13. Consequences

Haru stumbled over her words as she tried to digest Shimmer’s statement. “What do you mean, it was intentional? Why would someone try to kill him?”

“There could be any number of reasons,” Whisper said, looking Tempest over with a grave expression. “Shimmer, did you get any other information? Do you know who did it, or why they wanted to… silence him?”

“I’m… not sure,” Shimmer began. “Everything was flashing so fast and-” She cut herself off, grunting as she brought a hand up to her head.

“Are you alright?” Muse asked, turning her head back to look at Shimmer.

“I-I’m fine. Really. Just the aftersh-shocks from withdrawing from his memory so fast. Just… give me a… mo…men…” Before she could finish, she suddenly pitched forward, going limp against Muse’s side.

“Shimmer!” Muse’s voice was tinged with panic. When she twisted around to check on Shimmer, the unconscious kirlia fell the rest of the way to the ground with a dull thud, motionless other than her breathing.

“Muse, please stay calm,” Anu said, standing up to approach her. “S-she probably just strained herself.” He shifted to help lift Shimmer up, raising one paw over her with his aura feelers waving before looking over to Whisper. Despite his reassuring words, Haru could tell that he was trembling, something she was sure Muse noticed, too. “Still, I think… Let’s take her upstairs to recover. Haru… ah… will you please fetch Lecha, just to be safe? You, um, you may be able to catch her. Before she gets back to her clinic.”

Haru replied with a grunt, turning to push her way out the door as her heart pounded against her chest. She’d heard stories of psychics overexerting themselves or being seriously harmed when a deep reading went wrong. Sometimes they didn’t wake up. And as much as she hated Shimmer, she would never wish that on her.

She reached the center of the square, looking around nervously. “Come on, Lecha, where are you?”

---

“How’s she doing, Lecha?”

“She’ll be fine. She strained herself when the connection was cut, but she’ll recover within the next day or two. You’re lucky it wasn’t worse than it is.”

“I’m fine, really. Stop worrying about me, everyone. Oh, this is so embarrassing. It’s just a headache.”

Once she had fetched Lecha, the flurry of activity that followed seemed to pass in a blur. First, she had been out in the village square trying to spot the aromatisse, but now she was seated on a cushion on the second floor of the guards’ hut, waiting for Lecha to finish tending to Shimmer.

Whisper had taken a seat in the corner of the room, drinking from a small bowl of water as she waited. Muse was much less relaxed, pacing back and forth, looking over Lecha’s shoulder any chance she got. Or she was, until the doctor had become frustrated with her and told her to back off. Now she was standing near the stairs, occasionally lifting one foot, then the other, as she anxiously waited for Lecha to finish. Amongst all the excitement, Haru felt that she probably shouldn’t be here; there really wasn’t any reason to be here now that Shimmer had been attended to.

Oh, who was she kidding? She knew she shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t have been here at all. But she couldn’t help it! Curiosity about Tempest had gotten the better of her. After all, she rationalized, whatever happened with him would have an effect on the village. And what happened in the village would have an effect on business, especially if word got out. Jhorlo would probably want to keep all this under wrap – who would want to visit or hire services from a village that was harboring an egg thief, after all?

Ok, they weren’t technically harboring him, they were rehabilitating him. But other villages would see it the same way, right?

“-be off now.”

Catching Lecha’s voice, Haru realized she had stopped paying attention at some point, getting lost in her own thoughts. Muse nearly knocked over both her and Lecha as she shoved past to get to Shimmer, nudging her back down as she tried to sit up, fretting over her in a way that reminded Haru of a concerned mother.

Lecha sounded like she was about to say something, giving Muse a hard look, but apparently thought better of it, chuckling and shaking her head before turning to leave, quietly heading down the stairs.

“Don’t worry us like that,” Muse said, carefully maneuvering herself so that she could rest her head beside Shimmer without poking her.

“I’m fine, Muse. Really. Look at me.” Then Shimmer paused to look around the room, confusion clouding her look. “Actually… how did I get up here, again?”

“I knew it. I’m going to get Lecha again. You’re still hurt.”

“Muse,” Whisper snapped from her corner, giving the absol a hard look. “She’s going to be fine. She just needs a little time to recover, understand? Just let her rest. It’s psychic strain.”

“But she’s never been strained like this before!” Muse insisted, her brow knit with worry.

Haru hummed in agreement. Even though she very much preferred the subdued way Shimmer was acting, she would be upset if something actually happened to her. Voicing her thoughts would be rude, though, so she held her tongue, instead addressing Muse’s worries. “She’s also never been in a situation where she would be strained like this, has she? You heard Lecha. Give her to tomorrow. If she’s not back to her… perky self by then, then you can worry about it.”

