Chapter 4: Team Hatred

The trees seemed to close in on us. Their thick boughs arced overhead, almost intertwining into a thick canopy. The mid afternoon sun filtered slowly through the thick foliage giving everything a cheerful green glow.

Eve and I studied the words that were scrolling down the face of the small circular tablet that had been included in our package. The mission objective claimed that the object we were looking for, a young Honedge’s scabbard, was only three floors in, but from just looking at the Dungeon I was scared to go in.

I pressed the green orb on the top of the Expedition Gadget. The screen flashed before a perfect replica of the Pokemon Nexus map projected out from the screen, hovering in the air. I pressed the red orb and the floating globe began to spin. It slowly grew larger as it focused in on the Fire continent until it suddenly stopped with a small glowing blue marker pointing at where we were. This Dungeon was at the base of the Scale mountains, much farther south than where we had met Vix. 

I pressed the purple orb. Suddenly a web of purple lines exploded across the map. No wonder this Dungeon scared me so much. Three ley lines intersected beneath it.

“Come on guys, can we go?” Vix was obviously growing impatient. “We’ve been in Dungeons before and if anything happens we have these.”

Vix puffed out her chest proudly displaying the badge that I had carefully pinned to it. It was almost an exact replica of the Expedition Society’s logo except instead of a giant letter “E” it had our team symbol. Bluish- white light shone from behind the symbol. We had been instructed that these badges would teleport us back to HQ if we pressed them once, show us where our other teammates were if pressed twice, or create a dimensional bubble that we could hide in until a rescue was organized if pressed three times. The package also contained a small bag with over 40 badges inside, so we had more to expand our team.

“Sorry,” Eve said to Vix. “You’re right. Let’s go.” As we passed under the trees and through the barrier of air that marked the Dungeon entrance Eve glanced back nervously. “I don’t know why I feel so nervous. I just have a weird feeling.”

Once we were in the Dungeon, Vix took the lead. I still didn’t understand how, but every time she was faced with a decision, Vix always chose the correct path. Within five minutes we had found the portal to the next floor. 

The second we landed on the next floor I felt my gut jerk like someone had kicked it. I strained my eyes looking in every direction to try and find what was wrong. I sent out Psychic energy trying to find anything out of the ordinary. Nothing. 

Just as soon as it started however the odd feeling disappeared. In retrospect I should have said something to Eve and Vix, but in the moment I didn’t want to worry them over what was probably nothing.

We had landed in a tiny room with only one exit. Vix lead us over, but before leaving the room she hesitated. “What’s wrong?” Eve asked.

“I…don’t know,” Vix answered. “This is going to sound crazy, but I think the easiest path through the Dungeon was just cut off.”

“What?” Eve and I just stared at her. 

“Look, I know exactly where the portal is from here. Take a left here, the second right, the third left, the northwest exit, and then the first right. I just can’t shake the feeling that there is some danger between the third left and the northwest exit.” 

“Vix,” I said gently, “you can’t possibly know that.”

“But, I do!” Vix insisted. “I don’t understand it any better than you do, but I know!” Vix sat silently for a moment. “I think there might be a longer path we can take. It is a bit out of the way, but it feels safe. Should we take the safe path or… maybe the feeling I have is wrong?”

I felt a shiver down my spine. Perhaps Vix was right. At least about the danger. I made a mental note to look into her Dungeon senses later.

“Vix, I’d rather be safe than sorry. Let’s go the safe route.” The little Vulpix nodded before leading on.

We followed Vix for a while. She didn’t even pause at any fork in the road. Even though we were taking the scenic route, we were moving so fast I doubted it would even matter in the long run. It actually would have been fun exploring the Dungeon except that I couldn’t escape the feeling that we were being watched.

The path ahead of us split in two much like a “T”. For the first time since we had entered the Dungeon, Vix completely stopped at the crossroads. “Vix, what’s going on?” Eve asked. “Did you lose the path?”

Vix shook her head. She turned slowly in a circle looking like she was about to be sick. “I didn’t lose the path. The path is still there, but something tells me that we shouldn’t follow it. It feels like…” Vix paused to think. Her eyes grew wide. “…there isn’t a safe path anymore.”

