StolenMadWolf
Loony Moony
- Pronouns
- She/They
- Partners
-
POKÉMON MYSTERY DUNGEON
GUARDIANS OF BALANCE
EPISODE II – DARK, WONDEROUS PAST
CHAPTER XIV – PARTNERS
GUARDIANS OF BALANCE
EPISODE II – DARK, WONDEROUS PAST
CHAPTER XIV – PARTNERS
The three Pokémon worked their way through the forest, with the Sobble Kyra leading the way. She kept her eyes focused forward, moving through a trail that Sam could barely notice through the undergrowth. Both Kyra and the Grookey Denzel moved at a fair pace, forcing the Scorbunny to focus on keeping up rather than checking out his surroundings. He tried to spare a thought to the fate of his fellow Rescuers. He could only hope that they were either able to get away or were spared by the pirates.
And if the bodies in the grove were any indication, Calvin was at the most risk of the lot. He was a fire-type like him. Like them. He was a powerful one too, would they risk capturing him?
Sam had been lucky to have been thrown overboard, otherwise, he could have met the same fate as the other, if not at the hands of the pirates, then definitely at the hands of this Blackaxe character.
He squeezed his fists tight at the last words he heard before being tossed into the water. Greg sends his regards… the bandit leader who nearly killed him three separate times was not only alive, but he was with the pirates. There was no doubt about it. They must have recruited him after taking the Daywalker, and if some random pirate recognised him…
Do the pirates know who I am?
The Scorbunny fought off a shiver, if that was true, Sam had an even bigger target on his back. Who knows what Greg had said about him? What about Alice? Would they recognise her too?
He wanted to kick something hard, only the rapid pace of the two tribesmon stopping him from doing so. I need to try and find the others with the help of this tribe, then I can worry about the pirates.
Kyra slowed to a halt as they reached a fork in the grassy trail, the Sobble frowning as she inspected them. Denzel stopped next to her, rubbing the back of his head, "You can't be thinking about that shortcut right?"
"It would cut at least an hour, easy." Kyra replied, "And it's been checked before, all the traps were disarmed."
"Only the ones we could find!"
Biting his lip, Sam skidded to a halt next to them, "What shortcut?"
"It's an old ruin." Kyra explained, "Well, more like a tunnel. It cuts through some of the hills near here."
"And it's not often used." Denzel groaned softly, "It's not in the best condition."
Sam couldn't stop his ears twitching. A ruin, could it be the one they were looking for?
No… that's not what Squishy suggested. It was an Arcanum or something. But who knows what else they might have in there? Maybe there might be a clue to another ruin.
He felt himself shrug, Besides, a shortcut is a shortcut. As long as it doesn't come down on our heads, it's worth at least checking out.
"Well, if it gets us back to your village faster, I say we give it a try." Sam remarked.
"And why am I not surprised." Denzel uttered as he moved ahead, "Come on, I know a quicker way there."
The three Pokémon continued on their way, taking the left path. As they advanced, the grass gave way to beaten dirt and the trail widened. Denzel didn't move anywhere near as fast as Kyra did, but they still moved fast enough that it only took about ten minutes until they arrived. The trio emerged into a small clearing where a large, steep hill formed in front of them, covered in massive trees. But at the foot of the hill was a gaping hole, lined with stone bricks that almost reminded Sam of the temple at Waterfall Mountain, only that this brick was stained brown and green rather than the grey from before. The tunnel entrance was easily about eight feet tall and wide, more than able to accommodate all three Pokémon side by side.
However, the tunnel itself was completely unlit, leading into pitch blackness.
Pins and needles briefly flushed through Sam's arm at the sight, "Is… is there no quicker way?" he asked.
Denzel halted at the threshold of the tunnel, fidgeting with his feet. "Yes… it's not great, I know."
Kyra walked past the pair towards the side of the entrance, "It's not dangerous. Sure, only the rangers use it, but we've used it a couple of times before. Here."
She pulled a large stick out of a rusty basket by the tunnel, one end wrapped in a greasy material. "Sam, you don't mind?"
It took a couple of blinks before the Scorbunny realised what she was asking, "Oh, gotcha."
With a quick spark, the touch lit up, sending a flickering orange light down into the tunnel. Sam carefully took the touch from Kyra, and with a deep breath, the trio slowly walked inside.
The tunnel was silent save for the faint tap of their footsteps, not even the dripping of water or the whisper of wind. The walls themselves were remarkably bare as well and each time Sam felt his eyes flick towards them in search of some kind of marking, he instead found some crack or dent.
"This place looks old." Sam said aloud as they walked onwards, "The Wela Tribe found this place?"
"Our rangers did." Kyra explained, "They managed to get the booby traps disarmed only last year."
Sam felt a small quiver in his throat, "Booby traps?"
