking for them.
"Scales, you said that you saw a beacon from Newangle City last night!" Kate exclaimed. "For all we know, this river goes straight to it!"
Lyle sucked in his breath and tensed up. Right, he'd forgotten about that. Gods, they were between a rock and a hard place. Even Dalton seemed to hesitate a bit as he bit his lip before shaking his head.
"We could have chances to slip off beforehand, Newangle City's still some distance away. Even if we did wind up going there, we'd at least have the safety of numbers assuming we made it past the gates since it's the biggest city in Varhyde," the Heliolisk replied. "Even if Lacan somehow thought we might wind up there, there's no way he'd have tipped off all of the local guards about us in time."
Those… were a lot of assumptions that Dalton was making right now. Even if Lyle understood the logic behind it, he couldn't say he'd expected to already be in trouble this far out from Toya Square.
The Quilava sucked in a sharp breath and looked down at Irune. Strangely enough, she seemed almost relieved by the prospect of going to Newangle City. She really wasn't experienced as an Outlaw if she found Dalton's reassurance to be anything more than cold comfort. After all, the Gendarmen were the most organized there, and even with the war in Edialeigh, there was always a small army of soldiers garrisoned within its walls. About the last place an Outlaw from outside would want to try and take shelter in.
And yet… between having to choose between hiding in the shadows of a sprawling city versus a little hamlet like this… with Lacan and his Fähnlein coming into the area if they weren't already here…
"We don't have any better options right now," the Quilava grunted. "Come on, let's go!"
The choice was only obvious. Lyle lowered his head and took off running in the direction of the river. The patter of his teammates' feet sounded out behind him as they rushed for the water, and what they hoped would be enough of a break for them to slip away from their pursuers to safer havens.
The run to the docks went by quicker than Lyle expected, as he and the rest of Team Forager dashed through the back alleys of Errberk Village, all but flying past huts and shacks as the earth sloped down and their destination came into view. There, just up ahead amid autumn leaves drifting down from the village’s tall trees, was the wince-worthy sight of the river, along with a set of embankments built along it that anchored a set of crude wooden piers where a few skiffs and rafts had been tied down to them.
"There they are!" Dalton cried. "Just a little further!"
For a second, Lyle thought of just jumping down to the riverbank below, only to think twice of the idea after seeing the drop from the embankment was at least twice a Mudsdale's height. Even if Dalton's arm wasn't broken right now, a fall from that sort of height was surely risking trouble if anyone didn't stick their landing.
Fortunately, there were stairs heading down nearby. Thank the gods. The stoat took off running for them as tense panting pricked his ears, with a quick glance behind revealing Irune trying to keep pace with the rest of Team Forager on her stubby legs.
"A-Are we sure there's someone at the docks who will take us on such short notice?!" she asked.
Lyle didn't have an answer to that. Frankly, he wasn't sure whether or not they even had the option not to try and stow away unannounced. But they had other problems right now, and with his pounding heart and his vents pouring startled fire, Lyle doubted he'd be able to think of a response on the spot.
All of a sudden, a crushing watery jet zipped in and knocked him off his feet. The Quilava yelped and tumbled onto his side as water ran along his pelt and got up his snout, leaving him hacking for air as he heard Kate and Dalton cry out and come to a skidding stop. He briefly saw Dalton's scaly legs stumble as the Heliolisk tried to avoid tripping over him, then Kate's face as she stooped down to try and roll him onto his feet. Irune followed suit and popped in front of him to pull him back up by his forepaws when a yipping voice cut in from further ahead.
"Hey! Who invited you to this party?!"
An all-too-familiar yipping voice. One that judging from the grimace spreading over her face, Irune recognized herself. The Axew turned her head off to the right, and as Lyle followed suit he tensed up at a sight that at once filled him with equal parts dread and bewilderment.
There, emerging from a side street just ahead of the stairs was a party consisting of a Dewott, a Grovyle, an Eevee, and a Houndour that all trained sharp scowls at them. Something about the four seemed vaguely familiar. They all wore silver scarves with designs colored the same shade of red they were wearing—that same three-pointed spike that was on their own scarves, just with an extra chevron underneath.
"Well this is an earth-splattering development," the Houndour scoffed. "We knew you weren't particularly bright Outlaws, but we were hardly expecting you to stay in town while we came through."
"You didn't think we were just going to forget the way you ran our names into the mud back at that Moonturn Square place, did you?" the Grovyle harrumphed. "Just try and run!"
