I forgot to mention this when I published my last chapter, but special thanks to sparklingespeon for coming on as a beta reader!
Chapter 19: Her Hidden Thoughts
Whisper silently stared at Muse for a long time, expression unreadable. Her fierce eyes gave nothing away, nor did her body language. Muse’s heart thundered in her chest. What did she think? Did she believe her? Was she upset? Should she have said anything at all? Did she pick the wrong pokemon to confess to?
“This is… a lot to take in,” Whisper finally said. “Especially coming more or less out of nowhere like this. Is there anything else you can tell me? Anything at all?”
She believed her! Muse perked up slightly, the worst of her worries dissipating, only to tense again when she remembered the worst of the details.
“The dream was dark,” Muse began, crouching and staring at the floor. “But I saw the flickering glow of… of fire, I think. There were loud, explosive noises. Like…” She paused, trying to think of a reasonable comparison. “Like a self-destructing graveler. There were many eyes watching me, surrounding me like a cage. When I woke, my horn burned, and my body ached like I’d been attacked with a thousand tiny cuts. The burning hasn’t gone away since.”
She looked up, eyes wide as she stared at Whisper again. “You. You do believe me, right?”
Whisper let out a long breath, her gaze traveling up and down Muse as if sizing her up. She raised a wing, scratching at the side of her face, harder and harder until a feather came loose. Then she stiffened, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.
“That’s… Concerning,” Whisper admitted, moving behind her desk to grab a piece of parchment and a piece of charcoal. “It’s more informative than what Celebi gave us, but it’s still horribly vague. Do you have anything else you can tell me? Anything else you can remember?”
Muse sighed, lowering her gaze. “Unfortunately, I don’t really know how to interpret it. How figurative or literal it might be. I never got proper seer training. My mom died before I was old enough to learn, and there’s no one else in the village that could fill in the gaps. I could make guesses, but they’d be little more than that? Maybe the enemy is unknowable? Or some sort of natural disaster? I don’t know.”
“Jhorlo never got you a tutor?” Whisper began to write, but paused and looked up when Muse stopped talking. “He made sure you were so well taken care of otherwise, I’m surprised he didn’t do that as well.”
Muse shuffled her feet. “I… I asked him about it eventually – a few cycles back, when I was getting close to of-age. He said he’d get around to it, but he never did. Not… that I pursued it too much. I didn’t particularly
want to follow in my mother’s pawsteps and…” She smiled wryly and a hint of bitterness seeped into her tone. “Well, we Absol don’t have much of a choice, do we?”
Whisper went back to writing. “True, true.” Sitting the charcoal down, she lifted the paper and brought it close to her face, looking it over in the dim light. “Well, Anu has a little experience with dream interpretation, albeit not nearly at the level of a true seer. If it’s alright with you, I would like to talk to him about your dream. We can discuss what the best course of action is.”
“Really?” Muse perked up, her tail waving slightly.
“That said,” Whisper continued, bringing Muse back to attention, “there was something you said that bothered me. You are Shimmer’s bodyguard, correct?”
“I am.”
“And you said you’ve told her nothing so far, right?”
Muse dipped her head. “Correct. Where are you going with this?”
Whisper laid the parchment in front of her. “If… whatever your dream was about is as bad as it sounds, don’t you think you should tell her? At least the basics, if nothing else.
Muse froze, pupils dilating. Despite her best efforts, she could feel her hackles beginning to rise. “I… I don’t want to involve her.” The words tumbled out of her mouth in an excuse that felt weak, even to her. “It’s my duty to protect her. I can’t just involve her like that. She should be worrying about improving her leadership skills and her psychic powers, not this.”
“With all due respect…” Whisper began with a tilt of her head. “Isn’t she already involved by virtue of being your charge? On top of that, if this is serious enough that you’re coming to me, then it’s something that affects the whole village. Whether you like it or not, she’s involved just by being here.”
Opening her mouth, Muse struggled to come up with more protesting words, but she could think of nothing. Whisper had a point. She shrank back and, after a moment, finally mumbled, “I just… I don’t want her getting hurt. Especially not for my sake.”
The room grew silent. Muse peeked up and swore she caught a knowing glint in Whisper’s eye, but the hawlucha’s expression was as stern as usual. After several false starts, Whisper spoke up. “I understand your worry. But think of it like this: the best way she can protect herself is to be prepared. But how can she
be prepared if she doesn’t know to expect trouble?”
