A Cold Day in Hell
by MalwareBirb404It was yet another blistering cold day in the fortress city of Bastion, the snow-laden winds of the north blowing against Pyre’s face as he marched down the ebony, stone path atop the city’s western wall. Two pokemon trailed behind the Arcanine, a Tinkaton and a Corviknight.
Like him, they wore red bandanas with silver, shield-shaped badges somewhere on their person. Upon seeing the three other pokemon wearing the same garments, they quickly stepped aside before saluting.
After the three passed, murmurs and sighs of relief spread amongst the pokemon.
“You weren’t kidding… He really showed up,” a Blaziken said, turning their head to the Charizard next to them.
“What made you think I was joking?” The winged reptile responded, leaning his head to the side.
“Well when’s the last time the guildmaster ever came down here?”
“Cause I’m pretty sure when he did , a number of someones were out of a job,” the tall orange rooster continued.
This got the attention of some surrounding pokemon, each looking at the Blaziken with a curious gaze. A few tensed up however, but still listened in as the bird kept talking.
“But… If it’s what I think is going on-”
“You should really stop spreading rumors. It’s habit forming,” the Charizard grumbled.
“Aye, but rumors pass the time,” a Diggersby piped up, raising one of their large, hand-like ears. “Cause unlike you, some of us are freezing our asses off here.”
The orange dragon huffed in response. “Fine. But it’s your funeral.”
The bulky gray rabbit shook his head before turning his attention back to the Blaziken. “So what have you heard?”
“I heard…” the bird dramatically said, holding out his talons as he looked around at his fellow guildmates.
“Ol’ Pyre may be testing out a new program with the prisoners.”
Hearing this, a few pokemon turned to look at the black fortress off to the side of the wall.
“You don’t think they’re experimenting on them, do you?” A Flareon asked.
The Charizard shook his head at the fluffy orange quadruped. “Now you’re just being ridiculous.”
“Well Guildmaster Pyre did bring Titania with him…”
A few of the pokemon shuttered, having dealt with some of the Tinkaton’s tests in the past.
“Flying shadows from the south, incoming!” the four heard someone yell. Everyone turned their attention to the gray, snow filled sky as a screeching flock of dark, wispy Skarmory rapidly approached the wall.
“Take your positions everyone!” the Charizard commanded.
Aurora yanked hard on the chains hanging from the side wall of her cell, rhythmically raising and lowering the metal blocks weighing each one. The numbers ‘650’ were etched into the sides of both weights. The blocks hit the floor with a metallic clang as the Beartic continued her daily work out.
“207… 208… 209…”
The large, ivory furred bear prioritized maintaining a routine throughout her time spent inside the dark, reinforced walls. Before Aurora arrived here, she had heard stories of the pokemon within the Black Forest prison losing their minds as their days melded together.
“214… 215… 216…”
She had also known that consignment to Black Forest was a punishment reserved only for the worst of the worst in the continent of Diavaircia. Which is why she constantly found herself pondering the same question.
“Why am I here?”
“221… 222… 223…”
…
…
…
A loud slam reverberated throughout the large cell, Aurora having dropped the chains before standing in silence.
“I shouldn’t be here,” she muttered as a rage began to boil within her.
Thinking about the things the guildmaster had told her earlier in her stay, the details of what he wanted were vague. But the consequences for not complying were crystal clear.
Her paws shook before tightening their grasp on the chains, sending an intense stream of cold through them as frost formed over the metal links.
She forcefully yanked the right chain, causing it to snap. The Beartic looked down at the limp, metal cable before throwing it to the floor, striking the surface with a shrill clang. Panting in frustration, her rage turned into sorrow. Sighing in defeat, Aurora sat on the floor, silent once again.
But not a moment of her misery passed before something slipped through the slot in her cell’s door. She watched as a piece of paper glided to the ground in front of her. Leaning forward to study it, Aurora picked it up to see a single sentence written in big bold letters.
‘Back away from the door’
“What do those guild mongrels want now?” Aurora snarled as she raised up her paws, preparing to be escorted out with as little trouble as possible.
The thick metal door burst open as five guards made their way inside. Aurora sighed as she took note that all of them were either steel or fighting types. A Scizor wearing a familiar red scarf and silver badge approached her with a pair of cuffs in his pincer.