The bushes behind us rustled and cracked as a pure black Greninja leapt out of them. He stood in the middle of the path in a ready stance. He wasn’t about to attack us, I realized with a jolt, he was here to keep us from leaving. 

I growled as a huge Tyranitar with a bright purple belly crashed out of the foliage and barricaded the path to the right. At the same time a lithe Umbreon with brilliant blue rings and striking yellow eyes leapt out of the bushes to the left. Eve and Vix pressed closer to me as we watched the three of them close in on us. 

“Hello weary Society members.” I flinched as the Umbreon spoke. His voice wasn’t necessarily deep, but it was extremely, uncomfortably, smooth and soothing. “We are here to represent Team Hatred. I believe you have heard of us?”

“No,” Vix answered trying not to let the fear show in her voice. The bottom of my stomach dropped out. My mind immediately flashed back to the conversation I had overheard this morning between the Arcanine and Absol. “…heard they attacked another village…the Hatred strike again…”. I remembered the small snippet of the news I had heard before we left, “And now, breaking news from the Scale Mountains-”. How come I hadn’t figured it out? How could I have brought my team to this Dungeon?

“We weren’t talking to you.” The Greninja snarled. Vix tucked her ears close to her head and ducked down between Eve and me. I thought back to the memory of Vix’s mother’s death. There had been a shiny Greninja there that night. I wondered…

“Don’t mind Smoke,” the Umbreon said. “Look we don’t want any trouble friends.” He smiled toothily at us. I couldn’t help but shudder as his gaze settled on me. “We only request that you turn that Fennekin over to us.”

My blood ran cold. That was all the confirmation that I needed. It was the Hatred that night!

“No,” Eve snapped, “he’s a part of our team. We aren’t going to give him to you!”

“I don’t think you understand,” the Umbreon said icily, “he is wanted for crimes against our organization. He’s a criminal.”

“You’re one to talk. I don’t care what he’s done!” Eve stared the Umbreon down. The part of my brain that wasn’t in full on panic mode wondered why Eve was being so assertive against the Umbreon. It was strange; since these three had appeared Eve had yet to turn away from the Umbreon. I’m not even sure if she knew what the other Pokemon were. HEr shoulders were tense, not like she was ready to fight, but like she fully expected something painful.  “I’ve heard about your ‘organization’ and if only half of the stories are true any crime against you should be considered a public service!”

“If you don’t turn him over, I will have to consider your entire party equally guilty.” The Umbreon smiled at us, but it never reached his eyes. “Watch yourselves. You don’t want us as your enemies. Be careful, Eve.”

I was stunned. How did he know Eve’s name? It couldn’t have been a fluke or knowledge attained prior to now because he didn’t know my name.

  Eve had a different reaction. She snapped. Her gem glowed almost white with the amount of power she was gathering. With a yell she released it as a bolt of power at the Umbreon.

His fur rippled a bit as it struck him, but that was it. No flinch, no damage, he hadn’t even taken a step back. “Are you done?” he sneered. “You can’t hurt me. I’m a Dark type, stupid. You are such a-“

We never heard what Eve was because at that moment a starburst of Fire exploded across the Umbreon’s chest. He cried out in pain as he flew back from the force of the blow. The flames flung him off the path and deep into the trees. I didn’t let the Fire die within me yet.

“Vix, flamethrower!” I shouted before pouring flames into the Tyranitar’s face. He flinched backwards in surprise, but then he snarled and began marching through the torrent of flames at me. The type disadvantage was about to kill me! The fire then became hotter and moved with more force. Vix was with me now.

The Tyranitar stumbled back under our combined onslaught before thundering back into the thick trees, roaring in pain the whole way. I stopped to take a breather, but that was clearly a mistake. I heard a sharp buzzing sound at the edge of my hearing. Before I could even move, something shot by only inches from my head and slammed into the rock wall of the corridor. Instead of bouncing off or shattering the blade dissolved and splashed to the ground.

“What was that?” Vix asked. Instead of answering I shoved my shoulder into her, knocking her aside as a second blade shot through the space she had previously been occupying. 