Ach, gottverdammt, that was why those four seemed familiar! That was that Grovyle—'Elma' or whatever her name was—and those Team Pathfinder ankle-biters they'd stolen their current scarves from! But they'd last seen these four in Moonturn Square, then how-?
"Gah… You're kidding me," Kate groaned. "How the hell are you dweebs even here right now?!"
"Our last client was an Arcanine courier who needed an Exploration Team to help him scout out a shortcut to Newangle City," the Eevee scoffed. "Turns out there's a set of Links from one of the Mystery Dungeons near Moonturn Square that'll make it to Raptor Rock in about half a day's journey."
"It only took getting lost in three Mystery Dungeons, running into the occasional Monster House here or there, and running away very quickly, but we and our client survived!" the Houndour chimed in.
That… was some crazy beginner's luck for those four, or else they were tougher than Lyle gave them credit for. Though from the other three's expressions and their grumbling remarks of "Bel, you're not supposed to tell them that", he'd stake his ill-gotten gains on the former. Regardless, the four didn't look like they were in the mood to let getting robbed go, especially with the way the Dewott from their team sauntered up and held out one of his scalchops accusingly.
"The point is, we're stronger than ever now!" the otter insisted. "Right on the cusp of evolution and Vilma got us some drinks to help with training! We even got a few of those 'Looplet' things to help us tan your hides and bring you to justice!"
Right, 'Vilma' was the Grovyle's name. Lyle's train of thought was broken when the Dewott raised an arm, drawing attention to a metal bangle about it with a set of notched grooves along them. The Fire-type blinked a moment, before pinning his ears back with an unimpressed frown.
"... You do know those don't do a whole lot outside Mystery Dungeons, right?" he asked. "You need to fit emeras into Looplets like those for them to have any effect. Good luck getting any of them outside one in one piece."
The Dewott drew his scalchop back with a low growl as the Water-type and his teammates approached, starting to form a semicircle around them. Agh, they didn't have time for this! They hadn't happened to pick up a Petrify Orb from those Pullers earlier, had they…?
"Look, we understand that you're not happy with us, this really isn't a good time! Just let us go and we'll leave and never see each other again!"
Lyle looked up from his bag and saw Irune going forward, waving her arms pleadingly. There was a brief moment of hesitation among Team Pathfinder's members, when Vilma let out a sharp huff and folded the leaves on her arms in on each other into pointed blades
"Why? So you can run our names into the ground in another town?" the Grovyle scoffed. "We're Team Pathfinder! As if we're just going to sit back and let you do that!"
"Yeah, get ready for a whipping!" Nellie growled. "The guards here forced us to change our scarf pattern thanks to you since they at first thought we were part of your band of Outlaws!"
Lyle blinked briefly at the Eevee's fuming. He knew that Lacan and his Fähnlein had been going around searching for them, but they'd managed to stay a step ahead of him since Primordial Woods. Had the scarf confusion with Team Pathfinder been helping to throw the Salamence and his goons off their trail?
"I mean, you could've made it harder for yourselves to be mistaken if you're so worried about that," Lyle harrumphed. "Why, you literally just flipped your old scarves' color scheme and threw in a chevron!"
"What, are you blind?" Vilma snapped. "Our current design has green on it! Anybody could see the difference!"
The Grovyle held out a paw accusingly, only to blink after seeing the rest of her teammates giving sheepish looks at her.
"Oh, is that what that color is supposed to be?" Bel asked. "We were under the impression that you chose red for our symbol."
"It… is kinda hard to tell the difference between the two colors anymore, Vilma," Nellie chimed in.
… Wait, 'anymore'? Lyle wasn't sure what the Eevee meant by that when he could've sworn her kind saw red and green much like Quilava did. An unimpressed scoff snapped him to attention as Kate folded her arms at his side and gave an idle wave of her claw back at the team of Hunters.
"You're upset at us for helping you improve your looks?" she scoffed. "Is it too late to make a trade? Why, those colors you're wearing now look better than the ones we stole off you!"
Lyle sucked in a sharp breath after Sneasel's remark as the Hunters' expressions seemed to grow even angrier, if that was even possible. 'Vilma', the Grovyle from their ranks, was particularly offended as she grit her teeth and flashed her blades with a glare that looked sharp enough to pierce hide.
"We spent ages working on our old patterns! I was the one who came up with the final design!" the Grovyle snapped. "Though here, let me pay you back for wrecking our hard work!"