“Make this easy and come quietly,” he ordered.
After being walked through the cold, gray halls of the prison, Aurora was soon led to a large room where more guards, and three other pokemon bound in chains stood. From left to right there was a Gardevior, an Obstagoon, and a Midnight Form Lycanroc.
“That’s the last one, right?” the Scizor asked. An Empoleon and Mawile nodded at the lithe, crimson bug before stepping into the room with the others.
“What is this?” Aurora asked as she was corralled next to the Gardevoir.
“Nothing good I assume,” the psychic type quietly answered as she stared straight ahead.
The Obstagoon snickered. “Of fucking course it’s not good,” he spat. The bipedal black and white badger looked at the Empoleon. “Be honest, you guys experiment’n on us?”
“Is that the conclusion you have so cleverly reached?” the Gardevoir snidely asked.
“Well what else could they want with us?”
“I wouldn’t put it past them,” Aurora thought as her face tightened.
“See, she agrees with me!” the Obstagoon continued as he gestured his head towards Aurora.
The Beartic rolled her eyes. “Kindly leave me out of this.”
“Send us down,” the Empoleon said before another guard lowered a metal gate in front of the black and blue penguin, their two teammates and the four prisoners. The steel room shook as a metallic rattling echoed all around them before slowly lowering down the shaft.
Making their way down, the Obstagoon found himself glancing at the Lycanroc on his left. His bright, crimson eyes remained unblinking, staring at the dark type while the rest of him had barely moved since they had gotten on the elevator.
“Ay!” he said, trying to get the red wolf’s attention. “The fuck are you stare’n at? Quit it!
“…”
“ Rock types, I fucking swear- Are you guys seeing this?!”
“Stop talking. Your putrid breath is polluting the air,” the Gardevoir said with venom in her voice.
It was then that the Obstagoon grimaced, his cheeks puffing up before burping in her face. “That love, is pollutin’.”
Closing her eyes, the Gardevoir’s face tightened. “You are vile.”
Her patience growing thin, Aurora stomped down to shake the elevator. Everyone sans the Lycanroc turned to face the Beartic with mixed reactions. The guild pokemon looked annoyed, while her fellow prisoners briefly looked at her with the fear of Arceus in their eyes.
The Obstagoon for the first time here had his jagged smile wiped off his face. “What the hell-”
“No more talking,” Aurora flatly said, interrupting the badger.
A snort escaped the Lycanroc as the elevator reached its destination. Blinking a few times, he opened his jaws to yawn but found his mouth confined in a steel muzzle. “Who’s the big one?” he asked, eyeing Aurora as he spoke through a gritted smile. “She’s cute.”
“Don’t talk to me.”
“Oooh, hard to get… I like that,” he said before a sickening cackle escaped the Lycanroc’s maw as the gate ahead of the group soon pulled up.
While Aurora found the rock type’s laughter off putting, it was what was on the other side of the gate that made her stomach turn. There stood Guildmaster Pyre, who was accompanied by two other pokemon.
Aurora found herself locking eyes with the large orange and black dog, her breath growing heavy as she bared her icy fangs. The guards took notice of this, stepping between her and the guildmaster.
“Undo her restraints,” the Arcanine commanded.
The Mawile flashed the large jaws behind their head at the Beartic. “But sir-”
“Did I stutter?” Pyre said, interrupting the small, jaundiced pokemon.
“ Ooooh… ” the Lycanroc childishly taunted as the Mawile did as they were told.
The Obstagoon then stepped forward. “Wait, wait, how come she gets to-”
But before he could say another word, Aurora stomped towards Pyre who looked up at her with an unflinching stare as she raised her arm back.
“Well?” he flatly asked.
Aurora’s arm trembled as she thought about her next action. “So he’s just going to let me strike him?” she thought before remembering exactly where she was.
“What is this about?!” the Beartic asked, slowly lowering her paw.
“Remember the deal we made?” Pyre asked before turning to walk away. “This is it.”
“Get the collars on them,” he addressed the guards.
“Collars?” The Gardevoir thought. Her eyes widened as a cold shock ran through her body.
Watching as the others got escorted away, the realization of what was about to happen hit her like a brick upside the head. “Son of a– He’s actually going through with it…”
“Sorry, am I fucking missing something here?!” the Obstagoon inquired while being held in place by a number of guards. He and the other three prisoners had been separated and taken into different rooms, but had still yet to hear an explanation.