“I’m fine, really,” Shimmer said, reaching a hand up to pat Muse’s head. “Thank you for worrying about me. Now, um… please answer my question?”

“I helped Muse bring you up here,” Whisper explained, standing up. “You were falling in and out of alertness after you told us something about what you saw. We sent Haru after Lecha to make sure you were okay. Anu is still watching the prisoners.”

Shimmer took a long breath. “Ah, okay. So maybe we should talk about the big fluffy guy downstairs. What do we want to do about him?”

Whisper blinked. “Ah, shouldn’t you rest for a bit? I mean, we can wait for your father to get back-”

“I’ll be fine. Besides, what if business keeps him busy for a day or two? Do we want him to have to come back and deal with this mess?”

Whisper averted her gaze. “I… guess not. If you’re really certain you’re okay, you could start by telling us what you saw.”

As Shimmer sat up, Haru shifted so that she was more comfortable and could better pay attention. Prior to today, she’d never seen the resting area. It wasn’t very fancy; a couple of straw nests for beds and one big cushion bed – which is where Shimmer was laying – a low-laying table with cushion seats in the center, and a couple of chests full of equipment were the only furnishings.

She was brought back to reality by Muse’s voice. “Are you sure you’re up to this?” She asked quietly, nosing Shimmer’s shoulder. “We can wait, if you want.”

“No, it’s fine. Really. I’ll be fine. Just… give me a moment to recall things.” She took a deep breath, closing her eyes to concentrate. “Everything I saw was… really fragmented, and I’m not sure I remember everything. I don’t even know if everything was important. But I remember seeing… snow. A lot of snow. What else… Oh! I saw Nip when he was young. Tempest seemed very proud in that memory. And there was a memory with an old persian. You know, one of the grey ones with the chubby cheeks? He was asking Tempest why he was leaving, and he was all like ‘I lost everything’ or something. Seemed important but the details are fuzzy. And… there was another memory about Nip where he said something was fine but… I didn’t really understand that one. And of course, the one where he was attacked. That was the last one I saw.”

“So, he left somewhere – I’m assuming the group that he and Nip are from – on neutral terms at best? That’s definitely something to follow up on when I get Essra or her mother in here. Thank you, Shimmer.”

Haru listened quietly to the exchange up until that point. But when Whisper mentioned Essra, she couldn’t help but interrupt. “Wait, Essra? You don’t mean you’re going to send someone into his mind again, do you? Especially after what happened to Shimmer?”

“What choice do I have? He can’t speak to us. And asking yes and no questions will only give us part of the story. I either have to have someone dictate his directed thoughts – which is less dangerous but allows him to lie – or we have to dive into his mind again.”

“What about just having him write his answers down?” Haru suggested. “That way, you don’t have to invade his mind, but it would be just as reliable as reading his thoughts.”

Whisper hesitated. “That’s… I don’t think that would work, Haru. Most wildeners don’t have a writing system. We can’t rely on the idea that Nip and Tempest can write. Besides, that poses the same reliability issue as thought reading.”

“But it’s worth a shot, isn’t it?” Haru continued stubbornly.

“She… may have a point,” Muse pointed out quietly. “Even if it doesn’t work, isn’t it worth a shot, so no one else gets hurt?”

Whisper looked the three of them over, and Haru could tell she was thinking about it. A frustrated look crossed her face, then she let out a huff. “Fine. We’ll try it. But if it doesn’t work, we’re going back to my plan.”

She retreated to one of the chests in the corner of the room, shuffling through it until she found parchment, a small bowl, and a small jar of ink. Holding all of them in her hands, she headed towards the ramp down, but paused there.

“What are you waiting for?” Haru asked.

“Oh, that’s easy,” Shimmer replied. Haru glanced back, noting that the kirlia was on her feet, trying to climb onto Muse’s back. “She’s thinking about what she’s going to have to do about Tempest,”

Whisper narrowed her eyes. “Are you reading my mind now?”

“What? No, of course not! You’d feel it if I was. It’s just super obvious. We don’t have the means to keep someone captive long period, so you’ll have to make some decisions over how to handle Tempest after my dad gets back.”

The hawlucha blinked a couple times, looking Shimmer over. “I… didn’t expect that out of you. Is it really that obvious?”

Muse glanced to Shimmer before saying, “it kind of is, yeah.”

“Couldn’t we just handle things the way we’re handling Nip?” Haru asked.

“It’s… more complex than that. If he’s friendly towards Nip, then letting him stay, even under supervision, could run the risk of him helping Nip escape. He could pull a stunt like Nip did as well. And I still don’t trust Umbra, for that matter.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about Umbra,” Shimmer said. “Muse and I are keeping a verrry close eye on her.”

Haru was blunt. “That’s… not reassuring. Where is she right now?”