Once again, Whisper had a good point. But negative thoughts still nagged the back of Muse’s mind.
What if she wants to get involved? I won’t be able to stop her. What if knowing makes her reckless. What if she thinks the best way to protect herself is to keep her distance? What if… What if…
“It may be your job to protect her,” Whisper went on, snapping Muse out of her spiraling thoughts, “but she has to live her own life. She can’t do that if you coddle her and treat her like a child all the time — something several villagers could learn, now that I mention it.” The last part was muttered under her breath.
“I-I would never treat her like a child!” Muse sputtered, standing back up straight.
“Then start treating her like an adult. Be honest with her. And not just about the premonition. I think there’s other things you need to open up about, aren’t there? I think she’d appreciate it.”
Muse’s heart skipped a beat. What was Whisper implying? She knew Shimmer better than anyone. She knew exactly how much of Shimmer’s personality was a facade, a carefully constructed mask so that others would underestimate her. But she also knew how much that mask had affected her ability to be genuine. And she knew how much of that had developed around allowing her to get her way — even when she shouldn’t have.
She could only dwell on those thoughts for so long. “You’ve given me a lot to think about, Whisper. Thank you. But…” She glanced out the window. “It’s getting late, and I do not believe I have anything else to tell you at this time. If I learn anything else, I will let you know.
Whisper stood up, expression unreadable. “Understood. Thank you for trusting me with this, Muse. Have a good night.” With that, Whisper stood and moved to hold the cloth partition open, then did so again with the wooden door, letting Muse out into the crisp night air.
Muse walked around the main path for a bit, trying to sort out her thoughts. In the distance, she could hear the chirping, hums, and warbles of a bug-type chorus. Though it wasn’t particularly late, most pokemon in the village had settled down for the night by now. Nocturnal pokemon tended to adjust to a daytime schedule in settlements as small as this one. Outside of special duties that needed to be done at night, like guard duty. Speaking of which, Vale seemed to be on duty right now; she spotted him pacing the perimeter of the village square with his head low. Not in the mood for small talk, she gave him a wide berth and made her way up the trail to the villa.
The large stone walls stood out against the night sky, a monolithic dark spot that blotted out the stars. Few structures in the village compared to its size, and even fewer were as sturdy. Only the temple and tavern could compare in size, and only the jail in security. Muse felt just a bit safer once inside.
The foyer was dark; only a single, dimly glowing luminous orb sat on a table and moonlight from outside provided any visibility. Muse carefully picked her way around furniture, heading for the ramp to the second floor, where Shimmer’s room was.
Before she could reach it, though, the creaking of wood and scent of blood caught her attention. She tensed, the burning sensation of her horn flaring up. Was the subject of her premonition already here? Shadowy wisps gathered around her claws as she prepared to strike, should the sound prove to be a threat.
“What are you doing?”
The accented, lilting voice caught her off guard, but made the attack dissipate. It did little to soothe her nerves, however.
“Miss Umbra?” she asked, blinking. Sure enough, the mawile moved into a shaft of moonlight, clear enough to see. Muse blinked. “What are you doing up so late?”
“I could say the same to you,” Umbra replied, passing by so close that they almost touched. “I do not believe it to be any of your business.”
Is she dodging the question? Combined with the scent of blood… No. Muse shook out her fur, trying to soother her nerves.
I’m over reacting. Jumping to the worst conclusions. Umbra had probably just injured herself. Or perhaps she had a raw meal. Perhaps not the safest option, given the chance of disease. But given what she’d seen of Nip’s eating habits, it would make sense. She didn’t want to think about the alternatives, from the tamest to the most severe. She went out of her way to
not think about those sorts of things, normally, and she didn’t care to start now.
“I went for a walk,” Muse finally explained. “Sorry for bothering you, Miss Umbra. I’ll be on my way.” Slipping back around the mawile, she crept down the hall, light on her feet. Her path took her first to Shimmer’s room, where she peeked inside. The kirlia was fast asleep, comfortably curled up in a pile of straw, covered by a blanket of wool. On most nights, Muse would join Shimmer — as she had been invited to do so at any time — but tonight she was hesitant. She needed time to think. Backing out of the room, she pulled the door shut with her teeth, then headed back towards her normal room in the servant quarters.