Vilma lunged forward with an overlapping cross-slash from her blades, and sailed along as her X-Scissor struck Kate square in her gut. Lyle's vents sparked to life and he readied a cone of Embers to intervene, only for a watery jet to clock him in the face. The Quilava tumbled over, wheezing up smoke and cradling his now dampened snout as battle cries rang out around him. He hastily rolled onto his feet as a spray of sand just missed his face. In front of him, the other Hunters were rushing forward, while Irune and Dalton had hurriedly slipped past him to try and fill the gap.
Gottverdammt, just how many Power Drinks had this Dewott gone through in the past day?! He could've sworn the 'mon never hit him this hard during their fight back in Moonturn Square!
Dalton motioned for Irune to stay back and charged ahead, sparks dancing on his hide as he neared the Houndour and Eevee with his teeth bared in challenge.
"That's enough!" he hissed.
The Heliolisk sprang forward and tried to bat his frill out to fling a Parabolic Charge forward, only for him to abruptly stop mid-way. Lyle's eyes widened as Dalton's body abruptly froze up with a sharp yelp and the arcing bolts of electricity struck the ground just shy of Nellie and Bel. Beyond briefly flinching, the two were wholly unscathed and hurriedly fell back.
Dammit, so that's why those healers said that Dalton needed to give his frill a rest! Dalton must've forgotten about that himself briefly from the way his eyes were widening.
"H-Huh?! But that should've-! Ow!"
The Hunters didn't wait for him to finish. Before Dalton could react, a swift slash from Vilma's leafy blades sent him staggering back, an opening which Cruz followed up with by throwing a retaliating punch that knocked Dalton off his feet entirely with a pained cry.
"Hah! Time to ride the train to beatdown town!"
Lyle flinched as Dalton hit the ground and the Quilava grit his teeth, fire pouring out his vents as his breaths came out in ragged pants. No, they weren't getting their escape messed up by a bunch of rookie dweebs!
He barreled ahead just as Nellie tried to charge forward to help mob the felled Heliolisk, slamming into her with a Flame Charge and batting her aside. He felt his limbs loosen up as they normally did after such tackles when Vilma briefly appeared in the corner of his eye. Shadowy flecks began to build along her claws, only for her to abruptly lurch when an icy flechette struck her arm. The Grovyle abruptly sprang back with a sharp hiss and crouched along the edge of the embankment looking off at the culprit. Lyle followed the gecko's gaze, where at the other end of his field of view was Kate flaring her ears with a knowing smirk.
"Sorry, Grovyle! But I'm gonna need to put your plans on ice here!"
A pained yelp from behind alerted him to Bel stumbling back from Irune as embers of blue dragonfire smoldered from the edges of her mouth. Clearly these four hadn't gotten that much stronger than last time for the Houndour reel so much from a Dragon Rage. Lyle started to turn towards his Axew teammate when he caught a glimpse of water coming at his face and jumped back with a high shriek. He panted as water splattered inertly along his forepaws and flank, looking up to see that Cruz 'mon facing him with his scalchops drawn.
Right, he needed to stay focused here. Even if it felt like Cruz had somehow gotten a bit stronger than yesterday, he could handle some Guild runt. Especially if he could get under the 'mon's hide a bit and bait him into slipping up.
"What's the matter? You look a bit out of your element, Dewott!" Lyle jeered. "You'll need to be quicker on your feet than that to get the better of us"
"Maybe you should try minding your distance!" the Dewott shot back. "'Cause I'm still going!"
Cruz swung a water-wreathed scalchop, its blade zipping towards Lyle's head. The Quilava let instinct take over and ducked and rolled out of the way as an audible slice through the air pricked his ears, but no pain followed. Then came the quiet growl in frustration as the Dewott swung again, prompting Lyle to do much the same a second time. And then again. And again.
Hah, this Hunter really was a predictable type!
Lyle shot a teasing smirk back, but had only a brief moment to enjoy the Dewott's look on his face before he felt burning pain pepper his right flank and underbelly. Lyle stumbled back, briefly catching a glimpse of star-like lights bursting against his hide. He yelped as his mind went blank briefly, and hurriedly scurried back with his ears pinned against his head as a throbbing ache set in between his ribs.
Okay, these Hunters had to have been chugging Power Drinks. Or else they were having the world's best luck in landing hits in tender places during this fight. Whether it was tactics or strength making them this much annoying, those four were really starting to wear him down, and they needed to swat them out of the way fast.
Lyle snorted up embers and crouched against the ground, only to look up and see his teammates alongside him, and then feel his blood drain out of his face. Amidst the fighting, they'd been herded up against the railing along the ledge overlooking the docks… with the rest of Team Pathfinder standing there and having hemmed them in up against it.