Before Shimmer could say anything that certainly would have given Haru a headache, Whisper stepped in. “Can we please move on? Look. I don’t know what I’m going to do yet. I’ll have to discuss it with Jhorlo and the other guards, and then bring it up to the village. But I swear, I will not let any of them hurt anyone else, understand?”

Silence fell across the room as Whisper’s heavy words hung in the air. After a moment, Shimmer broke the silence.

“Come on, we’re wasting daylight, aren’t we?”

Whisper let out a grunt before turning to head down the ramp, her talons clicking on the wooden surface. Haru headed down afterward, hearing Muse question Shimmers health before following.

Shimmer, perky as always, cheerfully let her know that she was absolutely fine, draping dramatically across her back.

Anu was in the exact same position he had been when she had first gone up to the second floor, sitting cross-legged in front of Tempest’s cell, his head bowed, and eyes closed. His aura feelers hovered and trembled just a bit, making her assume that he was reading the room. He let out a grunt, acknowledging their arrival.

Nip and Tempest, however, had moved. The ninetales was laying on his stomach against the cell bars, his nose poking out into the gap between his and Nip’s cell – a space about as wide as Haru was long – as he stared down the sneasel. Nip was also near the gap, laying on his stomach with his head resting on his arms, staring back at Tempest. His tail and ear feathers drooped, suggesting wariness.

As they approached, Haru noted the odd expression – confliction, she assumed – on Tempest’s face. What it meant, she wasn’t sure. But if anyone else noticed it, they said nothing.

Whisper came to a stop just in front of Tempest’s cell and cleared her throat, drawing the two prisoner’s attention and jolting Anu out of his meditation.

The lucario looked around the room, settling his gaze on Shimmer. “Ah, Shimmer. You seem weak, but I’m glad to see that you’re okay. You had us all worried.”

Shimmer waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about me! I just needed a moment.” Yet, Haru could see how tightly she was gripping Muse’s coat, and how she slightly leaned forward to stay balanced.

“Ah, right, of course.” He turned his gaze to Whisper. “Nothing has happened since you left. They moved, but otherwise things have been totally calm.”

Whisper gave a grunt of acknowledgement as she passed him to stand in front of Tempest’s cell. “Good. We can work out the details of how to handle judgement for his attack when Jhorlo returns, but for now…”

She turned her attention to Tempest, looking him over with narrowed eyes. “Alright, ninetales. First, I will… apologize for the invasive method of obtaining information. But the fact of the matter is we don’t know if we can trust a word you say. We’re going to give you a chance to give us an honest answer now. But choose your words carefully, because if you lie, we won’t hesitate to turn you over to the enforcers for proper punishment.”

Through the bars, she pushed the parchment, laying it out on the floor. After pausing to unstop the jar and pour a small amount of ink into the bowl, she passed that through, too. “Why are you here? What are your intentions? And we need to know how you were injured, as that seems to be… relevant, from what we gathered.”

Tempest stared for a few heartbeats, looking first to Nip, then back to Whisper. Then he dragged himself to his feet, standing tall with his tails fanned out. The air grew chilly, and Haru instinctually shrank back at the threat display, poised to flee. She forced herself to appear relaxed a second later, realizing that no one else seemed fazed.

Whisper, in particular, was completely unperturbed. “We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. You can write your answers down there, we can have a psychic read your mind and translate, or, if you refuse to cooperate, we’ll have them dive into your mind again. And I guarantee the next one won’t be so easy to expel.”

For what felt like an agonizingly long time, Tempest stood dangerously still, the tips of his tails twitching as frost formed on the ground around his feet. But finally, he bowed his head, closed his eyes, and took a couple steps back before sitting down. Pawing at the parchment, he pulled it closer before placing a paw in the ink.

Haru swelled with pride, giving herself a mental pat on the back. Her idea was really working! She watched intently as he drew his paw across the parchment to make a thick black streak.

That’s odd, she thought, faltering. the orientation is all wrong. Is he going to write sideways?

It quickly became obvious that was not the case. Instead of the standard series of dots and lines that made up the written language Haru knew, he drew three sides of a square, leaving the bottom open and placing a dot in the middle. He followed that up by triangular shape, and then two quick parallel diagonal lines.

Haru stared down at the glyphs, her expression blank. “What’s… what’s that supposed to mean? That’s not… that’s not words.”

Someone scoffed. Haru looked up and caught sight of Nip staring at her. He quickly averted his gaze, turning his head to look at the back wall. Then he sat up, scratching behind his ear before turning his attention to the parchment.

“That first set of lines clearly represents the concept of safety. Protection from attack on most sides, like a sensible den. A triangle with equal sides like that can stand for help or caution. And the two lines can mean hunting or seeking. It’s a universal territorial marker. Simple, really. What were you expecting?”