The rooms here were simpler, though not in a bad way. While certainly nothing like Jhorlo’s office, or even Shimmer’s room, there was still enough opulence that she lived comfortably. As she walked, her thoughts drifted back to her conversation with Whisper, then to Shimmer.
So caught up in her thoughts, her paw caught on something in the walkway. She stumbled forward, biting back a curse. Had one of the twins left something out? She turned back to investigate.
“…Muse? Is that you?”
A rustle of fabric followed Lotte’s voice. The purloin poked her head out from her own room. Her eyes were wide, and she crouched low to the ground as she looked around.
“It’s me,” Muse replied, shaking out her paw. “I just tripped on something.” She turned her attention back to the object. It was a small, rough hewn bag, smelling slightly of blood.
“Sorry about that,” Lotte said, creeping the rest of the way out to join Muse. “Jaques left it out here so that he doesn’t forget to clean it. Don't ask me why.”
“Did he go to Mandi’s shop today?”
Lotte tilted her head up and began to weave around Muse’s legs, tail high. “Well, of
course he did. Where else is he going to get lunch from? Why? Are you hungry?”
After a heartbeat of hesitation, Muse decided she didn’t want to answer that. She tensed and pulled away, prompting Lotte to back off with a lashing tail.
“Sorry,” Muse mumbled. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Lotte let out a long breath. “No, you don’t need to apologize. I should have asked first. I know we’re not as… close as we used to be.” She muttered something that Muse couldn’t quite catch, eyes flickering with wistfulness, then put on a forced cheerful expression. “But… I shouldn’t be dwelling on the past. How have you and Shimmer been? She… did say
yes, right?”
Muse’s eyes widened, caught off guard by the change in subject. She stuttered trying to come up with a response. “I-I. W-well…”
“Don’t tell me you still haven’t
confessed to her!” Lotte’s tail stuck up straight and her pupil’s dilated.
“Shh! Keep your voice down!” Muse glanced behind herself before continuing in a low voice, “I don’t need everyone knowing before I can bring up the courage to ask her out myself!”
“
Honestly, Muse, where has your confidence gone? You were never this shy when we were dating.” Lotte sat down and began to run her tongue over a paw before running it behind her ear. Muse averted her eyes, uncomfortable; watching another pokemon groom was kind of intimate. But they weren’t partners.
Not anymore, at least.
“You were the instigator, though.” Muse pointed out. “You asked
me out. This is different. Now
I have to be the one to ask Shimmer out. And besides —” she sat down heavily “— it’s not that simple. It’s my sworn duty to protect Shimmer. That dynamic makes it… difficult to just talk about my feelings. You and I were on equal footing. But I’m performing a job for Shimmer.”
“A job that requires you to share a room with her?” Lotte tilted her head. “Sounds like some normal boundaries are crossed, anyways.”
“That’s…”
“Look, Muse.” Lotte paused her grooming, looking at Muse with one eye. “I know we have… differing opinions about how things are run around here. You don’t like the secrecy that Jhorlo uses, but you stay out of his fur out of respect for what he did for you. Jaques and I are in a similar boat, but we directly
help him keep the village running smoothly where we can, even if that means getting our paws dirty. He gave us shelter when Mom disappeared, and I have to respect that.”
She hesitated, then continued. “I know those differences are a part of why we split. But despite all that, I’m trying to give you some solid advice here. You need to share your feelings with Shimmer before it eats you up inside. It’s already messing with you emotionally. You put on this stoic face to try and be strong or something, but you’re just hurting yourself in the process. You and Shimmer are already close. What’s the worst that could happen?
Muse’s claws dug into the wooden floorboards. She knew Lotte had a point, but at the same time… “She could say no, and it would lead to a schism in our friendship. Besides, she already has her sights on Toshi.”
“And does he reciprocate?”
Muse didn’t answer.
Lotte flicked her tail. “Well, whatever you decide, just don’t let yourself have regrets for staying silent.” She stood, heading back for her room, but paused halfway in. “And Muse… well, if you ever change your mind about… well…
us, or decide you have room in your heart for two girls, I’m right here.” With that, she disappeared into the darkness, leaving Muse alone with her swirling thoughts.