Kyra flashed a brief smirk, "Darts. Gravelrocks. Spikes. The usual."
I'm not even sure what counts as usual with these guys!
"We still have to be careful." Denzel replied. "There might still be some traps. You can't trust these old ruins."
Sam's ears pried further as he tilted his head aside, "You make that sound like there are others."
"There's a few of them scattered around the islands." Kyra said, "But the Tapus and Elders have declared them off limits."
"Off limits?"
She sighed softly, pausing for a moment before walking onwards, "I… never understood it. They have been around as far back as the Wela Chronicle goes, built by the 'Champions of the Gods'." She rolled her eyes at her words, "And so they didn't want us desecrating their works."
Sam chewed on his lip, he had no idea who these Tapus and Champions were, and he had a feeling that his guesses could be wrong. Maybe these Champions were just Guardians by another name?
"Even putting aside how significant the ruins are." Denzel replied, "We have no idea what kind of traps are in them."
The Scorbunny slowly nodded as a light appeared at the end of the tunnel. "I… If we get a chance… can we check them out?"
Kyra flashed a sly grin, "If you can help with Blackaxe's pirates, I'll be more than happy to show you. Keep the touch lit, we're only halfway through."
Reaching the end, the three emerged into a large square chamber with beams of light shining down from openings high up the three-story-high walls. At the very centre of the room was a large pit, taking up over half of what the floor itself should be, but still leaving enough floor to leave a comfortably wide ring around it. On the far side of the room was another tunnel entrance.
Sam whistled as he stepped forward, scanning the browning walls of the chamber. They were still bare, much to his disappointment, but even so, he couldn't help but be impressed with the actual structure. "Well… if this is just a shortcut, then the ruins should be quite the sight."
Denzel rubbed his hands together with a tiny smile, "At least from a distance." He started making his way towards the right, "Come on, it is best not to stay here for too long."
He started to follow, but the Scorbunny found himself gravitating towards the pit, unable to contain some morbid curiosity, if only to be distracted from everything that had happened.
That was when he heard a whisper, causing his ears to twitch.
That… that came from above…
"Don't step on that-!"
Sam's foot sank with a soft click.
FUC-
Something wrapped around his leg with a sharp whirl and whipped him off his feet. Sam yelped in shock, dropping the touch as his body raced towards the pit, "Sssssshhhitttt!!!"
"Sam!" Kyra barked.
His legs snapped up, and Sam's world spun upside down as he raced into the air. Only then did the loud ping echo as the rope finally ran out, leaving the Scorbunny dangling above the chamber. Groaning, Sam looked up to find him hanging half a meter below the ceiling, just below the reach of some old roots. His right leg was wrapped up in a tight rope, holding him in place.
"…tile."
Hanging just outside arms reach was Alice, the Buneary hanging upside down herself with her arms crossed.
Sam's heart threatened to burst out of his chest, "Alice!?" he exclaimed, "You made it off the Crow!"
"Only to get stuck here." She grumped with a bored tone.
"Sam! You dead!?" Denzel called out from below, looking up in alarm.
Wincing as the rope dug into his leg, "D-no! We're alright!"
"We?"
Alice looked down and slowly waved, "Heya.". She briefly looked back at him, "New friends of yours?"
"You can say that." Sam said before shouting back down as he motioned with his hands, "Alice, that's Denzel and Kyra, Denzel Kyra, Alice."
Kyra gazed up at the pair, "You came on Sam's boat?"
Alice merely shrugged, "One of our boats, yeah."
"You must have set off a leftover trap!" Denzel called out.
Sam and Alice shared a glance, before looking back down at the Grookey, "No shit." They jointly said.
At that moment, something dawned in the Scorbunny, "Wait a second… how long have you been up here?"
"About half an hour." Alice admitted.
He frowned, "Then why haven't you shook yourself loose?"
"Because of the spikes."
"Spik-"
Sam snapped his head back down towards the pit, where jutting up at the ceiling, he could see the smooth wooden spikes nestled at the bottom.
Directly below them.
"Ah shit…" Sam muttered, suddenly feeling a lump in his throat. "Err… Kyra? Denzel? Please tell me you know how to… you know, get us down?"
Denzel rubbed the back of his head, "I've heard of this trap before, j-just give me a sec!" He reached for the touch, only to recoil at the last moment from the flames. Sighing, Kyra scooped it up, "Just sit tight!" she shouted, "We'll get you down! Denzel?"
"Right, there should be a side passage with the releases." He uttered, as the two tribesmon jogged around to the other side of the pit, "We'll be right back!"
The two entered the second tunnel, leaving the two rabbits all alone.
Sam sighed softly as he gently swung in the air, Great… walked right into my first trap. But…
He looked towards Alice, her arms still crossed as she eyed the tunnel. He caused the rift between them in the first place the moment he held back on his human identity.