Whether he meant it or not, Nip’s tone was harsh and sounded almost accusatory, reminding her of the way he’d sounded during their argument the night before. Admittedly, she sounded that way too, but she at least had good reason, right? Was he still mad? Well that was just fine. She had been harsh, but she had the right to be, didn’t she?

“Well it was the best solution,” she defended. “I just thought–”

“Thought what? That we’d use the same symbols?” Nip let out a frustrated growl, cutting her off. “You’re making assumptions again. Assuming a pokemon you’ve never met is good. Assuming that they think the same way you do, and that the way you look at things is the right way. No wonder you’re so naive.”

Haru felt an uncomfortable pit forming in her stomach, which quickly flared into fiery anger. “Excuse me?” She squeaked, marching towards Nip’s cell. “How dare you. We saved your life and you repaid us by taking one! Maybe I did make some assumptions. At least I’m not a terrible pokemon that takes advantage of others kindness. No wonder you–”

Before she could finish her sentence, she felt paws grip her sides and drag her back. She let out a surprised squeal and instinctively struggled as Anu pulled her further away. Whisper stepped between her and the cell, banging a wing against the bars. “Will both of you shut up!”

It took Haru a second to recover after the loud bang. She looked back to the cell and saw that Nip had scrambled backwards away from Whisper, his fur fluffed up and his pupils mere slivers. His breathing had turned rapid and shallow.

“Both of you, stop,” the hawlucha growled, crossing her wings as she backed off. “I do not have time for petty squabbling like this. And–” she cut off, her eyes flickering to something behind Haru. Turning to look back, Shimmer was visibly swaying, steadying herself on Muse with one arm and holding her head with the other. “Too much. Too strong emotions,” Shimmer mumbled.

Whisper took a deep breath and turned to Nip. “You need to watch your tongue, sneasel. Remember, you’re only here because the village is giving you a chance to prove that you’re going to change. But this? Heckling other pokemon does not sound very remorseful, now does it?”

Nip, having calmed down a bit, averted his gaze, mumbling what might have been a half-hearted apology. Haru let out a satisfied huff. But before she could get too proud of herself, Whisper turned on her next. “And you, Haru. You’re not helping the situation.”

“What did I do wrong?” Haru asked incredulously.

“You’re antagonizing him.”

“He antagonized me!”

“I know. But you need to be the bigger mon and ignore him. If you can’t do that, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. I don’t need a petty argument getting in the way of the investigation. Nor do I need our emotions to overwhelm Shimmer and make her pass out again. You can get the details later when we bring things up with the rest of the village.”

“But–”

“No buts!” Whisper stared Haru down with a narrowed gaze. “If you really want to help, then you can go fetch Essra. Or better yet, Phoel. Tell her to come over here. Looks like we’re going to need a psychic after all. And when you’re done, don’t come back.”

Haru sputtered. Maybe she shouldn’t be here but… how did this not concern her? She helped bring Nip here in the first place. “But I–”

“This isn’t negotiable. As head guard, this is an order, Haru. Leave.”

Haru turned to look at Shimmer and Muse, hoping they would come to her defense. But Shimmer was looking pallid, and Muse was too preoccupied with fretting over her to even notice Haru’s gaze. Sensing this was a fight she couldn’t win, Haru finally turned towards the door, a dark expression on her face.

“Fine,” she grumbled, making her way towards the exit. She could see when she wasn’t wanted.

---

The sun beat down on Haru, heating her fur as she trudged across the square. Knowing where Phoel would be, she made her way towards a stand near the center with a cloth canopy draped over it. Underneath, a bored looking meowstic sat, her head propped up by one paw while the other tapped away on the wooden surface. Next to her, on a perch, sat a pidove, but he took off before Haru got too close. Off to deliver a message, she suspected. Surprisingly, there was one other pokemon there: Toshi.

Haru called out a greeting as she got closer, causing Toshi to nearly jump in surprise. “Haru? What are you doing here?”

“Whisper sent me to fetch Phoel. Said she needs the help of a psychic to deal with the ninetales. You heard about what happened, right?”

Toshi shuddered. “Yeah, heard he managed to rough Romi up pretty good. It feels like we can’t go even a few days without something wild happening lately, huh?”

Haru hummed in response before turning her attention to the meowstic. “Good afternoon, Miss Phoel. You heard me, right?”

“Loud an’ clear, boss,” Phoel said, waving a paw. “Gonna have to wait a minute though, dear. I’m waiting to hear back news from Brinash town. Heard the Expedition Society is gearing up for something, but I’m trying to find out what.”

“Brinash Town?” Haru asked, tilting her head to the side. “Why are you asking about them? That’s several days journey from here.”