D-Dammit, the docks were right there! Lyle's ears pricked at the sound of shouts from further in town. Local guards, he assumed. At this rate, these four would drag this fight out long enough for the Grünhäuter to catch up with them. He heard Kate suck in a sharp breath beside him, and looked over to see her giving an uneasy glance.
"Gah… any ideas here?" she asked. "I don't think we've got much time left to get out of here."
"Yeah, it's called surrender and give up, Outlaw scum!" the Dewott piped, waving a scalchop threateningly. "We've got you cornered, and you're not getting the drop on us like you did last time!"
Lyle grit his teeth and then, as if on cue, the shouts and trampling footsteps from deeper in town came again. Louder and clearer this time. The Quilava felt his heart flutter and his breaths come tense and short. Those Gendarmen would be on them in instants. They needed to get past these Hunters. Fast.
The humming crackle of electrical sparks snapped Lyle back to attention. A quick glance up and to his left revealed Dalton stepping forward, casting a sideways glance out the corner of his eye..
"Lyle! Throw up some cover in front of me and don't get too close!" he insisted, making Irune's eyes widen in alarm.
"But you aren't able to throw attacks like those as far as normal from-!"
"I know that! Just hit them with everything you've got once you see me get clear!"
The hell was Dalton thinking when he couldn't throw his frill out properly right now?! The Quilava wasn't sure what to make of things, but before he could ask, Dalton darted square for Team Pathfinder. Everything went by in a blur as the four set upon the Heliolisk and he reeled under a hail of sharp blows.
"D-Dalton!"
The patter of feet revealed Irune running up wide-eyed to try and fight Dalton's attackers off with Kate hot on her heels. Lyle set off after them, when amidst the fray, he noticed the Heliolisk's hide was sparking.
So that's why he'd said he needed cover! He'd lured those Hunters right where he'd wanted them all along!
Without thinking, Lyle spat up a plume of smoke at Dalton's feet, the Smokescreen enveloping Outlaw and Hunter alike as coughs and cries of confusion rang out.
And then a deafening crackle rang out, followed by stray bolts that zipped past. Lyle dove to the ground and briefly saw Kate pulling Irune back as the world tumbled around them. The electrical static died down as the faint smell of burnt dust and fur lingered. As the smoke cleared, the three looked up to see Dalton coughing and panting, with Cruz and Nellie lying fainted on the ground, and Vilma and Bel struggling to get back up, panting and visibly startled.
"Watch where you throw that electricity around, Scales!" Kate hissed.
"Criticize me about it later!" Dalton barked back. "Don't let those two get back up!"
The Sneasel was more than ready to oblige. Kate swooped down on Bel with a Brick Break at the top of the Houndour's head that dropped him and left him on the ground breathing shallowly. Lyle lowered his head and charged at his Grovyle foe as his body came alight with a wreath of fire, only for her to spring aside at the last minute and onto the railing with a sharp growl.
"I-It's not over, I'm turning this around!" she spat. "You're not getting away from us again-!"
She never finished her words before a gout of blue dragonfire zipped in and struck her shoulder. The Grovyle pitched over the side with a yelp that was swiftly followed by a loud crash and silence. Lyle's eyes widened briefly. O-Oh crap, they hadn't hurt her that badly had they? He'd worried in the past about what would happen if the day came he wound up killing someone on the job, but some guild kid?
The Quilava hurried over and quickly poked his head over to see the damage. A glance down revealed Vilma lying pinned among a stack of wooden crates. He could see she was moving and flailing trying to free herself. Lyle started to feel a bit stupid. The embankment wasn't that high up, so of course she wouldn't be that hurt from a fall.
Groans from behind him turned his attention back to the rest of Team Pathfinder's members as they lay sprawled out on the lane. He probably should've felt a bit worse about beating up a bunch of rookies like that… but then again, rookies usually didn't put up that hard of a fight.
"They're over there! I heard a scuffle!"
There wasn't time to second-guess his actions anyways. Off in the direction of the lane they'd taken to reach the riverbank, a Druddigon with an orange head and scales that blended into his Gendarm armor popped out onto the lane, then a Boltund, and a Politoed. A sharp tug from Kate's claws pulled him forward, where he saw Dalton and Irune already halfway down the stairs, and Kate's face taking up his vision.
"Lyle! Time to go!" she cried.