I half-glanced back only to see the Greninja preparing another Water Sharrukin. “Run!” I screamed to Eve before I grabbed the scruff of Vix’s neck in my mouth and took off running down the corridor. 

I was vaguely aware of Vix screaming directions at me as I ran. (“Left, left! Now right! No your other right!”) It was all I could do to keep ahead of the Greninja and dodge the numerous Water Shuriken, Dark Pulses, and Shadow Balls he was chucking at me every second. 

I was completely turned around by the time I lost the Greninja, but I didn’t slow down. There were three of them, and any one of them could be after me. “Slink!” I heard Vix scream. “The fork ahead, you need to take the-” she was cut off as a dark paw shot out of the bushes to the left. I felt a sudden pain flare in my ankle as he grabbed and held on, and I tripped. Vix went flying as the Umbreon burst from the bushes and pounced on me. 

“Run Vix!” I yelled before I turned up my inner Fire. My fur combusted in an instant, forcing the Umbreon away from me. I scrambled to my feet and darted down the right fork in the road, still partially on Fire. The Umbreon was close behind me, but I was just a little faster than him. I hoped that I had taken a different path than Vix. It wouldn’t do to have to carry her again. 

The path suddenly opened up into a meadow with several thick trees growing in the middle like islands in the sea. I hesitated. I had a somewhat respectable lead. Should I keep moving or try to hide in this room? 

The decision was made for me as I heard pounding footsteps coming down the corridor behind me. I dove behind a random tree and tried to quiet my breathing. 

I heard rather than saw the Umbreon enter the room. The grass whispered under his paws as he moved around. I became completely still, holding my breath, and hearing the frantic beating of my heart in my own ears. I was amazed that he hadn’t heard it by now.

“I know you are in here.” He suddenly said. “You can’t hide from me.” I had to convince myself that he didn’t actually know where I was. It had to be a bluff, right? “Dark trumps Psychic you know. That has so many more benefits than just protecting me from you reading my mind.”

There was complete silence for a moment, and then I went blind. Or at least that’s what I thought happened. The world became pitch black smothering everything in darkness. I felt my head begin to swim and I swayed dizzily. Dark Void, I realized.

I fought back against the darkness trying to crush me, and as I did, I began to see some light. I could see the ground in a small circle around my feet.

The harder I pushed against the Darkness, the more aware I became of my heartbeat. It was loud, deafening. Each pound was excruciating, and I wasn’t sure whether my head or my heart would explode first. It was too much! I couldn’t fight back!

I closed my eyes and prepared to give in, but then a thought flickered to life in my mind. It was flighty and insubstantial, like a Butterfree, but it was there. An image of my father.

I focused as much as I could on that thought. Immediately, I felt a tingle in my stomach and my head became clearer. Quickly, I tried to pull as many important memories together. My father, my family, my home… but they were all gone.

My brain began to fog again. Everything I knew and loved was gone. Hell, if I hadn’t met Eve I would probably have…

Eve… and Vix… the Dreamstone…

It was like I had stuck my head into a cold waterfall. My brain snapped into clarity. I opened my eyes and found that I was able to see the trees through a thick black fog. Eve, Vix, the Dreamstone, Eve, Vix, the Dreamstone! With every thought the fog seemed to get thinner. Eve, Vix, the Dreamstone! With a final thought the darkness shattered. I relaxed as I sighed in relief, but then the Umbreon tackled me.

If I had been asleep or stunned as he’d hit me, I wouldn’t have stood a chance. Thankfully, I was able to steal a little bit of his momentum and roll away from him. We stood there face to face both crouched and anticipating the fight. 

“I’ll admit,” the Umbreon said, “I’m impressed. It takes a very powerful Psychic type to resist a full Dark Void. Unfortunately for you, that same talent won’t save you from me. You should just surrender and make it easy.”

I growled at him in response. He chuckled. “Down boy,” he chided. “At least this will get you away from Eve.”

I calculated quickly before asking. “Why do you want me to be apart from Eve?”

“Didn’t she tell you?” he scoffed. “Why, I was her-“

I would have loved to hear the rest of his answer, but I saw him let his guard down for just the tiniest moment. I took the opportunity and struck.