“Well, it is one of the biggest and oldest towns around,” Toshi pointed out. He lifted a foot to paw sheepishly at his muzzle. “But to be more specific, I, ah, asked her to. I’ve been… well, I’ve been trying to listen for news about apprenticeship openings at the society.”

Haru blinked a couple times. “Openings? Don’t tell me you’re planning on leaving?”

“Not anytime soon!” Toshi said quickly. “I mean, well, if openings came up soon, then maybe. But they’re not really accepting newbies right now. Society head Blue is currently out on business. Apparently, he’s working on passing through the Great Misty Ravine dungeon and establishing a base on the other side! Isn’t that cool? We’ll finally be able to explore the rest of the continent and find out just what lies beyond.”

“I mean… I guess it’s neat… but we have three whole pokemon right here that passed through there, you know. Nip, Umbra, and now that ninetales. Tempest, I think Nip called him?”

Toshi’s face scrunched up as he considered her words. “I mean, I guess. But… that still doesn’t change the fact that there’s still so much we don’t know. Doesn’t that excite you?”

“I prefer to stay grounded,” Haru replied. Why should I waste my time on something that’s several cycles away from being relevant to me?”

“Are… you alright? You seem like you’re in a bit of a bad mood.”

“Whisper made me leave because I was ‘antagonizing Nip,’ or something. Like, yeah, I got mad and started to gripe at him, but he started it! He was the one that insulted me! I think he’s just still mad about what happened last night.”

“What… what happened last night? You were out kind of late.”

“Oh, it was awful. I was feeling kind of torn up about the situation with Nip. You know, because I’m kinda a little bit responsible for helping bring him here. So, I decided to confront him directly and see if I could get a better answer than what he gave publicly. I mean, I actually spent some time with him, after all, so I was hoping that he would consider me trustworthy or something, I don’t know. But he just spewed the same sob-story he told the rest of the village, like we’re supposed to pity him for what might have Umbra done to him, despite what he did to us. If that even happened!”

“I mean… Umbra didn’t deny it, did she?” Toshi pointed out quietly. But Haru didn’t acknowledge him, too deep into her rant.

“He convinced himself that he’s safe from her hiding in that jail cell. I don’t think he’s considering changing his ways at all. I think he’s just using it for protection. If Umbra wasn’t here, he’d probably attack whoever was guarding him and try to run away.”

“Uh… sis?”

“Well, he started getting really angry when I pointed that out, so I reminded him that he needed to watch himself, or else they might change their mind and redo his judgement. I also pointed out that I didn’t really have a reason to trust his story.”

“You said what?”

“And I think he’s still kind of mad about that, so he tried to goad me. Sorry, what were you saying?”

Toshi blinked, looking his sister over. “Um… Haru? You kind of were antagonizing him.”

“He antagonized me first, I went over this already.”

“No, I mean last night. Were you trying to upset him? I mean, you literally told him that you thought he was lying.”

Haru blinked. What was he getting at? “What? No, I wasn’t trying to upset him. I was just being truthful.”

Toshi sucked in a breath, anxiously dragging a paw across the ground. “Well… you were kind of insensitive. I guess. So, can you really blame him for getting upset?”

“Insensitive?” Haru tilted her head. “Even if I was trying to be insensitive, why should I spare his feelings?”

“I get that but. Didn’t you notice how scared he was of Umbra. Don’t you think his story might have had just a bit of truth to it?”

Haru averted her gaze for a second, uncertainty clouding her mind. Then she reminded herself of how cowardly he’d been, and how low he was willing to stoop. “I mean… he was probably just putting on a show. And even if he wasn’t, why should I be nice to him? He hurt our village, Toshi. And he hurt his tribe too. He had a second chance in us, and he blew it. We should have turned him over to the enforcers and been done with the situation. Or maybe we should have turned him over to Umbra, I don’t know.”

Toshi’s mouth dropped open. “You… you don’t mean that, do you?”

“I mean, it’s not ideal, but we’re just wasting our time with him, don’t you think? I mean, has he shown any interest in changing? Or is he just going to turn around and go hurt more pokemon the moment we say he’s free to go?”

Shifting his weight anxiously, Toshi turned to look elsewhere. “It’s only been a few days, Haru. Give him time. Wouldn’t you want others to give you the same courtesy if you wronged them?”

A beat of hesitation. “Sure, but why would I ever need that? It’s not like I’m going to go out and kill someone for food, or steal someone’s egg.”

His gaze dropped to the ground. “It… doesn’t have to necessarily be that… You kinda wronged Nip, didn’t you? Maybe I’m just being a bleeding heart but… You told him that you don’t believe Umbra hurt him. Don’t you think that’s something pretty personal to open up about?”

“Is that what this is about? Toshi, he’s given me no good reason to believe him!”