A gout of bluish dragonfire zipped just overhead before striking the wall ahead of them. Lyle heard Dalton cry out and saw him pulling his splinted arm away from a wall at the base. Evidently he'd had to duck out the way himself. Lyle pivoted and spewed a Smokescreen behind him, hoping that'd slow the guards down before all but tumbling down the stairs. He stumbled his way to the bottom where Kate pulled a still-flinching Dalton along with his good arm, and he saw Irune lingering briefly before looking at him wide-eyed.
"Where are we supposed to go?!" she cried.
"Again, find a boat we can hop onto!" he insisted. "We'll work it out from there-!"
Lyle hastily pulled Irune along as a crackling arc of electricity blackened the pavestones where they'd just been standing, and a bloodcurdling growl from the top of the stairs filled the air.
"Dort drüben!₁ Next to those docks! Stop those thieves!"
That had to be the Boltund from the group. Lyle didn't dare look back to check and kept running off along the docks. He briefly spotted a Masquerain in Gendarm colors in the air, along with a few confused Pokémon looking up and staring at them amid rows of wooden skiffs built around shallow hulls and rafts built around pontoons. A Raticate from beside one of the crafts got up and stomped over puffing his cheeks out threateningly, only for Kate to casually shove him out of the way and into the water with a yelp. Guess that was one way to tell that they weren't going to be welcome back here for a while-
"Lyle!"
Irune sharply tugged at his hide as Lyle looked forward and came to a skidding stop as his forepaws met the edge of the pier, with nothing but river beyond it. Lyle flared up with a start and whirled around to see the rest of his teammates…
"Halt! Nobody move!"
… and the guards from the stairs approaching at the end of the pier with a small crowd of onlookers. The orange-headed Druddigon paced forward flanked by the Boltund and Politoed, baring his fangs and spreading his wings to make his already bulky body look larger with a sharp growl.
"Put your paws up where we can see them!" the Druddigon shouted.
Lyle looked ahead blankly as his stomach began to knot up. He felt Irune start to shiver through her grasp and could see Kate's plumes and fur standing on end, her eyes wide and panicked.
He… wasn't sure how they were going to get out of this one. No matter how he looked, he couldn't see an obvious way out.
"I don't have all day!" the Druddigon snapped. "Get on with it!"
Lyle looked back at the guards in front of them and then the Masquerain circling overhead. They really were just screwed right now, weren't they? Lyle shakily reared up and started to raise his forepaws when he felt something brush against his back and turned to see Dalton's tail swaying.
"How well can you three jump?" he asked.
Lyle turned to his Heliolisk teammate as he glanced left and noticed a raft on floats that had been laden down with pallets of cargo. Lyle and his teammates traded quiet glimpses with each other as the Druddigon neared and the other guards neared.
"Scales," Kate whispered. "How is that supposed to help us-?"
"Look, there's something that I can try if you can whip up a distraction first," he explained. "But you need to be able to make it up onto that raft."
The Quilava blinked for a moment. He wasn't sure what Dalton was supposed to be able to do here, but he felt hot, irate breath on his fur and looked up to see the Druddigon Gendarm reaching out for him when something snapped in him.
"Get your claws off of me, Grünhäuter!"
Lyle spewed out a plume of smoke that swallowed up the pier and heard the Druddigon and his nearby lackeys hacking as the Boltund let out a startled yelp.
"Ack! I can't see!"
Lyle turned and ran as claws nicked at his hide and crackling electricity zipped about blindly from the Boltund's direction. A splash rang out from somewhere nearby and for a moment Lyle couldn't see Dalton on the pier before. The woosh of an Icy Wind rang out, which turned Lyle's attention back towards the raft, where Kate had already climbed onto its lip with a thump and stopped to pull Irune aboard. Lyle's mind turned back to Dalton's warning and he clambered onto the edge of the raft when he felt claws dig into him from behind and clamp on.
"Got you, you overgrown rat-!"
Lyle squealed in pain and his vents came alight, when he suddenly heard the Druddigon's voice cry out and his scaly claw let go. Lyle hurriedly squirmed and pulled himself up when he heard running footsteps and turned to see the Boltund and Politoed abruptly freeze up.
"Sheriff Pax, look ou-!"
The next thing Lyle knew, he felt a wall of water sweep up his body and knock the air out of him. He pitched forward and hit the wood of the raft's deck, the world spinning in his vision as he tumbled to a stop.
Lyle laid there briefly panting as the raft lurched underneath him and snorted up water from his nose. Since of course he would get water up his nose. He heard a howling voice cry out about "A-Ack! Help me up!" when he felt something scaly grab onto the side of his neck and his eyes shot wide in a panic and his vents hissed from their fire being cut off by moisture on them.