I… I need to make things right.
"I…" "I…"
Sam's mouth clamped shut, finding Alice was now staring at him with her mouth agape.
"Look-" "Look-"
Their mouths worked in unison before they cut themselves off, and suddenly feeling cold, Sam started to motion for her to start first, only for Alice to butt in first. "Go ahead."
Sam shook his head, "No, you-"
"Sam-" Alice started countering.
"I put you in this position," Sam replied, firmly holding his hand out to calm her. "You go first."
The Buneary blinked a couple of times, before she undid her arms, closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. "I'm sorry."
Sam's gut fluttered, "Huh?"
Alice's eyes flickered back open, "I… I'm sorry that I tore you down the way I did. I know what it's like to try and hide something about yourself…" her breath went shaky as she tried to continue. "I… I should have realised what you were going through. This mess… it's my fault."
"No Alice!" he exclaimed, shaking his head and instinctively reaching out with his hand for just a moment, "I'm to blame! I should have trusted you in the first place about me… of me…"
His words died in his throat, the Scorbunny's chest tightening.
"Being human?" Alice gently asked.
He slowly nodded, "Y-Yeah. That." Sam replied, pulling a reverse shrug, this was a good start, he needed to keep this up.
"I… I had no idea why I ended up here, with no idea of what this world was like. If I wasn't afraid of what would happen to me, I was afraid of what would happen to everyone else. When Jack blurted out about humans I…" he sighed, feeling himself tremble, "I just…. Thought I had an easy way to get answers. And after what happened I was… angry with myself as much as anyone else."
Alice listened intently to Sam's words before she continued. "I get that." She replied, "Really. I do."
She rested one paw against her shoulder, "You know what happened to my parents. The thing is ever since then I… never really had a lot of social contact."
Sam slowly nodded back at her, "Because of the curse nonsense, right?"
The damn curse. The theory that Alice had something to do with her parent's deaths during the Dark Matter Crisis. Something that had followed her wherever she went.
"Right." She replied, "Every time I ever got close to someone... someone else would reveal what happened and just drive them away. Forced me and my uncle to move on. So I stopped bothering trying to have friends and…"
Wiping her eyes, she forced herself to carry on, and Sam had to resist the urge to swing over to comfort her. "I… don't know how to have friends anymore. I don't know how to help people with stuff like that. I'm only really good at punching stuff."
Sam managed a weak smile, "Well, seems like we're both learning… social stuff…"
Alice half-snorted in amusement, "I suppose you're right there."
She focused her gaze on him, "Sam… you're the first person I've hung around with a lot since my uncle took me in. I… it took someone we know shouting at me to make me realise how much that's meant to me."
He nodded gently back, "I know the feeling. Someone told me the same thing."
"Even if we drove each other mad with our promises to keep ourselves in check?"
Sam tried to laugh, only for a cough to cut it short, "Y-Yeah! In hindsight… we shouldn't have tried to make that promise two days after we got given the Bronze Rank."
It had been a spur-of-the-moment thing; Alice had her temper towards others and Sam had his hot-blooded nature. They figured they could try holding each other's worse impulses back by promising to do something to the other if they fell into that habit. Alice started punching people, Sam would have her do something daft. If Sam started getting himself into trouble, she got to punch him out of it.
Alice returned a thin smile, "Probably not the most… mature thing we could have done."
"Well, we have a good excuse for it." Sam admitted.
The Buneary looked away for a moment, "How about we make a new promise?"
"Like what?" Sam asked, frowning.
She nodded at him, "No punches or pranks." She started, "Whenever we're alone or together… we keep in mind what the other will say. You keep my voice in your head… I'll keep yours in mine."
Sam chewed on that thought, It… does make sense. It's simple and… well. It wouldn't be too hard to keep each other's thoughts on hand. We know each other well enough there.
He returned the nod, "Alright." He said with a smile, "You've got a deal."
She reached out for him, and with a gentle swing of his body, he grasped her paw with his own. "Partners?" he asked warmly.
Her smile widened, "Partners."
On cue, they shook paws, and didn't let go.
Feeling a pleasant warmth in his chest, Sam looked back towards the ropes, "Well in case Kyra and Denzel can't find anything, any ideas? Could we try and grab the roots?"
"Already tried that." Alice admitted, "They're too fragile, and these ropes are pretty tight."
"Would be pretty hard to hang on." Sam realised. "Think your uncle would have given you a tip on how to get out of a spot like this?"
"Probably, but he hasn't told me yet." Alice replied with a bemused huff.
"You make it sound like he's a rescuer." Sam mused, tilting his head to get a better look at the rope wrapped around his leg.
"He is." Alice replied, "Wish he was here right now."
Sam grinned, trying to picture her uncle showing knots in front of a young Alice, "One of these days, you've gotta introduce us."