“Cause look love… if you wanna get with Big Bad Blake, there’s other ways to do it.”
In response to the badger’s comment, a short, pink, humanoid figure with long, off-white hair stepped forwards with some papers in hand.
Titania then read the documents she held aloud. “Twenty five counts of murder, fifteen counts of attempting to obstruct evidence, three counts of public indecency–”
She brought the paper closer to her face, reading more intently. The Tinkaton looked up at Blake who had a smug grin on his face. “…and other ‘mons call me weird,” she muttered, turning her attention back to the document.
“What?” Blake asked, the Obstagoon glancing around at the other pokemon holding him down gave him strange looks.
“No shame huh? This’ll make things easier then,” the Tinkaton said as she placed the papers down on a table and picked up a metal collar with a magenta orb attached to it.
“Do me a favor and try not to move too much,” Titania said with a rather sinister grin. “How much this hurts depends completely on you.”
Waiting for the inevitable, Jade sat completely still as five guards stood around the room. The alabaster humanoid caught the looks of disdain on their faces, as they all knew the reason the Gardevoir was here.
“I must ask. Are you upset that I attempted it, or that I almost succeeded?”
She received a few glares for her comment, but nothing more.
“It figures Pyre would place me in here to save face. He may not look it, but his ego is rather fragile. I’m pretty sure he’d rather actually die than let someone who made an attempt on his life get away.”
Jade’s gaze then narrowed. “And yet despite his talk of strength, he always stays holed up in his ebony tower rather than actually face the problems plaguing the region outside the city’s walls. He’s a coward.”
“You’re lucky you weren’t put to death you-”
“Stop it! She clearly wants you to get angry,” an Aggron said, interrupting a Typhlosion as they held them back by the arm.
“Put me to death?” Jade questioned as she held out her mint green arms, both bound in chains. “If I am right about what this is, an execution would at least let me keep my dignity.”
“So you want to die?” Jade heard a familiar voice say before turning her head.
“Titania,” she dryly said, addressing the fairy type.
The goggle-wearing Tinkaton entered the room as she hummed a tune to herself, much to Jade’s annoyance. “Never thought I’d see someone from the Bastion City Council in here.”
“So even when I am in chains, Pyre still won’t face me. Interesting,” Jade taunted.
“That’s ‘cause he doesn’t have the hands to get this around your neck,” Titania hissed. “If it was up to me, you’d be dead already. But he was… insistent that you be chosen for this.”
Jade lifted her head, her eyes still glaring down at the Tinkaton as if she were a mere pest. “Lucky me.”
A maniacal laughter reverberated through the room as the Lycanroc’s ankle bindings lay on the floor. Having gotten one of his paws free by dislocating a few joints, he clawed at his restraints and was now running across the chamber.
“Welcome faces old and new! It’s time to start the game! Face me! Obsidian! The Lycanroc who is all but tame! Sid, the Scarlet Scourge they call me- Rather generic , but hey! Either way it’s all the fucking same!”
But soon after the crimson wolf’s antics had started, it came to an end when a sharp pain followed by a flood of numbness came over his body.
“I’m gonna get pretty pissed if I have to keep tranqing him,” Titania said as she walked into the room with a small tube in her hand.
Obsidian mumbled something incoherent as his eyes rolled back, a wide grin laying across his face. “Yessss…”
Raising a brow at the sight before her, Titania then facepalmed. “Son of a- …I can rework the tranqs later.”
“What does Pyre want with that freak anyway?” a Lucario in guild attire asked.
“He’s fast and strong,” Titania remarked, not bothering to face the blue jackal. “Now help me and hold him down.”
“Your guild takes me for a crime I didn’t commit… Then you drag me into this,” Aurora growled as Titania had a large, metal cuff fitted around her neck.
“You’re still sticking to that story?”
Aurora slammed her massive paw into the stone wall, cracking it. This put the room’s guards on alert, as all eyes were now on the Beartic.
“Watch it frosty!” The Tinkaton yelled, nearly falling off the raised platform next to Aurora. “You do that again, and I’ll have myself a new rug in my room!”
Feeling the collar click into place, a sharp pain surged through Aurora’s back.
