[PKMN FULL] Crimson Dawn: A Tale of Conquest (IC)

Punisher, of course, made his way to Garland's side and happily flexed his arms, "Yeah! Ground team rocks! Get it? Cause rocks and ground!" He smirked at his pun. Oh yeah, he had this in the bag!

Garland shook his head, glancing to the right where Jacob had already used his teleportation gem. "Gather around me, everyone, this should only take a moment." Once the ground team had formed a circle around the leader, he raised his own teleportation gem like Jacob did a few moments ago and, after the gem glowed bright purple for a moment, they too were gone. Their feet touched lush, wet and overgrown grass the moment they landed. Garland's fur shook slightly as he took in all the humidity of the Hesperian grasslands. He could tell which way the river that ended into a lake was, so he would lead the others into the opposite direction: to Stoneyard. "Follow me, brothers, it shouldn't be long before we reach the Chapel."

It was a ten minute walk through a path of grass to the Evening's Light Chapel; the Gold Tribe first saw a still, thick rectangular shadow, just a few yards away. The faintest hint of candlelight was coming from it; it was a building, no doubt. Garland advised everyone to proceed with caution - the priests may have been expecting enemies instead of the Gold Tribe. Ducking low so the tall grass provided cover, Garland and company approached the building silently, like they had been taught in ECUL.

Garland's ears twitched in search of sounds. The night was still and wet around them; he detected no soul nearby, except some Bunnelbys, and whispering that came from the building. "I hear whispers from the chapel," he informed the others quietly, "we'll have to determine if they're truly the priests we are looking for."

Punisher grinned, "Heh, or we can bust in." He said with a nod, "We ARE Gold Tribe after all, anything those priests throw at us won't even make us twitch. Besides we need to go fast right? We just get in, tell that we're Gold Tribe, and everything will be alright." He glanced at the door, "If they aren't the priests we just move on. Either we fight back or we don't so why not just get it over with?"

"Anyways...I could sneak closer on my own and check in. If they are the ones we are looking for I can signal you and then we would attack," Guardian suggested, keeping low along with the others.

"Agreed, Guardian, go," the Floatzel leader gestured to the chapel, "and have your insignia held high. Whether it be enemies or friends we find here, we want them to know we are the Gold Tribe."

"Yes sir," he nodded confidently. He wore his insignia on his chest, moving quietly and quickly up to the building. Carefully he watched the the pokémon inside, observing them to see if they were the ones they were looking for. Suddenly, the heavy door of the building creaked as it opened. A large, dark gap remained for a moment, then a creepy form materialized in the doorstep, lighting the night bright yellow: a Gourgeist. The ghost let out a cry, waving its eerie limbs in the air slowly, looking towards Guardian's direction as if he could see the Ninetales.

"Who gooooes there? Gooo back... gooo back..." he cried, apparently trying his best to sound like a scary ghost. Garland and the rest of the group quickly caught up with Guardian, afraid that he was being attacked.

"What in the hell are you doin'?" another voice said, smacking the gourgeist on the back of the head. A Breloom stepped out of the chapel, looking out into the distance. The grass-type saw Guardian, and the rest of the group arriving nearby. He was about to launch into an offense, until he suddenly realized their insignias: Gold Tribe. The Breloom turned towards the Gourgeist. "Stand down, these fellas are on our side." He looked out towards the rest of the Gold Tribe. "Don't worry, we're just a little... antsy, that's all. Don't know who's friend or foe in this bloody darkness."

"OOOhhh, thank Arceus and the heavens above," the Gourgeist cried out, "the Gold Tribe! We're saved!"

A bunch of ghost-type Pokemon appeared on the doorstep of the Chapel: Chandelure and Lampent, more Gourgeist, a Trevenant and a few Haunters. They started murmuring with each other, till the Gourgeist said, "come quickly, outsiders, into the Chapel you go!"

"I suppose we'll leave the introductions for later," Garland muttered and gestured to the others to follow him. The heavy door of the Evening's Light Chapel closed behind them with a steel sound. Then the introductions begun. "Garland the Exalted," the Floatzel said immediately, "at your services. And this is Pyro, Punisher, Peacekeeper, the Flash and Knight. You are safe with us; who is in charge here?"