The top of his body lurched up, when Dalton entered his vision, still dripping, dragging him forward with his uninjured left arm.
"D-Dalton?! What on earth did you-?!"
"I bought us some time with a Surf, but you need to stay on your feet since I can't keep coming back for you like this! Those Gendarmen won't stay down for long!"
Lyle looked up to see Kate and Irune hopping off the raft onto the next one over when the Masquerain swooped in. He shook his head and grit his teeth. Normally he'd spit fire in someone's face over a soak like this, but it'd at least gotten them out of a jam, and as the Masquerain reminded, they had bigger problems right now.
Lyle lowered his head and jumped aboard the next raft, Dalton following after and wobbling briefly as the Masquerain sent Kate tumbling back from a wind laden with what looked like silvery powder.
"Eh?! What are you-?!"
Lyle lunged forward as the world blurred in his vision and he felt his head strike the Masquerain's armor. The Bug-type lurched back from his Quick Attack, when a gout of blue dragonfire followed and grazed his wings, sending him pitching into the water. Lyle watched as the Masquerain surfaced, but beyond some buzzes of protest, the Gendarm struggled to do more than latch onto a pier, weighed down by his now-soaked armor. Dalton briefly eyed the struggling Bug-type in the water, before turning his snout up with a sharp scoff.
"Hrmph, serves you right for not minding your plates' coatings!" the Heliolisk spat. "Come on, let's go!"
"To where?!" Irune cried. "You're not expecting us to just sneak back into town at this rate, are you?!"
Lyle scanned his surroundings and heard shouts from the Druddigon and his lackeys coming up from further up the piers. No… back into town obviously wouldn't lead to anything good. Still, Dalton seemed undeterred as he pointed to a small Luminous Orb in his bag and motioned off at the moorings tying their current raft down.
"Keep an eye out for one of these crafts that's less tied down than this one, so we can push off with it during a suitable distraction," he insisted. "We'll only have one shot at getting away, so keep an eye out for something like…"
The Heliolisk trailed off abruptly and Lyle followed along as the Electric-type's eyes fell on a raft that twisted at an awkward angle with a stack of crates heaped up on it with what looked like red spikes jutting up in parts. Lyle could just barely make out the sight of a line connecting it to the piers, and judging from the angle, it seemed like it'd drift off into the river if the mooring was cut.
"Like that one!" Dalton cried. "Watch your step and stay alert!"
Lyle probably should've been more dubious about this plan, but there was no time to question his moves. He shot down the pier along with his teammates, clambering up a small boat with a sail as they heard voices come from the water. Their racket must've woken up the river Pokémon that slept in the netting set out along the approaches of docks like these. The Quilava skidded to a brief stop as he spotted a lower gangplank to his left and ran up it, trying his hardest to not look down and splash the water all around him. There was a loud splash, when Lyle turned his head and froze briefly. Off past the boat's bow, there was Dalton running across the surface of the water to the next pier over. Gods, how on earth could he just tolerate getting soaked like tha-?
"Get it together, Lyle!"
Lyle snapped to attention when felt Kate drag him along with Irune at her side. A quick glance up revealed her scowling, her ears pinned back with an impatient hiss.
"Don't freeze up like that! That raft's not getting any closer just standing around!"
Right. He needed to keep his wits about him and for the love of the gods, to not think about the water below. Lyle made it forward a few strides after Kate and Irune when he suddenly caught a glimpse of fiery blue light coming from his right. The Quilava hurriedly rolled out of the way as cries of pain rang out. On one end was Kate getting up with smoke curling up from her fur and Irune panting wide-eyed. And on the other…
"Don't forget me!"
Was that damned Druddigon Gendarm from earlier. The orange-headed drake lunged forward and came to a gliding stop, crouching on his claws with a bared-fang snarl.
"You should've surrendered while you had the chance, thieving scum!"
Lyle looked over the dragon and his armor briefly and pinned his ears back with a frightened grimace. Gods, this 'mon made Nils look like an underfed Wimpod by comparison! Maybe he wouldn't be as tough as he looked, but when it'd taken all four of them and the element of surprise to pin Nils down…
Lyle suddenly felt the boat underfoot lurch as even the Druddigon visibly fought to steady himself and a yelp rang out from past the railing as a tall wave crested over the edge. Lyle briefly glimpsed Dalton tumbling back along the pier and spotted the Politoed guard from earlier perching on a mooring with a sharp sneer.
"Hah! Don't try to beat a 'mon at his element, Heliolisk! I can keep this up all day-!"
"Ack, Marta!" the Druddigon protested. "Watch where you're throwing that Surf around-!"