“ ARRRGH! ”
“Oops,” Titania childishly taunted before hopping down.
Aurora snarled as the Tinkaton sauntered away, but stopped when the guards walked towards her.
Rolling her eyes, Aurora huffed and raised her paws. She didn’t feel like dealing with the consequences of losing her temper, especially after her display with Pyre. It reminded the Beartic of exactly what landed her in this situation to begin with.
“Retrain yourself Aurora…” she thought while being escorted back to the main area.
Back in the room with the elevator, Aurora was once again the last prisoner to arrive. Her eyes scanned over the dull space before her gaze stopped on a wooden board tacked full of papers on the wall where Pyre and a Corviknight stood.
As she was placed next to Jade, the large metallic bird began to speak. “ Ahem… Aurora, Blake… Jade , and Obsidian. The four of you have each been selected for-”
“The Collar Project,” Jade interrupted. “A new program stemming from the genius mind of Guildmaster Pyre.”
Aurora and Blake curiously looked at the Gardevoir, the two wondering how she had already known this information.
“…Yes,” the Corviknight flatly answered, clearly irritated by the interruption.
“Yeah I think we fucking gathered that,” Blake said, flicking the metal band around his neck. “So what now? We stand in a fucking circle and play get to know ya?”
“If I were you, I wouldn’t be messing with that,” Titania piped up as she took her place next to Pyre.
“Or what, it’ll kill me?”
“If you don’t behave, it just might.”
This got the prisoners’ full attention as the Tinkaton grinned with sick satisfaction.
“It’s a little something of my own design. See, they all have a specialized orb made by yours truly. So that if the collar is tampered with, the orb will output an energy that’ll lead the collar to inject a highly concentrated, lethal toxin into the wearer.”
Blake stood in stunned silence, while Jade and Aurora seethed. The two unsure of which infuriated them more, the fact their captors were willing to poison them, or the manner of which Titania gleefully spoke of her lethal invention.
“So with that out of the way, I’d say it’s time to tell you your mission!”
“MISSION!” Aurora growled. “You plan to poison us, and then you expect us to do a mission for you?!”
“Yes. I do,” Pyre answered without hesitation.
“Look, we needed a way to keep you all in line,” Titania said with a shrug.
“Well that’s pretty fucked, even you you guys,” Blake remarked. “So this is what the ‘Saviors of the North’ have resorted to, huh?”
“Now, now,” Jade calmly with a snide tone as she stared right at the Arcanine. “Let us hear what Pyre has to say about this… mission.”
The fire type in question then turned to the Corviknight who continued the briefing. “There have been several reports of feral, shadow-like pokemon attacking towns to the southwest. We believe that wherever it is they’re coming from is somewhere nearby.”
“I want you four to go there, find the source of these shadows, and destroy as many as you can,” Pyre instructed.
Obsidian’s eyes lit up hearing the word ‘destroy’. His fluffy tail began wagging in excitement, the Lycanroc deviously chuckling to himself as his sedative started to wear off. “How long till we get out there?”
“Why the hell are you happy?” Blake asked, turning his head towards the wolf.
“I’ve so longed to feel my paws in the fresh snow again,” Obsidian answered with childish glee. “Are you always this negative?”
“Titania will be leading you four to the town of Ironpost near the Ironwood Wilds, as most of the sightings are traceable to this general area,” the Corviknight continued.
“Wait, what?” she asked, having been caught off guard.
“I personally advise for your own sake to behave yourselves. Titania has an orb that can activate any of your collars,” the Corviknight said, extending a wing towards a small table with a teal orb with a magenta center.
Aurora, Jade, and Blake grew a bit tense at the information presented to them. That the damn guild pokemon could just kill them on a whim if she felt like it. Giving a tired sigh, the Corvikight held up a wing towards the prisoners. “Any questions?”
Aurora raised a paw in response.
“About the mission,” the bird clarified, watching the Beartic slowly lower her paw as she stared daggers at him.
Blake then raised his claws. “So if you want us to kill these things, does that mean we get our shit back?”
Finding themselves inside a large chamber with an equally large metal gate leading outside, Aurora, Blake, and Obsidian were mostly unphased by the cold, brisk air filling the stone room.