I opened my mouth and unleashed the most powerful Flamethrower attack I could produce (and considering how terrified I was, it was pretty powerful). The Umbreon tried to dodge, but I had been expecting that. I aimed towards the Umbreon’s left side, forcing him to dodge right, right into the bole of the tree. He couldn’t do anything as waves of fire washed over him. I was glad for the roaring flames in my ears. That way I didn’t hear his screams of pain.

My Fire died, as he slumped against the tree. Patches of fur were missing from his face. His right eye was swollen shut by burns. I didn’t know if I had killed him, or if he was merely unconscious. Honestly, I didn’t want to hang around long enough to find out. 

I fled back down the corridor towards where we had separated, but I got lost almost immediately. I stopped to rest once I hit my second dead end. I needed a game plan, otherwise I would probably never find the others.

In retrospect, the answer was fairly obvious. I placed my paw over my Expedition Badge and pressed it twice. There was a momentary flare of blue-white light, but then nothing happened. I was about to press it again when light exploded out of the badge projecting onto the ground. The light didn’t stop there. It split in two and rushed off down the corridor drawing lines behind it as it went.

I followed the lines until they led to a y-shaped fork. There the lines split, each heading down a different path. What was I supposed to do now?

The line that veered right had a faint orange tint to it. Looking at it, I knew it would take me to Vix. Conversely the other line had a subtle pink hue. It would lead me to Eve.

Unfortunately this understanding didn’t help me make a decision. Who needed my help more? The immediate answer was Vix. I had only known her for two days, but I  could tell that she was more likely to stay and fight rather than warp out. On the other hand every Team Hatred member that had come after us had been a Dark type. Leaving Eve alone would leave her defenseless.

Against my better judgement, I decided to find Vix first. I tried to reason with myself that Eve could always warp out of the dungeon, and that despite my doubts we would need Vix’s almost unnatural affinity with the dungeon to finish the mission, but I didn’t feel any better

I followed the orange line as it swerved and turned through the dungeon. I had to admit that it was guiding me almost as well as Vix did. Briefly I wondered if Vix was using her Badge to navigate, but I dismissed this thought almost at once. The Badges could only lead you to another badge. 

The line suddenly turned into a narrow corridor with extremely tall and steep walls. I wouldn’t have even considered it as a path, but the orange line ran directly through it. Well, I say through it. Halfway down the corridor the line stopped.

I’m not too proud to admit it. I swore. Loudly. Had Vix dropped her badge? Had the Hatred captured her? Had she returned to HQ? 

Then I heard something. The sound of muffled heavy breathing. The sound of someone who had just run a long way and was hoping to hide. “Vix?” I called out tentatively.

There was only silence for a moment, and then… “Slink? Slink is that you?”

  “Yeah, It’s me,” I called back looking around. It seemed like she was right here, but there wasn’t enough room on the path for her to be anywhere near me.

“Up here,” Vix taunted. I looked. Three quarters of the way up the left cliff a deep indentation about the size of a mailbox defaced the dungeon wall. Vix had squeezed herself in it with only her smirking face showing.

“Where’d you find that?” I asked.

She slid down the wall, feet splayed wide and her tails fanned out behind her like a parachute. It didn’t exactly help though because she quickly lost control and crashed right on top of me. I clawed my way back to my feet and squeezed out of the other end of the narrow path with Vix still on my back. Once we were free I glanced back at her as she slipped off of my back. We couldn’t help it, we both started laughing.

“I honestly have no idea. The big Tyranitar was chasing me, but I was much faster. I managed to get a little ways ahead of him. My plan was to hide and then double back once he had passed, but then I was forced down that corridor. I would have been fine, but then I…” she seemed to search for a word, “… sensed I guess that the Greninja was coming from the other end. I was pinned down.”

“The Greninja,” I interrupted. “If he and the Tyranitar were after you, who was chasing Eve? Did she get away?”

“I don’t know,” Vix admitted her eyes shining with worry.