"I am, I am," the Gourgeist said, "I'm Father Meladius, and this man here is called Eli," he pointed at the Breloom.

"A pleasure," Eli said with a slight bow. "I've heard so much about the Gold Tribe, all good things, I assure you."

"Shall we have a seat?" The ghost pointed at the long benches of the abandoned Chapel. The room was pretty much in ruins; hardly anything wasn't thrown over, walls were broken and part of the roof was missing. A rope was hanging from the tower of the Chapel, right above the altar on the very far end of the room. The glass windows were colored but they were either broken or had had their color wear out with time. The place was a mess, but it should have been a perfect home for all the ghost types, who didn't seem to mind and instead loved the ruinous condition of the chapel.

"If you don't mind me asking what are you doing here? And what happened to the scientists?" Guardian inquired of the ghosts.

Punisher punched his fists together, "Yeah! We're here to kick some butt!" He said proudly, "Though I guess scientists aren't going to be too tough." He said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "So yeah, where are they? We'll be throwing them out of here soon enough, so no 'thank yous' are necessary."

The Gourgeist, Father Meladius, clutched his pumpkin-body with his hands. The markings of the eyes on the pumpkin had changed from sad to desperate. "Those fiends from Pyrgos arrived a week ago," he explained, "they chased us out of the holy graveyard--"

"And we bundl'd up here!" a Haunter screamed in Punisher's ear.

"Not now, Kristie," Father Meladius snapped, then turned to Garland. "There's hundreds and hundreds of these Pyrgos bugs camping around the midnight shrine - this is blasphemy, can you believe it?! - and no offense, keh, you bunch can't in a million years took them all by yourselves. And we couldn't just wait quietly for a pre-dawn with those defilers gone from our home - we hired a company."

Garland smirked, staring firmly at the Gourgeist. "Company? Like, a mercenary company?"

"Quite so. They were the nearest available company, about a hundred in numbers, the Imperatorium. Don't ask me what that means, because I've no idea."

"The Imperatorium," Garland repeated, astounded. He knew those guys - always going on about Hesperian pride and styling themselves saviors of the people and servants of the true king of Hesperia, Angelo Imperatore. A King that was dead for about five centuries! They believed he had turned to stone and waited for the great uprising of the Hesperian people in his name against the Emperor. And the company was without a doubt named after the law that one of his successors, Angelo III Imperatore, passed: the Imperatorium, which disallowed any Stygians from treading at Hesperian grounds at all. Garland remembered helping his sister, Ariadne, study history in the ECUL; they were laughing for hours when they read that Angelo III ruled for no more than five minutes after passing that law.

And the mighty company the ghosts hired to help them in their dire need were supporters of that disgrace of a King? They are certainly a joke, Garland thought wearily. But he had best not say that out loud.

Cassandra pondered over that name. "The Imperatorium..." she was only vaguely familiar with them, having heard several stories of their exploits during her time in the ECUL. Crazed Hesperian supremacists, all of them. Why Father Meladius would hire that sorry bunch of mercenaries was beyond her. They most likely took the job just for the chance to spill Stygian blood, rebel or otherwise.

Silent throughout the explanation, he assumed a rather puzzled expression upon hearing "Imperatorium". Looked to either side and saw rather weary expressions from both Cassandra and Garland. He assumed they knew in greater detail of this company but decided to ask of them later.

"And where would this company be now?" Sophia "Pyro" asked flatly, glancing around for a mercenary army hiding in plain sight inside the chapel.

"Interesting question," Father Meladius remarked, "they're, KEH," the Gourgeist and the rest of the ghosts laughed nervously. "Not arrived yet."

"Splendid," Garland laughed wearily, "then we shall start without them. Don't you worry yourself, they can join in later to clean up."

The Breloom laughed heartily at Garland's comment. "That's the spirit!" He looked over the rest of the Gold Tribe; they looked to be a capable and determined bunch, just as he would have imagined. "If there's anything I, or we, can do to help, please, don't hesitate to ask."

Noah nodded graciously. "Thank you. We will do our best."

Cassandra leaned over towards Garland, whispering to him. "What are we going to do about those mercenaries? I've heard things about them, none of them good. Are you sure we should be working with them?"