Jade however didn’t possess the layer of protection the other’s thick fur provided, leading the Gardevoir to dig through the metal box filled with her confiscated things. She pulled out a heavy maroon cloak with a hood that was lined by a plume of white fluff. Putting it on, a warm feeling of relief came over Jade before finding a golden bracelet at the bottom of the box.
The piece of jewelry had a round, white stone with a green and pink helix inside. Polishing the mega stone on her arm, Jade stared at it for a short while as she thought about everything that had led her up to this point, before scoffing and putting it on as she watched the others get ready.
A wide grin showed on Blake’s face when he opened the box that was tossed before him. Inside were two crimson belts and a pile of silver spikes, the belts having several loops on it to hold the knife-like items. Strapping one over his shoulder and the other around his waist, the Obstagoon found that he couldn’t help but struggle with the latter.
“Arceus fucking dammit!” he grumbled, gritting his teeth as he pulled the metal ends of the belt together.
“Wouldn’t’ve stolen all my celly’s portions if I’d known they’d make me do this shit,” Blake thought as he sucked in his black-furred stomach.
“Havin’ trouble there?” Obsidian teased, his muzzle now removed.
Blake scowled. “Keep up, and I’ll strangle you with it!”
The Lycanroc squinted at the badger, twisting his head to the side. “Well if you’re gonna threaten me with a good time-”
“Stop,” Blake cut him off, holding up a paw. “Just… fucking stop.”
“Ohhh… Does that make you uncomfortable ?” Obsidian taunted as he walked closer.
He stood a few steps in front of the Obstagoon, the two staring daggers at each other… Before Obsidian smiled and poked Blake in the stomach.
Aurora reached into her box and pulled a large indigo vest with cream colored fluff lining its collar. Glancing outside through the gate, she looked back at the vest before putting it on. A small smile came to her rigid face, happy that the guild hadn’t gotten rid of it.
She knew she didn’t need to wear the vest to fend off the cold, but her mate had made it for her. But its warm embrace only further reminded her that there was still something outside she needed to get back to. However the thought quickly turned her brief moment of happiness into fear.
In the back of Aurora’s mind, she couldn’t help but think about her mate and child and what the guild might have done to them. Her hometown already didn’t have the best relationship with the Bastion City Guild, even before she got arrested. Many in the town were outspoken about their handling of recent events, as they were constantly put in danger by the shadows’ repeated attacks. With that, tensions ran high as the inhabitants kept demanding the guild do something. But now that two explorers were found dead in the area, they most certainly would… but likely not in the way they had hoped.
She couldn’t stop thinking about the deal she made with the Arcanine. Her participation in a nondescript project, and her sentence would be waved away.
‘If you want the guild to show up so badly, so be it. I’ll have some teams keeping an eye on everything. And everyone ,’ Echoed Pyre’s words in her mind.
“It’s like I made a deal with Giratina,” Aurora said under her breath as she slipped on the vest.
Feeling a tapping on her back, Aurora angrily whipped around and raised her paw, only to see the Gardevoir standing before her. “What do you want?” the Beartic coldly asked.
“I figured that since we are stuck here, we may as well be somewhat acquainted to assess each other’s strengths.”
Aurora squinted at the Gardevoir. “How did you know about this?”
“I… knew someone in a position to know about these things,” she whispered.
After a moment, Jade could hear the Beartic snarling. “Filthy council ‘mons,” she growled as an intense frozen aura built up around Aurora’s clenched paw.
Jade stepped back, unsure of what the large ice type was about to do. “I see they’ve gotten on your bad side too,” Jade groaned while Aurora tried to calm down.
“Alright fuckers!” The two heard someone call out. Turning to face the gate, Aurora could see none other than Titania carrying a wrench twice the size of her own body while a satchel was slung around her shoulder.
“Let’s go while we still have daylight!” she said before tapping the gate with her wrench.
Aurora, Blake, Jade, and Obsidian watched as the large gate ahead of them slowly began to rise, loudly groaning and creaking as their path to partial freedom awaited.
“Now before any of you think of running off, I should remind you that a collar about a mile away from my orb will go off,” Titania said with an annoyed glare.
The wind had since dyed down after the five left the prison’s proximity, and while as much as Aurora hated her current situation, a part of her was thankful to finally be outside. However, aside from the City of Bastion, Northern Diavaircia didn’t have much to offer aside from snow and rough terrain.