“But Umbra didn’t deny it either, remember? What if he wasn’t lying? Think about how rude it would be to say that to his face. What if I were to tell you that I didn’t believe you were swept downstream as a kid when you told me why it took so long for you to start swimming in the river? How would that make you feel?”

Haru opened her mouth and raised a paw as she started to respond, but hesitated, putting her paw back down and closing her mouth as she thought it over. “I would feel crummy, sure. But… no one’s forced to believe me if they don’t want to.”

Toshi dropped his gaze. “What about when you get into arguments with Dad?”

Arguments with Dad? Oh, right. Arguments about Regigigas, she guessed. “What about those?”

“Well… you’re kind of wronging him, in a way, aren’t you? Every time he brings Regigigas up lately, you get in an argument with him. Don’t you think it’s a little abrasive to just brush his feelings off like that?”

Haru didn’t like where this was going. “What’s so wrong with feeling like pokemon rely too much on gods that either don’t care about them or never existed at all?”

“Nothing!” Toshi said quickly. “But… you’re always picking a fight over it. Don’t you think it would be better to just, I don’t know, let things be? You’re not going to change his mind by insulting him – or anyone else for that matter.  You know how Dad feels about the stories about Regigigas, so why do you keep antagonizing him over it?”

“Letting things be is kinda why Shimmer is still chasing after you, isn’t it? Besides, I just think he’s not thinking clearly! Maybe if he started putting his faith in other pokemon that are around him instead of a ‘god’ that has done nothing for him, he’d stop running himself ragged!”

Toshi shifted uncomfortably. “Is that what all this is about? This isn’t even about Dad. Or not just about dad, is it? This is about Grandpa Catkin, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Haru said quickly, but Toshi wasn’t paying attention anymore.

“All this time, I thought you were just doing all this for the sake of being contrary. But… no, you’re holding a grudge. You’re still upset that Grandpa died trying to find ‘Gigas, aren’t you?

A pit started to form in Haru’s stomach. She turned her head away. “That’s… That’s not true! I just think it’s foolish to put faith in a pokemon that does nothing to help anyone.”

“But Regigias has helped in a way, hasn’t he? He’s helped dad stay strong all these years. At least, that’s how I understand it?”

“Even if you were right, grandpa wouldn’t be dead if it weren’t for ‘Gigas,” Haru argued. “Why are you so quick to defend a pokemon you’ve never met? Why are you so quick to defend Nip, for that matter, when all he’s done is hurt us?”

“But he did help us. Back in the woods, remember?”

“Um… could you two have this discussion somewhere else, please?”

Haru and Toshi turned their attention to Phoel, who was staring at them with her claws digging into the wood.

“Psychic couriership takes a lot of focus and energy. I don’t need these kind of distractions when I’m trying to work.”

Both bidoof shifted uncomfortably, averting their gazes as they muttered some sort of apology.

Satisfied, Phoel let out a huff. “Now, I need to go help Whisper. But before I go, I heard back from the network, Toshi. Whatever is going on at the society is under tight wraps. From the sound of things, even the exploration teams only have details on a need to know basis. Sorry I couldn’t help you more.”

Toshi shifted his gaze to avoid looking at Haru. “Ah… thanks, Phoel. I appreciate it, really. Though… that’s really weird. Blue is well known for being very candid about what’s going on at the society…”

Phoel raised her arms, so that her paws were up in front of her. “I don’t know what the deal is, boss, I just deliver the news.”

“I know. Thanks anyways.” He turned back to look at Haru. “I should probably get back to work. Shouldn’t you, too?”

Toshi was right. The sun was just starting to descend in the sky; Haru’s lunch break had gone way longer than planned, with all the excitement. What did she have to show for it? Whisper was angry with her, and Toshi was obviously uncomfortable with how their conversation had gone.

“Yeah, you’re right,” she said quietly. “See you at dinner?”

“Mhm.”

Unnerved by his noncommittal response, but unwilling to push the matter further, Haru turned and began to trudge towards the edge of the square, making her way back towards home, before veering instead to the upstream path, towards where they felled trees. Toshi would be heading home to work on debarking, and she wasn’t totally sure she wanted to see him, still upset by his accusations. Maybe felling a tree would help her calm down.

Still, as she passed a field of berries on her left, the sparse village homes behind her now, she couldn’t help but dwell on his comments.

Was she really in the wrong here? Was she really being that much of an asshole? She really, honestly felt like she wasn’t.

But some lingering uncomfortable feeling in her gut told her she couldn’t be sure.

---

Things were quiet after Whisper had sent Haru away. Anu, after briefly exchanging words with Shimmer and Muse, excused himself, returning to his duties attending to Regigigas’ shrine. He gave his mate a reassuring pat on the shoulder as he passed.