Garland nodded negatively. "No, it's certainly not a good idea." Then, to Father Meladius: "tell those... mercenaries that their services are no longer required," he said with distaste, and the Gourgeist bowed his pumpkin head briefly.

"As you wish."

"I'd much rather let this fellow help us out," Garland said, looking at Eli the Breloom intently. "You're able, aren't you? You look able. OK then," he glanced around to the gathered members of the Tribe. "A plan of action is required - we cannot just march in. I'll be hearing out any suggestions you may have."

"Me?" Eli said, puzzled. The Breloom shrugged slightly. "I ain't no stranger to combat, but I don't know if I can compare to you Gold Tribe fellas. I'll do my best, though."

Stealth Team 'Reaching Shadow Saber'​

Pendro Malis sighed. This wasn't the most ideal of situations for him; this place was creepy, and stealth was a heavy burden. As much as he hated the stress of combat, staying hidden was even more pressure on his naturally troubled mind. All-in-all, he'd much rather be with the ground team, but due to certain complications he'd wound up here. Admittedly, his floating and telekinetic powers did suit stealth somewhat, and his knowledge of old runic languages could prove useful, what with all the books he'd read - still, his personality wasn't really cut out for this; his eyes darted frantically from side to side, and every now and then he would visibly shiver from sheer discomfort.

"This is awesome," Zack was heard from the group, "I feel like an assassin, all sneaky and stuff. Like I'm a member of the Twilight Brotherhood. Heheheh," he rubbed his hands then fell on his four, and walked away on his own across the roof to the direction where Tavhir had gone. "Frank is missing out. Hey, how come there aren't any guards on the roof? Eh. Won't matter anyways. Check this out guys," he shouted, stopping and raising a small egg-shaped device. "Check this out. This makes us invisible, believe it or not, I just have to press the blue button right here..." he pressed it and the device buzzed. He glanced around, expecting for results. "According to my calculations, we should be invisible now..."

"A device to make us invisible?" Pendro was intrigued by the Electabuzz's claims. "Fascinating! Just, uh, one small possible problem - I can still see you. Like, completely."

"Huh?" Zack smirked, confused. "You can? Well, that's a bummer... I was really counting on this thing." He threw it backwards without a care in the world, then he noticed that the stealth team was splitting up. Tavhir had left first, Jacob had disappeared, Thrasher and Jeremy were gone already. "Oh my god!" he shouted, "we're alone! Pendro! We're alone," he cried, bringing his hand on his forehead, "why did I let this happen? Damnit! Okay, let's see," he reached into his belt, pulling out an instruction book and opening to read it. "'Basic Instructions for a Stealthy Approach', written by Dr. Bell. First, we walk on our toes, if we are bipedal Pokemon... Bipedal? What the hell does that even mean? Jeez, this is so complicated. Screw it! I'll just do it the Zack way. Help me out, will ya? "

"Um, bipedal means on two legs. You have two legs, you're bipedal- Uhp, where are you going? Wait for me!"

The Electabuzz begun sprinting across the roof, the wind roaring with his flight. Windy. The guards on the entrance of the Summit, right below him, seemed to have been distracted with something. He glanced behind him, at Pendro, and grinned, "you like some danger rush?"

"No! Please don't do anything too hasty, it's really not- oh, for Xerneas' sake..."

With that, Zack turned and leaped off the roof, shouting, "Target acquired! INCOMIN'." Sparks flew from his wrists as he fell like a thunder on one of the two guards, the Carracosta. "Advantage secured!" he shouted, landing the Thunder Punch with his right arm onto the Carracosta's back and delivering all the sparks into a painful shock. The Carracosta moaned and staggered, but Zack gave it no chance to recover; he landed a second, consecutive Thunder Punch with his left arm and watched the turtle roll away onto the cobblestone. ".150 Caliber T.P., multiplied by two, equals a dead you. Heh."

Pendro almost panicked - in fact, it's quite surprising that he didn't - psychically grabbing the second guard and ramming the Pyroar's head against the closest wall. "Zack!" The Metang hissed, bashing the guard's head with every other syllable. "You need to be more careful! Stop rushing everything!" The guard looked about to open its mouth to shout, but Psychic quickly shut the Pokémon's jaw and another swift slam against the wall sent it into unconsciousness.