An icy flechette suddenly zipped in and struck the Druddigon's flank at once of his chest plate's straps. Lyle briefly saw the strap break and the dragon wince before righting himself as blue dragonfire built up in his mouth.
"You're done-!"
Lyle threw himself forward with a Quick Attack at the Dragon-type to try and cut him off. He felt his head strike the Druddigon's stomach plate as the Gendarm abruptly jerked up and the guard's Dragon Rage sailed off-course overhead. A sharp cry of "Lyle, look out!" was his only warning before a gout just like it struck the Druddigon in his shoulder and sent him stumbling back. The Gendarm's chest plate was just barely holding together with a singed and damaged strap on his left shoulder. One that would probably give way were enough force applied onto it—
And then the Druddigon righted himself and abruptly lunged forward with jaws agape. Lyle squealed and hurriedly leapt out of the way, only to feel the Druddigon's teeth dig into his stomach from below and launch him upwards. Lyle briefly saw the sky and the boat's rigging along with a few stray embers, before the deck of the wood filled his vision and he smacked into it face-first.
Things went by in a dazed blur after that. He heard a snarling "Behave!" along with Kate and Irune crying out. He wearily turned his head towards the sound and saw a green-and-orange blur spin around with a black one crumpling to the deck and a green one running off. Lyle woozily forced himself onto his feet, when he felt a scaly foot step down on his chest and looked up to see the Druddigon glaring down at him as embers swirled around.
"You're a real Dummkopf₂, aren't you?" the guard snarled. "If you think you can just make Pax the Unforgettable look like a fool, you've got another thing coming!"
Lyle panted in fright when he noticed the embers were still coming down from above, and one of the autumn leaves in the air was falling past, visibly afire. The Druddigon's eyes then shrank to pins and the dragon's own jaw flopped open as he looked up. Lyle turned his as much as the dragon's grip allowed when he saw that the boat's square sail had caught alight.
"A-Ack! When did that catch on fire-?!"
"Let him go!"
Lyle saw a green blur rush in and heard a sharp thwack followed by a sharp wince, and then another blow. The Druddigon stumbled back as Lyle reflexively scurried away and sprang back onto his feet. His eyesight was wobbly, but he could clearly see that there beside him was Irune, shaking her tusks. A flash of black fur followed as Kate sprang forward, and with a flash of her claws, aimed for the Druddigon's shoulder strap. She threw her claw forward, only for her to miss and dig a gouge into the Gendarm's chest plate. The dragon hastily flung her aside and sprang back towards the tip of the ship's bow, panting in visible surprise before he grit his teeth and let out a threatening snarl.
"Think you can take me?!" the guard spat. "I barely even felt those-!"
The sound of roaring water rang out from along the boat's port side as it abruptly lurched underfoot as water came over the port railing. Lyle hit the deck as he felt a spray of water splash against his fur, briefly glimpsing Kate dig her claws into the wood and hold onto Irune's scarf. The Druddigon was less fortunate as he pitched over the bow with a yelp and a loud splash. Lyle grumbled under his breath and flicked some drops off his fur as the dragon's cries of "Help! I can't swim!" rang out from the front of the boat…
And then shifted over to its left side. Lyle blinked and saw that one of the boat's moorings had come undone and it'd swung out perpendicular to the pier, where he, Kate, and Irune were now looking down the Politoed from behind on its planks, with Dalton staring her down. A brief smirk came over the Heliolisk's face, and Lyle watched as the Politoed turned around, and the fight seemed to drain out of her as her jaw flopped open in shock.
"A-Ack! Wait!" the Politoed insisted. "We can talk this over-!"
Lyle didn't wait for her to finish and spat up a spray of starry lights that pockmarked her armored body from the railing. Irune followed suit with a Dragon Rage from beside him, while Kate vaulted down with an ambushing Feint Attack that caught the guard in her chin and knocked her into the water. One arcing stream of electricity from Dalton later, and the Water-type floated to the surface face-up groaning in pain, earning a sharp huff from the Heliolisk.
"Hrmph, you won't be pestering any villagers for bribes today," he spat. "Good riddance."
There had to be some sort of story between Dalton and the army beyond what he'd said in the tavern. Losing loved ones to the war would make anyone bitter, but at times it felt almost as if Dalton was trying to prove a point when it came to Grünhäuter like these—
"Guys!"
The boat abruptly rocked underfoot as Lyle saw the raft from earlier clip the bow of the boat they were on and start drifting past. A chunk of burning rigging fell and hit the deck just by his shoulder, making him flare up with a start as he called out to his teammates.