Muse had managed to convince Shimmer to lay back down for a while and headed upstairs, where they would wait until Phoel or Essra arrived.

Leaving Whisper alone in the room with Nip and his possible ally.

She silently stared at Tempest for some time, scrutinizing his every detail. But eventually, she averted her gaze, nervously running her claws through the feathers on the side of her head.

Quietly, so silent that even pokemon like Nip and Tempest had to strain to hear, she mumbled, “titans, what have we gotten into…”

She turned away for a moment. But a scuffling sound made her whip her head back around. Nip had begun to scoot closer to the bars separating him from Tempest. But as soon as Whisper was looking at him again, he froze, his pupils wide as he stared back. She continued to stare for several seconds, then turned away again. Running her claws through her feathers again, she plucked one, winced, then slowly lowered her wing.

“Why did I ever agree to take on this position… I thought I left all this kind of trouble behind when I settled here… Darn it, I’m not prepared for this! Gods, Volt, why’d you have to go and die on us? And Leas, why’d she have to up and disappear? She was a great leader. Better than me…”

Her gaze drifted to the parchment, and the useless marks on it. Stupid! She knew that it was a pointless endeavor, trying to communicate with writing. And yet, she’d wasted her time with it anyways. How could she be so stupid?

She plucked another feather. Where was Phoel? Surely, Haru should have been able to get her by now?

A low, growl-like noise rumbled in her throat as she looked up to make eye contact with Tempest. But he was too busy staring at Nip to notice, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Hey!” she snapped, drawing his attention. “While we wait for the psychic to arrive, I suppose I’ll gather some cursory information with yes or no answers.” She began to walk, light on her feet, towards Tempest’s cell, stopping just in front of him at attention. “Now, I want you to bow your head if the answer is yes. Understand?”

She waited for him to perform the action before continuing. “Glad we got that settled. So, to start off… How much do you know about Nip? Do you know why he left the tribe?”

Tempest lowered his head.

“Then you likely know about the accusations that the mawile, Umbra, made?” Tempest’s lip curled into a soundless snarl at the mention of the name, and Whisper could feel the air growing cold again, but ignored it for the moment. “You know about what happened to the eggs in your nursery? Before you answer, I should mention that Nip here did not deny those accusations. In fact, he even explained his reasons for doing so. Horrible reasons, I might add.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Nip springing to his feet, fur bristling. He opened his mouth to say something, but only the slightest of sounds escaped before he caught himself.

The air grew more frigid. But then Tempest glanced over to Nip and hesitated. In the end, he bowed his head again.

“So, did you follow him here to help him?”

He bowed his head. Whisper sucked in a sharp breath.

“Why? Why would you help him after everything he did to your tribe? Do you have any idea what he did to ours? To our village? Do you have any idea how cruel he is? Why don’t you tell him, Nip? Tell him what you did to us.”

She turned her attention to watch as the sneasel stood frozen, his eyes narrowing to slits. His ear and tail feathers drooped, and he said nothing. Huh, so he could feel shame for his actions. It almost made her feel pity for him. Almost.

But he didn’t speak, so she scoffed and turned her head. “Well, since he is unwilling to answer, I will. Nip was found left for dead in the woods. A few of us villagers rescued him, bringing him back here to recover. But do you know how he repaid our kindness? By stealing and eating one of our eggs.”

Tempest stared at her for a moment, his gaze scrutinizing, as if trying to figure out if she was being truthful. Then he turned his attention to Nip. When Nip refused to meet his gaze, his tails drooped, and he laid down in the cell. What he was feeling, she was uncertain. Nip turned and sat with his back to Tempest. Something about that really ticked her off.

“So, now do you feel guilt?” Whisper asked Nip, looking him over. “Do you wish you could go back and change things? It’s a little late for that! Even if you really make a change to be a better mon, you can’t change what you did here, and there are going to be mon that will never accept you for that. Do you get that? Do you really feel remorse? Or do you just regret getting caught?”

“Whisper? Is everything okay?”

Whisper let out a gasp, whirling around to the ramp upstairs. Muse was standing at the top, looking her over with a worried expression. Whisper averted her gaze. “Sorry… Was I that loud?”

“Loud and clear,” Muse confirmed.

“I’m sorry. I just… this is all very personal. I… really shouldn’t be in charge of this whole operation, but… I don’t trust many others to handle things fairly.  Anu is in the same situation as I am. Romi and Siles don’t have time to be involved in overseeing this. I don’t trust Vale and Stati to take care of things fairly.”

Muse dipped her head. “I understand. Really, I do. But maybe you need to step away for a moment? Go rest. I’ll watch them.”

“No. Phoel should be here any time now. I need to get this over with as soon as possible.”

“It’s a good thing I’m here, then.”