Alice chuckled, "You've already met him."
Stiffening, the Scorbunny frowned, "Eh? When? From walking round the tree?"
Her chuckle deepened, "How else did you think I was getting special practice sessions?"
"I don't fol-"
The realisation struck him in the gut harder than one of Kain's attacks.
"Shut. The fucking. Door!" Sam blurted out, "Rex is your uncle!?"
He found Alice returning a deviously smug smirk, "Yep."
Sam recoiled, nearly letting go of Alice's paw out of sheer shock, "Holy – how the hell did I not see that!?"
It was true! Special sessions, the way the Guildmaster interacted with Alice… the way she reacted when he quipped about her having a boyfriend doing said sessions, it was so damn obvious and he never realised!
"It just means the secrecy works." Alice replied, only for the smile to fade away, "Just don't tell anyone else. I don't need Rex to catch flak because he looks out for me. Even if Mum and Dad were his teammates."
He sharply nodded back, "No worries, I'll keep quiet on it. I just… didn't expect that."
Alice smirked again, "Alright, that's my second big secret… how about you share your… little fear?"
"Little fear?"
"You know, the one you've conveniently forgotten?"
The warmth vanished, a new lump forming in his throat as he looked back down towards the very distant floor and the spikes.
"Remember now?" Alice teased.
Shivering, Sam finally tore his eyes away with a growl, "Alright, fine! I'm afraid of heights! I admit it!"
For the first time, Alice giggled, and the sight of that alone forced the growl away and prompted a chuckle from the fire-type. "Haha… alright, that was kinda funny."
Wiping her eyes again, a serious expression formed on Alice's face, "Back on humans though… if you want to talk about that, I'm all ears."
"I will. There's a lot I've got to get off my chest since last time." Sam admitted, feeling relieved that Alice was willing to hear him out, "But first, let's focus on getting out of here."
"I can get behind that."
"Okay! We've got a plan!"
Across the way, in a freshly lit chamber that had been formerly hidden out of sight along the wall, Sam could make out the green form of Denzel, whereas back on the ground floor, Kyra was waiting for them. "We found the winch for the ropes!" she called up at them, "Denzel is going to lower you down and then you can swing across to me!"
It's a start! "Alright!" Sam shouted back, "We're ready!"
"Just take it slow!" Alice added.
"Ok!" Denzel replied, his form reaching towards what appeared to be some kind of wheel, "I'm going to start lowering yo-"
An enormous bang, accompanied by Denzel's surprised yelp, "Gods no!"
Before Sam could ask what was happening, that familiar whirl began to scream louder than ever. Sam could only look towards the wide-eyed Alice as he realised what was happening.
FUC-
The rope slackened, and the pair started falling… right for the spikes!
They could only scream as they rushed towards the pit, Sam's eyes squeezed shut. Dang it! Just as he and Alice were back on the same page, they were going to-
Wooden sticks snapped underneath him, seconds before they slammed into the barely cushioned floor with a puff of stale air. A pulse of pain ran through his body as he coughed. The hell!? I'm alive?
"Alice?" he cried out, wincing as he started to push himself up.
"I'm alright." She groaned, stirring in the corner of his vision. "What… what did we land on?"
"How… oh… oh…" Kyra uttered from above, "Now that makes sense."
Blinking, Sam finally sat himself up, expecting to find themselves amongst sharp stakes.
Instead, they sat amongst twigs from trees. As for what they were sat on, they were on some multicoloured cushioning.
No, cushioning marked with very detailed shapes.
An illusion.
Alice sat nearby, slowly looking on with a dumbfounded look on her face. "What kind of idiot puts in fake spikes?"
Above them, Kyra's head poked over the edge of the pit, "That's… a really good question." She glanced over her shoulder, "It is fine Denzel! Just get some rope!"
Sam turned back to Alice, still blinking at their surroundings with a blank look on her face.
Still wincing from the pain, Sam pulled a faint chuckle as he realised one tiny detail. "You know… we could have cut ourselves free ages ago, and we'd probably been fine."
The Buneary slowly turned towards him, still blinking.
She visibly swallowed.
Then squeezing her eyes shut, she started to snigger.
Then came the laughter as she flopped onto her back. Unable to hold his mouth shut, Sam started howling with her, feeling all the strength in him fade away as he slumped over.
For a moment, the worries about the pirates, the ruins, Guardians or just everything seemed to fade away, as Team Audacity laughed about the ridiculousness of the pit.
Again, as partners.
And so our heroic duo are finally back together again. It's been several chapters (and embarassingly several months), but it's finally happened. Stuff has been happening in real life, plus catching up with MoD and GoB and art projects hasn't helped. But either way, the chapter is complete again. I hope this serves as a nice short and sweet chapter that you guys can enjoy.