“It’s okay,” I backpedaled before Vix got upset, “we will deal with that when we need to. So the two had you pinned down…”

“Yeah,” Vix continued hesitantly, “so I had nowhere to go. I hoped with all of my heart for a hiding place, a way out. Then, I don’t really know what happened. I looked up and that nook just appeared. It hadn’t been there a second earlier. I wasn’t going to look a gift Rapidash in the mouth. I scrambled as quickly as I could into that hole.”

My mind was racing. The Hatred had wanted me, they’d known Eve. Vix had seen them coming somehow, and somehow she had created a hiding place for herself. Right now I had so many questions, and not a lot of answers. Vix was looking at me for leadership, so I knew I had to make a decision soon.

  “Let’s find Eve. I took out the Umbreon for the moment, but when he comes to he is going to be mad. Forget the mission, at this point we need to find Eve and get out.”

Vix nodded earnestly as I pressed my badge again sending a pink line racing through the dungeon. “This will lead us to Eve,” I explained to Vix. Together we plunged into the dungeon.

It took us three turns before Vix figured out our destination. “This is taking us to the portal. Eve must have made it to the next floor.” I didn’t even bother questioning it at that point and sure enough the stone platform was in the next clearing we came across.

  I told Vix to hold tight to me before we moved on. She rolled her eyes at me, but she did as I asked.

  We landed on the next floor and stood perfectly still. We revolved slowly in a circle scanning every which way for anything. Movement, the rustle of a tree branch, anything. Nothing. We were completely alone.

“Vix,” I asked still carefully scanning, “what can you tell me about this floor.”

She didn’t even bat an eye. “There are three long clearings each attached to each other at the top and bottom. The dungeon exit is in the farthest clearing from where we are, and I think someone is in the middle one.”

“Friendly?” I asked.

“I’m honestly not sure,” Vix said, “but unless it is the Greninja, I think we can take them.”

On that reassuring note, we started towards the path. Vix, despite her bravado about taking out the Hatred members, cowered behind my legs. 

“You are such a question mark to me sometimes,” I grumbled as we crept through the passage.

When we reached the second clearing, Vix stopped completely. I held a paw toe up to my lips as I slowly peeked around the corner. 

“It’s fine,” I whispered to Vix. I couldn’t see much except for bright pink fur and a forked tail, but I doubted another Espeon was wandering around this dungeon.

Vix shot around the corner, running as fast as she could towards Eve. I followed behind her at a more moderate pace. Eve must have heard us as she turned around just in time to catch Vix as she almost bowled Eve over in a hug.

“Really,” I called out to the pair, “what makes you so special. I didn’t get a hug.”

Vix shot me a dirty look, but she did let go of Eve. 

Eve didn’t even acknowledge that I had said anything. “What took you guys so long? I found the lost item. I was just waiting for you two to show up so we could leave together. Seriously what happened? I outran whoever was chasing me, I found the portal, and I’ve been waiting here ever since. “That might be because nobody was chasing you.” Vix commented examining the blue and silver scabbard lying on the ground at Eve’s feet.

“Yeah,” I added feeling a bit annoyed, “Vix was chased by the Greninja and the Tyranitar. I was attacked by the stupid Umbreon. Why didn’t they go after you?”

Eve just shrugged, but for a split second a worried expression crossed her face.

“Alright,” I said calculating quickly, “we should get out before those Hatred members figure out where we are. Vix do you want to take the scabbard?” She nodded happily and picked it up. She slung it over her back where two of her tails immediately curled around it.

“Okay on the count of three we warp back to HQ,” I prompted putting my paw to my badge. “One, two three…” I lunged as quickly as I could and batted Eve’s paw away from her badge. Vix had just enough time to look surprised before she vanished with a flash of bright light.

“What was that for?” Eve roared.

I was in a ready stance. The hair along my back stood on end as I growled. “The Hatred knew your name. Why?”

“Is this really the time-”

“Yes,” I snarled, “It’s time to talk Eve. How does that Umbreon know you!”

Once the surprise wore off, Eve became angry too. “What about you?! They wanted you! What crime did you commit against them?!”

We stared at each other ready to fight. Slowly our frustration and aggression faded, but we both still wanted answers.