Zack said, "you're right," and quickly rushed through the stone gates of the Spirit Summit. "Let's jet, man. Look, Gerrick's going ahead, let's follow him..." the Electabuzz stuck close to the wall of the Hall, watching the Krookodile move through the dark. Zack grinned to himself, admiring his brilliant plan: Gerrick was a master of stealth, being a dark-type. Surely, they couldn't get caught if they were with him.

"Oh, p- p- oh, poop. Zack! Look, look, slow down for just a second here... maybe take a little moment to consider whether you have any idea whatsoever of what you're doing..."

Zack stopped in his tracks, staring off to somewhere in the darkness. "You're right, yet again. Take the lead, Pedro; since you are the experienced one in matters of stealth," he said calmly.

"Um, my name's actually- uh, never mind, I... well, I'm not exactly, uh experienced as you would say, in the, uh, matter of stealth - in fact one could very well argue that I have, uh... no experience whatsoever. I do, though, know what stealth is, and it involves... not that."

"Then what d'you suggest we do?" He cracked his knuckles. "I'd like myself some brawling, is that stealthy enough?"

"No! No no no no no no no no no no no, avoiding conflict is somewhat paramount, actually, can we, uh, try not to do that? Ok, ok, ideas, ideas, um... well, following Gerrick is one option, as you suggested, but- wait, where did he go?" Pendro scanned the area, finding no sign of the Krookodile. "Um... oh dear, oh, dear- well, that option's out of the equation now, fantastic! Uh... well, we're here to look for the hostages, that's our objective, right; stick together, keep eyes out for both allies and possible enemies. Slip by if possible, confront only if necessary, avoid detection at all costs, ultimate goal is to find the captured Gold Tribe including the Crown Prince Cyrus..."

Petrina "Vanguard"; Brandifier "Fire King"

My head… what's going on?

Petrina felt numb. Any feeling she had was only replaced by a void, blackness, nothing. She could only feel pain - a sharp pain as if she had an iron bar wedged in her head, splitting it in two - only becoming worse and worse as her feeling slowly returned to her, only shortly followed by the bitter, ferrous taste of blood. Slowly, she realised she was on the ground - cold, hard stone. No, not just cold stone. It was wet. She could definitely feel the water.

Where am I?

She tried to pull her eyes open, and only one complied. Her left eye, stuck by something? She couldn't see much. Just a blur. Some kind of dim green glow, far away in front of her, but otherwise it was totally dark, only the slightest light to see by. Bringing herself to her feet was a slow and careful process, but one paw to the ground at a time could handle it. Lay down one foot, then another… and take it carefully. Gently, she shifted her weight onto her paws and struggled her way into a standing position. Quietly, the Glaceon whispered to herself. "Okay. You don't know where you are.. one step at a time.." and only then did she realise that her voice was… the only thing she could hear. Standing still and listening, there wasn't a single sound she wasn't making, only her breathing, getting heavier by the second.

"One step at a time, Petrina. You don't know what kind of traps are around." Oddly, hearing the sound of her own voice was a comfort, almost some kind of confirmation that she wasn't dead yet. The pain reminded her too. She tried to focus on the source of the light, but found it almost impossible with only one eye open. She had a suspicion about her other eye, and raising her paw to her eye, she knew it would be red before she even drew it back. Blood had a certain unmistakable way of matting her fur; but at least now with it out of her eye she could open them both, and try to focus. To work out where she was and even… how did she even get here… Never mind. One foot in front of the other. Just keep walking. Watch out for traps.

As she continued, Petrina became more and more aware of her surroundings. It didn't take long for the sound of even a small splash as her paw hit the standing water to sound like company, but it was giving away where she was. Against the precious little light, she made out the edges of rock-faces. Some kind of cave system. As her eyes adjusted to the glow, she began looking at the walls, looking for weak rocks, traps… anything that could help or hinder her getting out. So much did she focus on that, that she seemed to be neglecting to look in front of her…

smack

She walked dead-on into what seemed to be the largest rock in the whole place. Something blocking the whole passageway. Quietly cursing herself for not paying enough attention, recoiling from the impact, she took a closer look at the rock in question - something had felt weird when she'd walked in to it - but on closer inspection… it seemed to be another pokémon! And a really warm one at that - maybe some kind of Fire pokémon? Truthfully, she was at a loss for what to do? Was this pokémon friendly? Was it not? What even was it?