Umbra poured three buckets of warmed water into the stone basin of the washroom, threw in a few aromatic leaves, then lowered herself inside. She shuddered at the feeling of water in her thick fur, but it was a necessary evil. Over the last moon, she’d grown used to the regular schedule of washing away any traces of her hunting trips, but she still hadn’t grown used to the sensation.
Tonight’s hunting trip went well enough. She’d caught a raticate, then she and Vale had worked together to bring down a lopunny. Many mouths would be fed between the two of them, though they would never know the secret behind their food supply. The other carnivores thought themselves better than wildeners because they didn’t hunt, didn’t kill for their food. And though none said it, she was certain the few villagers she’d talked to thought themselves better than her because their culture allowed them to pretend they did not have to kill to live. But they were all fools.
She scrubbed at her fur for a while, until she was sure there would be no lingering traces — sight or scent — of blood, then she stepped out and released a stopper in the basin, allowing the water to drain outside. As she looked herself over, she realized that the markings signifying her rank in the tribe had completely faded away. A frown crossed her maw. During her travels, she’d always made sure to keep them fresh and visible, a statement of who she was. But she’d been kept so busy lately, she hadn’t had time to think about reapplying them. Let alone any real time to plan getting her claws on Nip.
Yveltal forgive me, she thought.
I swear I haven't forsaken you.
It did her no good to dwell on the sour thoughts right now, so she forced them away. After patting herself nearly dry with cloth, she returned everything to its rightful place and stepped back into the tunnel — no, the hall, if she remembered the term correctly.
“Ah, Umbra, there you are.”
One of the purrloin — Jaques, if she remembered correctly — was standing in the hallway, the tip of his tail twitching. He dipped his head in respect. “Just in time.”
Umbra groaned inwardly.
What now? But what she said was, “Did you need something?”
“Jhorlo asked me to fetch you. He wanted to speak with you. In private.”
Umbra’s pensive frown turned into a scowl. “Can it not wait until morning? I am tired after a long day of doing his work for him.”
Jaques was unfazed. “I am only telling you what he asked of me. You’re free to refuse, of course, but I would recommend against it. Jhorlo is benevolent, but he does have such a temper when things don’t go his way.”
“Is that a threat?”
“I wouldn’t dream of it! It is merely a warning.”
Umbra sized him up, having a feeling it was both. Jaques was lean and well-muscled, his pelt rippling with hidden strength. But it was clear to her that he’d never been in a real fight. And besides that, she had the elemental advantage. He was no different from Nip — if he did mean to harm her, she’d have no issues putting him in his place.
What came after could cause trouble, though. She had no allies here, no one coming to her defense. She couldn’t even put her trust in Vale, someone in a situation like her own. She snorted, her back jaw clenching to show her displeasure. “Fine. Take me to him.”
Together, they walked down the dark hallway, coming to a stop in front of the door she now knew was Jhorlo’s. Jaques nosed the door open before flicking his tail, gesturing for Umbra to step inside.
Jhorlo was already here. And, unsurprisingly, so was Vale. The manectric sat in one corner with his shoulders hunched, his gaze occasionally shifting between Jhorlo and herself. Umbra still smelled the faintest traces of blood. He’d obviously not cleaned up before this meeting. Probably not by choice. She suspected he was only here as a threat to her, to make it clear that a fight would not be tolerated.
She stopped in front of Jhorlo and turned to face him, staring with poorly disguised hatred. The purugly looked her over, then lifted one paw, claws glinting in the cold light as he gave it a nonchalant inspection. “Vale tells me your hunting went well.”
Umbra stiffened and stood up straighter, falling into old habits for a moment. “Yes. We were able to catch a—”
“That’s quite alright, no need to go on, my dear. He told me all about it.”
Did he really interrupt her? How infuriating. Her lip curled back to show her teeth, and she dug her claws into her palms, but she had the sense to hold her tongue. If things worked out the way she hoped they would, she’d find a way to get back at him. She and Vale had spent plenty of time together since Jhorlo had borrowed him to be her “guard.” From the way he talked, it was clear he held a similar level of resentment for the mayor. All she needed to do was wait for the right moment.
“That’s not why I called you here, regardless.”
Finally satisfied with his inspection, Jhorlo put his paw down and stared Umbra in the eye. “How long have you been with us now? It has to have been at least a moon, I feel.”
Umbra paused. How long
had it been? Several days had passed since that… false prophet — that was the only logical explanation she could come up with for the celebi’s strange, inconsistent behavior — had appeared. “That sounds right,” she answered carefully.