Whisper groaned, turning to spot the meowstic in the doorway. Oh, gods, had she heard that entire outburst, too? “Sorry you had to hear that.”

“Don’t worry about it, boss. We all know you’re going through a tough time.” The meowstic lightly padded forward, reaching up to place a paw on Whisper’s side. “Sorry for the delay. I was waiting on a message. So, what did you need me for?”

Whisper turned her head and tilted it upwards, gesturing in the direction of Tempest. “Simple mindreading, hopefully. He can’t talk, so I want you to translate his thoughts. If he’s uncooperative though… I might need you to go a bit deeper. Is that alright?”

Phoel shifted uncomfortably. “I haven’t done anything like that in years, so I may be a little rusty but… If you need me to…”

“I really do,” Whisper confirmed.

“Got it. Leave this to me.” Silently, Phoel padded over to sit in front of Tempest, taking a seat on the floor. She took several deep breaths, bringing her forepaws in front of her as a gentle glow escaped from her eyes.

“I’ve made contact,” she reported. “He’s quite insistent that I leave him alone, though.”

Whisper turned back to Tempest. “Well, if he doesn’t want to risk the damage of a deeper dive, he better be honest, then.” She directed her attention to the ninetales. “We’ll make this quick. Are you planning to help Nip? Especially now that you know what he’s done here.”

A moment of silence passed. Phoel frowned. “He says ‘I sincerely apologize on behalf of my… my student. He suffered much in the past and made poor decisions as a result.’”

Was he serious? Whisper clenched and unclenched her claws. “Sorry doesn’t cut it here. This isn’t just petty theft. This is murder. He came here and he needed to follow our laws, and he should consider himself lucky to be alive.”

There was a long pause. Phoel hesitated when she next spoke. “’Can he really be held to those laws if he did not know them?’”

“It’s common sense!” Whisper snapped. “You don’t kill the ‘mon that saved you!”

An uncomfortable silence followed. Tempest said nothing more. Or at least, Phoel did not pass on any more information.

Whisper let out a long breath. “Next question. Why did you attack Romi – the rapidash – why did you attack her when you came into town?”

“’She wouldn’t let me by.’”

“She wouldn’t let you- that’s it? That’s your reasoning?”

“’Yes. She wouldn’t let me by, so I used a show of strength to make her let me by.’”

Closing her eyes, Whisper brought a claw up to scratch at her beak. She could feel a migraine coming on. “Okay. Fine. Whatever. So if that’s the case, why did you try to come into town in the first place?”

“I’m paraphrasing his… colorful language here, but he says he was tracking Umbra. He followed an old scent into town. Smelled Nip when he got close.”

Well, that explained something, though Whisper was shocked by how well he’d managed to track a scent. She was quite certain Umbra hadn’t left Jhorlo’s in several days. Let alone town. “You attacked someone to get into a village, on the off chance that Umbra might be here? That’s rather… impulsive. You could have told her why you were trying to get into the village and she might have let you pass.”

“Um, Whisper,” Muse said quietly as she crept down the ramp. “I hate to be that mon, but… he kind of couldn’t. Couldn’t speak.”

Oh, right. She really wasn’t thinking straight right now. She let out a long breath. “Fine. Just… one more question then. How were you injured.”

“It was Umbra, obviously,” Nip grumbled under his breath.

Whsiper whirled around to glare at him. “I don’t remember asking you.”

“Well, for what it’s worth,” Phoel began, “the big guy says it wouldn’t surprise him if it was Umbra. But… He doesn’t know for sure. Everything happened so fast, he didn’t get a good look at his attacker. He is certain that it was a member of the tribe, though. He remembers the smell.”

How could he not– Whisper cut off herself off. “I see… Thank you. We will… keep all of these claims in mind as we look into how to handle this precarious situation. I believe that will be all.”

Tempest stared at Nip for a long moment before his next thought was translated. “He says…’Due to the… to the nature of what has happened here, I will defer to your judgement, so long as no more harm comes to either of us. I should have done more to help Nip before things reached this point. I’m sorry. But I will not leave, even if you ask me to. I have no reason to return to the Half-Moon Tribe. I was always an outsider, even before all this, there is nothing for me there anymore.’”

Whisper had begun to walk away, but once Phoel spoke again, she paused. “You… would not leave? Even under threat of death?”

“’Nip is the only of my kin I have left. Or rather, the only one I still hold any affection for. I will not leave him again.’”

Whisper looked Tempest over, judging his conviction. “Very well. I will trust your claim. I have to wait until our Mayor, Jhorlo returns before judgement can be passed, and will keep you here until then. But I promise no harm shall come to you until then.”

“You have my thanks, Whisper.”

Whisper plucked a feather. “I’ve already regretted trusting Nip. Don’t make me regret trusting you, too.”