Then the Pokémon let out a deep growl; it rose in a sitting position, a dark mountain above her. "Who…?" he said gruffly.

"P-Petrina. Vanguard if you'd prefer, of the Gold Tribe." Petrina quietly cursed herself. If this wasn't a pokémon she knew, identifying herself as Gold Tribe was just asking for some kind of trouble…

"Mffh," the Pokemon responded. Suddenly, the cave lit somewhat by flames in front of Petrina: the mountain turned out to be an Emboar with a fiery beard. His flames were weaker than a candle's. "Vanguard? I know you… I'm Brand, Fire King. I'd show you my badge, but that fool Polo took it away. Ungghh," the Emboar moaned, rubbing his backside. Wounds littered his body, one of his tusks was missing; he seemed to have been unconscious before Petrina bumped into him. "What a miserable, pathetic way to die," he murmured, then he let out a weary laugh, turning to look at Petrina directly. "You have any water, lady? I don't normally ask for water, but… I've been two weeks down here."

"No... I haven't got anything... How... how did they get you like this? Where are we? Are there others?" Petrina's mind jumped with questions and she fired them with all speed at Fire King until she realised: None of it was important. At least, not immediately. The important part was getting out. "Look, I don't care what you're saying, you're not going to die down here. I'm sure both of us have bigger plans for this rebellion than to just die in a hole." Even as the words left her mouth she doubted them; Brand looked like he couldn't even stand, much less fight his way out, and if he'd been down here for two weeks, then surely, the way out wasn't easy to find. If there even was one.

Surprisingly, Brand rose to his feet, though not without effort. He grunted, but he made it; he was preserving his energy all this time, it seemed. "You got it wrong. I don't intend to die here," he declared. "But things aren't looking too bright either, are they? Say, you weren't in the negotiations party. We got sent by the Exalted to treat with Chantalai after we got word of the rebellion, and uhh…" he coughed a bit, "that didn't go too well. Shadowrend and half of the team went down, and the rest were caught… that foul, treacherous lord needs to be hanged." He paused for a bit, looking at the Glaceon questioningly, "how'd you get here?"

"They got Shadowrend? That's... heavy." Petrina could only managed to paw at the ground. There never were quite the right words for a loss that big. After a time, she let away a sorry sigh. "I'm going to have to think hard about myself though. That kinda hurts right now." She half-joked. "I mean, a lot of it's just a blur... I remember... I remember I started the battle at Xeo... but past that... I just don't know. I might have gone down in that fight, but... I don't know."

"Alrighty sister, no need to think that hard now. We're deep into the Summit, and all we need is a way outta here. Bugger the details for now," Brand said with a jolly, bloodied smile and laughed wearily again as he patted her on her back with his massive palm, a bit too clumsily. "Follow my lead." With his fiery beard, his path in the dark cave was somewhat lit, though his flames weren't the only source of light in the cave. The Emboar walked past some huge mushrooms that were glowing ominously blue and green, growing on the rocky walls. In the path ahead of them, the cave seemed to be full of the numb glow of the mushrooms and the dense, impenetrable darkness.

Thrasher - Splitting up… *sigh*​

As soon as he had dumped the body Thrasher wiped off his hands and quickly laid down low to the ground as he looked back over to where he had come from. Thankfully it seemed that no one had caught sight of what he had been doing, but the others had already gone off on their own. Hopefully they had taken his advice and had stayed in groups. In any case he slowly made his way along the rocky ground, making sure to find cover behind any large rocks whenever he could. He had no idea if they had flying scouts who would make passes so he would have to just trust his instincts. As he waited behind one rock he quickly pulled out his journal and glanced over it. "Okay… wherever they were being kept… it was near some natural ground. The summit is built on the land of course so the best bet would be to head down and find the room they were kept in. Hopefully there would be some sort of clues there…"

He glanced back at the summit and knew that once he slipped inside he would have to cease his one sided conversations. There would probably be all sorts of things to trip him up. He doubted that they would put traps where guards were, but they had sent Brynjolf to them as a messenger… so either they were expecting any Gold Tribe who came to be easily captured… or to suffer some other fate.