But there was something calming about it, as not too many pokemon traveled through these parts of the region. However there was a reason for that, as the paths leading to the southwest were home to dense patches of forest and a number of mystery dungeons. The most infamous of which was near their destination, the Ironwood Wilds.
Aurora’s hometown of Sleetpass was a decent distance away from the woods containing this dungeon. She remembered repeatedly telling her son and his friends to stay away from it, and by extension the forest. Her worry once again began to grow as she remembered the shadow sightings in the area, having to personally deal with most of them herself.
Her fellow townsfolk considered Aurora to be something of a guardian, but now members of the guild were in her stead. She didn’t know how to feel. On one hand they wouldn’t be on their own and defenseless. But on the other hand, there was likely to be some conflict between the two parties. And surely someone else would be made an example of.
However the Beartic was snapped back to reality once Aurora’s senses focused back on her ‘traveling companions’. Glancing behind her, she caught sight of Obsidian talking to Blake about… something.
Meeting eyes with the Obstagoon, he brandished one of his silver spikes, gesturing it towards himself before pointing it towards Obsidian.
“I’m gonna fucking kill this guy if he keeps talking,” he mouthed.
The Lycanroc however was oblivious to this as he continued to speak. “So I gave the team the option of their bags and everything in ‘em, or their friend would get it. Well really I thought that last part, but it was implied.”
“Shoulda seen how quick they handed everything over!” Obsidian continued, snickering with his wide grin on display.
“Didn’t you try to eat a Cherubi in front of ‘em or something?” Blake groaned.
Obsidian rolled his eyes as he and Blake trudged through the snow. “I didn’t eat that Cherubi, I put them in my mouth, and threatened to eat them.”
The others turned their heads back to face the Midnight Lycanroc after he raised his voice, their brows raised and faces creased.
Putting his silver spike back in his belt, Blake huffed. “Egrh, I can’t take no more of this- Oi! Tinkaton! How much longer ‘till we’re at the fucking place?!”
“When we fucking get there,” Titania answered.
“Just sayin’ we’ve been out here a while.”
“Do stop complaining,” Jade remarked. “Besides, a little walking will do you some good.”
Blake crossed his arms. “Same could be said about you and sunlight. Surprised you didn’t burst into flames the moment we stepped outta the prison.”
“Here I thought Black Forest was torture enough,” Aurora grumbled. “Now I’m stuck working with inmates who act like children.”
“You guys are a bunch of downers, you know that?” Obsidian piped up. “And overall, I’m sensing a lot of hostility.”
“Hostility?” Jade snidely remarked as she raised a brow.
“We’re all out here, free. And the guild wants us to kill stuff!”
“And I know right where to fucking start,” Blake growled, pulling one of he silver spikes.
“See? This is exactly what I mean,” hissed Obsidian, his predatory gaze focused on the Obstagoon.
“If it’ll shut you up, I don’t see the problem.”
“Then hit me with your best shot!” the Lycanroc shouted, breaking into a wide smile as he slammed his paws into the ground.
Glimmering spires of sharpened stone jutted from the ground, each one closer to Blake then the last. Crossing his arms, a bright X formed in front of Blake and blocked the attack. However from above one of the stalagmites Obsidian came down with his arm outstretched, his paw glowing with energy.
Using Brick Break over Blake’s head, the Lycanroc followed up with Iron Head, striking the Obstagoon in the chest. Quickly charging in for another attack, he was met by a silver spike flying towards him. But to Blake’s surprise, Obsidian caught the weapon in his teeth and tossed it aside. Though unbeknownst to him, Blake had been charging an attack of his own. Reversal.
Once the Lycanroc was within range, Blake thrusted his claws into Obsidian’s face and sent a wave of energy through him, sending his assailant flying back. Pulling himself up from the snow, Obsidian rubbed a paw against his jaw.
“Ya done yet you fucking freak?!” Blake called out.
“I didn’t hear no bell!” the Midnight Lycanroc yelled.
Once again he charged towards Blake, only to be stopped by a thick, jagged wall of ice that quickly formed between them.
The two turned to the side to see Aurora having struck the frozen ground with Ice punch, creating more ice to form a barrier to bar off the squabbling pokemon. Obsidian growled, glaring at the Beartic.