"Dalton, throw that Luminous Orb and let's get out of here!"
Lyle bounded for the boat's bow and leaped down, coming to a stop on the middle row of a stack of crates piled up two high. He felt his head hit the side of the crate and grabbed onto netting for dear life, looking up as Kate and Irune made it to the top before the world suddenly went white from a flash from the burning boat they had just been on.
Lyle tumbled and froze as his vision swam, jolting back with a startled cry as things began to fill in again and he found himself staring down into burbling river water. He stumbled back up against the crates and turned his head to see he'd accidentally blackened a few timbers from his vents, when he looked left to see Kate and Irune pulling Dalton aboard from the river.
He shakily made his way over and felt his heart sink as he saw other Gendarmen massing on the pier, only to realize that they weren't giving chase and there were a bunch of other figures in front of them. He rubbed his eyes to try and clear his vision and was just able to make out Pokémon in the water dousing the burning boat at the pier and the Druddigon they fought being pulled back up onto the dock. There were angry-sounding shouts coming from various figures in the water and on the docks, with a few even getting into shoving matches with armored figures.
"Lyle! Over here!"
Lyle looked over to Kate as she stood before a small gap between the crates, and he and his companions hastily darted into it. He went as deep as the gap between the crates would allow while the sky above them shrank to a small sliver, before flopping over and panting in exhaustion and fright. Every second felt like a small eternity as beyond trading startled stares, neither he nor his teammates dared make a whisper, until at last the shouts in the distance began to fade out to the point where he could barely hear them over the raft's creaking.
Lyle cast a glance up at the sliver of sky overhead, before he rolled over onto his back with a sigh of relief. The guards must not have spotted them slipping onto the raft, and as long as they laid low, it'd take some time for them to put two and two together and they could breathe.
Even if he wasn't sure how long that moment would last.
Author's Notes:
Words and Phrases
1. Dort drüben! - "Over there!"
2. Dummkopf - Insult analogous to "blockhead" or "pea-brain", lit. Dumbhead / "Stupidhead"
Teaser Text
It is said Pokemon are creatures that have always had a fascination with events from before their time. It is our conduit to the past and the knowledge of our forebears, as even Wilders pass down their knowledge and their stories from one generation to the next. Humans too were said to be creatures with similar inclinations, except they were said to have mastered crafts of chronicling bygone ages before our civilizations first composed our most archaic runes.
Much of those histories have been lost to time, from the Great Flash, and the tumult of the years that followed it. As such, for the histories that predate our world, we are often reliant on contradictory myths to catch glimpses at what came before it.
One of the most primal yearnings is an answer to "How did we come to be?" To which, much folklore among both Wilders and Civils seem to concur that we owe our existence to a God of Creationᵃ, an Architect of our universe, a Great Monad from which all we see and know around us sprang.
Specific stories of what this being is like vary from one teller to another. That he sang his creation into existence. That with a thousand arms, he formed our universe and all that is in it. That he reigned upon a snowbound throne in a faraway land. All agree only that this being found it fit to create helpers that reflected fractions of his power, and that he only sparingly interacts with our universe directly.
Why this is, there is no agreement. Other than that if this being does exist, he is not known to have appeared since our world was born. Even as the fabric of reality churned and creation as he knew it was upended.
- Excerpt from 'The Collected Legends from Wander'
a. "Schöpfergott" is more typically translated as "creator god", a variant translation is used here for thematic purposes.
Much of those histories have been lost to time, from the Great Flash, and the tumult of the years that followed it. As such, for the histories that predate our world, we are often reliant on contradictory myths to catch glimpses at what came before it.
One of the most primal yearnings is an answer to "How did we come to be?" To which, much folklore among both Wilders and Civils seem to concur that we owe our existence to a God of Creationᵃ, an Architect of our universe, a Great Monad from which all we see and know around us sprang.
Specific stories of what this being is like vary from one teller to another. That he sang his creation into existence. That with a thousand arms, he formed our universe and all that is in it. That he reigned upon a snowbound throne in a faraway land. All agree only that this being found it fit to create helpers that reflected fractions of his power, and that he only sparingly interacts with our universe directly.
Why this is, there is no agreement. Other than that if this being does exist, he is not known to have appeared since our world was born. Even as the fabric of reality churned and creation as he knew it was upended.
- Excerpt from 'The Collected Legends from Wander'
a. "Schöpfergott" is more typically translated as "creator god", a variant translation is used here for thematic purposes.
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What happened, I wonder?