Finally I caved and gave in first. “I honestly don’t know why they are after me. That’s the truth,” I snapped as Eve raised an eyebrow at me. “Look I have no idea what that Umbreon-”

“Shane,” Eve said. It was almost an automatic reaction. She immediately flinched like she hadn’t meant to let it slip, but the damage was done. 

“You know his name!” I said incredulously. “How could you know his…?” 

And then I remembered something the Umbreon had told me. “Didn’t she tell you? Why I was her-”

“Eve,” I said trying to contain the rage in my voice, “was that Umbreon your partner?”

She didn’t answer, but she didn’t need to. It was written across her face. 

My inner Fire boiled extremely close to the surface, and I had to concentrate or else it would have exploded out of me. “That thing, that monster is your ex-partner! So much for ‘he’s dead’. Why did you lie to me about this Eve?”

“I-i-it, it wasn’t any of your business.” Eve snapped, but we both knew that she was lying.

“Well, obviously it is my business. They want me dead apparently, and you couldn’t have said, ‘Hey Slink, my ex-partner is a part of the Hatred and really, really wants to kill you. Just thought you should know’?”

“We grew up together,” Eve snapped. “And he is my ex-partner. The thing that broke us up was the fact that he joined the Hatred!” She was silent for a moment. “Everyone always called me crazy for liking him. But I never cared about their opinions. I never cared that he was shiny.”

“Why would that matter?” I asked. I hadn’t forgotten my anger, but I was also enraptured by her story.

“My village was… a little… old fashioned. My parents had a legacy to uphold, and the rest of the town was just as uptight. Shinies were odd. They were different. There were times where I am almost certain that I was his only friend. We grew closer after that, and then we just became partners.”

“What happened?” I asked.

Eve looked offended for a moment, but then she went on the offensive. 

“Enough about me, what about you? What is your problem?” she snapped. “Why do they want you dead? What did you do to them? What did they do to you?” She narrowed her eyes as she glared at me.

To be fair I should have seen it coming. Her gem flashed pink, and her hair was suddenly ruffled as though she was caught in a strong wind. I tried to block it, but as I tried to summon my Psychic energy, the heat from my angry Fire kept it from forming.

  It was too late. I felt Eve’s mental probe burrow into my mind. My body reeled back as my brain was invaded, but that didn’t stop Eve. It only took her a few moments for her to find the box in the back of my mind. Sometimes she was far too clever for her own good. She regarded it for moment, then, despite my desperate struggle to stop her, she shattered the lock holding it closed. 

The sudden explosion of memories, images, smells, sensations, emotions forced Eve from my mind as I collapsed. The sudden onslaught of pain and grief that I had been suppressing for so long hit me harder than even a Giga Impact could. Eve on the other hand gasped like a fish out of water. She had gotten a pretty good look in my head. She knew.

“They…they…” she tried to speak, but with the horror etched on her face I knew she wouldn’t be able to.

“That’s right. That is why I hate them. They killed my family, right in front of me.”

“Really Fennekin, don’t be so dramatic.” I flinched at the voice, my paw going to my badge. Eve cried out and vanished in a flash of blue and black fur. Shane landed just to my right, his jaws fastened around Eve’s throat. 

“One wrong move Fennekin and I swear…” his voice was muffled, but still perfectly understandable. 

“Shane what are you doing? This isn’t-”

Shane shook his head savagely whipping Eve’s head around. “The Fennekin will be the only one talking.You shut up.”

“What do you want?” I growled keeping completely still. 

Shane smirked around Eve. “Simple. Take off your badge, put it in your bag, and throw it at my feet.”

My brain felt like it had frozen, every nerve ending locking up at once. I needed a plan, and I needed it now. 

“And no sudden moves.” Shane amended. That gave me an idea. He had to let me touch my badge. 

“Okay, okay. I am going to take off my badge on the count of three. ” My eyes flicked towards Eve. She blinked in response. “One,” I slowly raised a paw, drawing Shane’s attention to it. “Two,” Eve’s paws twitched  before her tail began to snake up her body. “Three,” Eve lunged with her tail tagging her badge. She vanished in a flash.