“Stay outta thi-”
But no sooner did he open his mouth, a large wrench found its way embedded into the ice.
Titania hopped onto her tool, using it as a platform to reach the top of the ice wall. “ENOUGH!” the Tinkaton yelled, holding up the control orb.
“You know, I didn’t wanna have to be out here watching over you four assholes in the first place! But hey, ‘ You know how to work the collars, right Titania?’ ‘ You know your way around the north, right Titania?!’ I could be working on one of my projects right now! But nooooo ! So we’re all gonna have to make do! Okay!”
The four stared at the twitching, overwhelmed Tinkaton as her heavy breaths were easily seen in the frigid air.
“Fine. If it’ll stop your squawking,” Blake said as he put away his weapons.
“Thank you…” she said through gritted teeth.
“Did Titania ask you to do that?” Jade asked as she leaned towards Aurora.
“No,” the Beartic huffed. “They were giving me a headache.”
“Now let’s go! We don’t have all Arceus-damn day!” Titania shouted as she hopped down.
Aurora couldn’t make it out, but the Tinkaton was muttering something about ‘being valuable’ and ‘sending someone else’.
The sun painted the sky a brilliant orange as it began to set, and the five pokemon had begun to set up camp for the night. Titania was tempted to take down a tree, both out of frustration and the need for firewood, but figured it would be better to let the others do it while she cooled off.
“And here I thought the collars would activate if we strayed too far,” Jade loudly remarked as she picked up sticks with her psychokinesis.
“They do! So don’t even think about running off!” Titania answered as she leaned against her massive wrench.
“So is this to keep track of us, are ya just fucking lazy?” Blake asked, leaning against a tree and crossing his arms.
“My vote is lazy,” Aurora grumbled before walking further into the nearby grove.
“Sometimes I wonder where exactly the guild went wrong,” Jade said as she followed the Beartic.
Aurora huffed. “It’s not just the guild. It’s Pyre and his damned council.”
“The problem is that he surrounds himself with yes-mons. And the one time they push back against him, he goes behind their backs to put these on our necks,” Jade said with ire, snapping the sticks in her psychic grasp.
“Cowards, the lot of them.”
Aurora raised a brow and leered at the Gardevoir, finding her insight to be a bit specific. Noticing her teammate’s change in demeanor, Jade quickly glanced away. “I knew someone on the council is all…”
“So what did you do before Black Forest?” she asked to change the subject.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Aurora grumbled before using Slash on one of the smaller evergreens.
Lifting up the felled tree over her shoulder, the Beartic turned to face the way she came. But after a few steps, Aurora stopped and lowered the tree.
“Why are you so interested in me?” she asked, turning her head back towards the Gardevoir.
“As you can imagine, I am rather limited in my options for engaging conversation nowadays,” answered Jade. “And aside from not irritating me, you… remind me of someone.”
Giving an annoyed huff, Aurora picked the tree back up and walked back towards the team’s campsite.
“I told you to get firewood, not the whole damn tree!” Titania reprimanded as Aurora passed her.
“Wood is wood,” the Beartic dismissively said in response.
Dumping the small tree on top of the fire pit, Aurora and the others stared at the log in silence. “It’s too damn big!” Titania scolded. “And while we’re at it, wasteful.”
“You made these collars, didn’t you? I’m sure you can figure it out,” Jade snidely said.
That night, the five sat around the crackling fire in complete silence. That is until Obsidian loudly groaned as he fell backwards. “You know, I’m pretty damn sure that when most ‘mons go camping, they do shit to pass the time!”
“Yeah, they fucking sleep,” Blake said as he picked his teeth with one of his spikes.
“I was thinking we could tell stories.”
“Think we’ve heard enough of your bloody stories,” Blake dismissively told the Lycanroc.
“But this is a good one. Trust me,” Obsidian said, quickly pulling himself up and clearing his throat.
“Alright, so once there was two pokemon walking down a path in the dead of night. A Typhlosion and a Leafeon. They’d spent the last few in the woods for a reason they couldn’t quite remember. All that was on their minds now was making it back to the distant cluster of lights they called home.”
The others had initially planned on tuning Obsidian out, but they all found themselves passively listening to what he had to say.