“Quite a bit of time, is it not? I expected you to have dealt with your problem by now.”
Was this some sort of joke? “Well, if you remember,
sir, your village chose to try and rehabilitate the problem I was supposed to solve. He is always busy, always kept under close watch. You have left me with few opportunities to get close, let alone deal with him.”
“Is that so? How unfortunate. You seemed much more clever than this, I thought.” Jhorlo cast her a pitying look, but she could tell from his eyes that he was getting some sort of enjoyment out of this. He knew he had set her up to fail, and he was enjoying mocking her.
He went back to inspecting his paws. “No matter. Continue to lollygag, for all I care. However.” He glanced back at her out of the corner of his eye. “You should do something soon, I suggest. I’m starting to hear… questions.”
“Questions?”
“Yes, yes. Questions about your reason for still being here. Questions about what you’re doing to earn your keep. When a pokemon does nothing but laze about all day, especially one that’s done little to get in the good graces of the village, they start to ask questions. I’ve given them some simple answers about how I gave you some time to get situated.” He flexed his claws. “But if you continue to do nothing to make yourself useful, especially in times like these, then I’m afraid I won’t be able to offer you protection for much longer.”
Not doing anything for the village? Umbra let out a low growl. “Half of your village would be starving, if not for me.”
“Would they? Or is that just what you say to make yourself feel better? We were getting on just fine before you arrived.”
“Then why is it so important I hunt for you, then?” Umbra demanded.
“Well, we have more mouths to feed now, thanks to your lot.”
“That’s your village’s fault.”
Jhorlo laid his head on his paws, looking down at her smugly. “No, it’s your fault for not getting your part of the bargain done. But I can’t exactly go telling everyone that, now can I?
So, if you want to keep staying here, I suggest you either take care of your problem, or make yourself useful. It would be unfortunate if you had to… disappear, wouldn’t it?”
Umbra’s temper flared. She took a step forward before remembering that Vale was in the room. With a deep breath, she glared at Jhorlo through narrowed eyes. “
Fine. I’ll figure something out.”
Grinning, Jhorlo sat up. “Good. You’re dismissed. You may leave as well, Vale. Go clean up.”
Umbra turned on one foot and stormed out the door, her jaws and fists clenched. She heard Vale race to catch up behind her, but did not acknowledge his presence at first.
Once they were far enough down the hall that Umbra felt they wouldn’t be overheard, she addressed Vale. “You did a whole lot of good, just sitting in the back there.”
Vale paused. Then he lowered his head and kept walking, his voice dipping into a snarl. “What did you expect me to do? Stand up for you? Fat lot of good that would do. All I’d do is make Jhorlo think we’re plotting against him.”
“We might as well be.”
“But you don’t want
him to know that. No, if you want a chance to get back at him
and take care of your own problem, you’re going to have to bide your time. Play by his rules until the opportunity presents itself.”
How long was she going to have to wait? She’d already been chasing Nip for
moons. When she agreed to leave the tribe to fix her mistake, she’d expected to be gone a moon at most. She hadn’t expected Nip to flee halfway across the land, and then hide behind the protection of the people he harmed like a coward. “I’m
tired of waiting,” she growled back, walking at a steady pace. “If the opportunity isn’t going to present itself, then we’re going to have to
create one.”
Vale paused before continuing to trot behind her. “Fair point. Listen. Tomorrow afternoon, we can discuss this somewhere more private. Does that sound reasonable?”
That was more like it. She stopped and turned around. “Deal. Do you have a place in mind?”
“Hm… Have you been to the tavern yet? They have some… private rooms where we could get a bite to eat and discuss over dinner. If you don’t mind running the risk of…
rumors… well, the only place more private I can think of is going out into the forest. And that’s likely to raise just as many questions.”
“Rumors?”
“Nothing that’s likely to get in our way.” He hesitated. “Come on, don’t make me spell it out. Villagers might think we’re…
doing things together.”
Oh. Gross. But not the worst thing that could happen. She crossed her arms. “Fine. I do not care what the villagers think of me. Once we’re done, I will be out of your fur.”
“Works for me. I suggest you get some sleep then. I’ll come get you for the usual routine tomorrow.”
With that, Vale stalked off down the hall, leaving Umbra alone to return to her room and plot.