“You,” Shane swore as he lunged at me, but I already had my paw on my badge. It exploded into a blinding blue-white light. When it faded I was sitting in a large stone room. Eve and I were on top of a circular raised platform in the middle of the largely empty room.The platform we were on pulsed softly. “Breathing” was the best word I could think of to describe it as the platform beneath my feet shifted from black to a bright blue-white light and back again. It looked a lot like the material within our badges. Instead of a door, there was a large stone archway leading to the corridor outside. Hanging above the door was a smaller version of the sign outside of HQ; a winged badge with a large letter “E” in the middle. Eve lay nearby with her forepaws at her throat. She wasn’t hurt, but she was scared.

I rushed over to her. “Are you okay?” I asked. 

Eve glanced up at me sheepishly. “Yes,” she grumbled. 

I shook my head. “I’m sorry. You were right, we should have had that conversation later.” 

“You think?” Eve snapped.

I couldn’t help what came out of my mouth. Eve had officially pushed me to the edge of my rope. “Nice partner you have there. You should be so proud that he is willing to risk your life to get what he wants!”

“Ex-partner!” Eve shouted. She turned away from me. “I understand that he is terrible, at least now, but he wasn’t always. I know that he would never hurt me!”

“Well he has a funny way of showing it.” I grumbled to myself. I took a deep breath. This was ridiculous. There was no reason to keep arguing. “Eve, I’m sorry.”

“What?” She turned around to face me.

“I said that I am sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten as mad as I did, and we should have left the Dungeon when you said.” I paused. “But, Eve you have to be honest with me.”

“Slink, I didn’t-”

“- I’m not blaming you. Obviously there were things that we both wanted to keep secret. But both of our secrets could have gotten me and Vix killed today.” Eve and I met eyes. “Let’s start over okay, no secrets that could endanger each other.”

“Okay,” Eve nodded with a half smile. “I’m sorry too.”

We were both silent for a moment. In the back of my head I was vaguely aware of voices in the hallway. “We have to go and look for them! If you won’t let me, I’ll go myself!” The voice was undeniably Vix’s.

“Vix, please calm down. As I told you, someone just landed in the Warp Landing. It could very likely be them.”

“But we were attacked-” Vix tried to argue.

“Vix, please we can’t risk losing you too. Slink and Eve are adults. They can take care of themselves.”

“But they are all I have!” Vix screamed. “They are my family. I don’t know what I will do without them. I have to go. Slink told me that family sticks together.”

I couldn’t handle hearing it anymore. “Vix! Vix, we’re here. We are safe.”

“Slink?” The sound of thundering footsteps echoed down the hallways until a flash of orange fur shot into view. Vix skid a little on the hard stone floor her paw pads and claws scrabbling for purchase. Then she shot forward directly into my chest. 

“Slink, Eve.” Vix shook in my embrace. She didn’t want to leave, she buried her face in my chest and sat there like that for a while. The Kadabra from the front desk appeared from where Vix had. He had obviously been the one talking with her earlier.

Vix eventually grew still against me. I heard her steady her breathing before she opened up again. “There’s your hug,” Vix cooed sounding like her normal self again. “Now both of you listen to me. Don’t you ever do that to me again!”

“Sorry if I’m interrupting,” the Kadabra said sheepishly, “but I have to ask. That contract was the safest most basic one that we had, and you still ran into trouble. What happened?”

“Well we ran into the Hatred,” I began. I looked over at Eve, and although we didn’t form a Psychic link I knew that we were both thinking the same thing. We would tell them only as much as they needed to know. “We just narrowly escaped them. We sent Vix back when things got dangerous.”

Vix gave both of us a funny look, but she didn’t say anything. The Kadabra on the other hand had questions. “But none of you are Shiny. Why would they come after you?”

“Because…” I faltered. I didn’t have an explanation for that.

“They didn’t come after us. They had attacked a nearby village earlier today. We just got in their way.” Eve lied like a champ, although there was an ounce of truth to everything she said.

“Okay then.” I wasn’t sure whether the Kadabra was convinced or not, but he wasn’t about to ask. He handed me a sack that clinked as it moved. “Your payment. I’ll make sure that little Honedge gets its scabbard back.” 

He left the room, leaving the three of us together.