“But by the time they made it back, not one pokemon seemed to acknowledge them. Glancing at each other’s bloodied forms, they simply figured the crimson stains were kind of a turn off. I mean, who wants to talk to a guy covered in blood, right? But with how long they’ve been gone, they at least hoped someone would stop to welcome them back,” the Lycanroc said before holding out his paws and giving a slight shrug.
Obsidian then went into some rather graphic details about the character’s appearance as they looked themselves over in a shop’s window. Jade and Aurora were visibly uncomfortable, the former more so as she glared and turned her head to the side.
“I think we get the picture,” Jade remarked. The Lycanroc rolled his eyes and continued his story.
“Over the next few days they still weren’t noticed by anyone aside from each other, and was starting to drive them mad. That was until a pair of mangled bodies were brought into the town. A crowd gathered around them, the chaos getting their attention. Shoving their way past the crowd, the Typhlosion and a Leafeon looked at the ground to see two pokemon that looked just like them-”
“Wait,” Titania interrupted. “How’d you know all that stuff?”
Obsidian froze up. “Whatcha talking about?”
“There’s an unsolved murder file back at the guild that’s believed to be connected to you.”
Hearing this, the others turn to the Lycanroc with varied levels of disgust.
“Yeah… I’m fuckin’ going to sleep,” Blake said before laying down.
Sliding closer to Aurora and looking at Titania, Jade’s brow raised in suspicion. “You are tying him up before we go to sleep, right?”
Jade couldn’t sleep, not being used to spending nights outside in the cold. And while the tent Aurora had set up was keeping the falling snow away, the cold winds of the night found its way inside as she laid on the cold, hard ground.
The Gardevoir shivered in place as the minutes scraped by, her cloak only able to provide so much warmth. Closing her eyes, she began to think about everything that had led up to this point. Her fight with Pyre, her time on the city council, and even some time before then.
Jade raised an arm and stared at her golden bracelet and the mega stone attached to it. “You’d probably be screaming at me right now,” she mumbled.
The moment after she said this however, Jade felt movement from the Beartic behind her.
“I take it that you can’t sleep either,” the Gardevoir remarked.
A short sniffle broke the bout of heavy silence that hung over them, followed by a shift of Aurora’s arm. “Something like that,” she answered, still facing away from Jade.
After another string of silence, Aurora spoke up again. “You can get closer if you’re cold.”
Come sunrise, the group of five continued their trek across the snow covered land. And after a few hours, the outline of a town formed in the distance.
While not hailing from Ironpost, Aurora did recognise it upon arriving past its gates. She had traveled here a couple of times before on occasional supply runs, but never stayed for too long. The mining town was a large accumulation of log cabins and stone houses that all looked like they had seen better days. No permanent roads lined the snow-covered ground, but rather sloppy dug out paths.
A few pokemon could be seen standing about, either downing a drink, or idly chatting with each other as the heavy sounds of scraping and shifting rock, metal, and wood filled the background. Other pokemon were busy lugging around tools, crates and other materials. Some worked at their own pace, while others were more focused. But overall the energy was low, as a depressing aura loomed over the town.
It was a good distance south of her hometown, however Ironpost was much closer to the Ironwood Wilds, practically bordering it. Aurora knew that like Sleetpass, this town had a rocky relationship with the guild as they too had received little help in regards to the shadows. And the townsfolk were a lot less forgiving due to prior issues in the past involving the Bastion and trade. Aurora could only hope that Titania’s presence wouldn’t draw too much attention.
“Hey!” A Coalossal shouted, the ebony rock-skinned reptile beckoning a group of pokemon over. “Look what the big boys in Bastion finally sent over!”
“You should’ve taken that scarf off,” Aurora quietly said, glancing down at Titania.
Loosely lifting the end of her red bandana, the Tinkaton shrugged. “Let’em come, they won’t do shit .”
Hearing Titania’s remark, the pokemon scoffed and turned away before returning to work.
“I can at least understand why they are rather cross with the guild,” Jade remarked as she crossed her arms. “If I recall, Bastion has a habit of screwing them over for their work.”
Blake snickered. “Well, good to know we’re not the only ones they treat like shit.”
“Yes, that’s all very sad,” an annoyed Obsidian piped up. “But when do we get to the exciting stuff?”
Almost as if the Lycanroc had manifested it, a sudden rumbling reverberated through the town.
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