In terms of this operation, he had to think of everything that could possibly go wrong and even think of the most convoluted traps that his mind could think up of. As long as he stayed cautious throughout this ordeal then he wouldn't end up dead. First… he had to review the mission objectives. That was simple, first off he had to infiltrate the area WITHOUT being seen or tripping any alarms. Second, he had to find a way to descend into the summit itself where there would probably be tight corridors and even more guards. He would try to find some sort of cells and if the prisoners weren't there then he would have to find that room he saw in the memory and see if he could find some evidence of where they had been taken. No doubt if he found some guards while there he could interrogate them. The guards up top probably wouldn't know much of the prisoners, only those who would guard over them would know.

He took a look over his checklist once more as he scanned the names. Brandifer "Fire King", Laila "Spinebreaker", Ileas "Champion", Simon "Cloe", and of course Cyrus. He didn't know any of them personally, which is why had to make this checklist. This would at least keep him on track if he ever got confused along the way. He just had to find those five and find them fast. HOPEFULLY they were all in the same spot… though it would be actually very smart of the Stygians to have kept them all apart and in various locations.

Thrasher glanced past his hiding spot and at the summit and placed his journal back in his pack. Now was better than never, and so he proceeded to dash between cover, every so often peeking up at the two Hitmonlees that guarded the entrance. So far so good… if he took them out now then that would only alert those inside once another guard did step out. He would have to keep them up and conscious then. He managed to use the shadows to his advantages, though his gold band did give off a bit of light. He placed himself against the wall as he grabbed his symbol and finally stuffed it in his small pack. Since only his journal was in there, then it wouldn't clang against anything.

He peered around the corner and thought hard. He wasn't small like Tahvir was, which was probably why the guards were still there and hadn't raised an alarm. He picked up a rock and tossed it up and down in his hand, "Here goes nothing." He murmured to himself as he pulled his arm back and threw it hard. Thankfully it sailed over some large rocks and clattered about.

"Hey I heard something. Go check it out!" One of the hitmons said.

"Not my turn." The other remarked, "Why don't YOU check it out?"

The first one rolled his eyes, "Oh why do I have to?"

"You heard it. I didn't hear anything." He crossed his arms, "So you go check out your noise."

Thankfully the hitmons were talking loudly enough that Thrasher quickly dashed behind them and into the summit. He didn't stop there as he kept his eyes peeled. He had never been inside this place, and although he wanted to take in the sights he knew his mission was far more important.

He made a right down the first hallway and kept on running, his feet padding lightly against the stone. As he ran along the dark hallway a strange sensation ran up his spine. Anxiety. He gripped his bag and took in a deep breath to calm himself down. Now was not the time to revert. He had to go in and get out. He wasn't looking to cause a massacre already.

He glanced past a corner and saw two guards making their way to him. He stepped back and noticed there were some indents along the wall. For a few seconds he could feel his training coming back to him. It was like that one job where he climbed up to the apartment. He gripped one of the indents and quickly began to pull himself up, his strength really coming in handy as he reached the roof. He quickly spread his arms and gripped another ledge to steady himself as his toes tucked in as well. He gently calmed his breathing as the two guards passed by, not noticing him among the shadows, "-that's what I'm saying. If one could get out then the others could too. Kids never give up."

Thrasher waited until the sounds of their voices faded before he pushed himself off the wall and lightly landed on the ground. Someone had gotten out? Kids? Well… there were orphans here… but he couldn't think on that now!

He glanced once more past the corner and made a sprint down the turning hallway. His eyes glanced about, trying to figure out where a set of stairs might be. Surely the stairs weren't guarded. He made another right and saw several doors that he wasn't the least bit curious to peer into. There was a torch on one wall and a set of stairs that led down. He gave the area another glance before he quickly made his way down the stairs. He paused every so often to quickly glance back up to see if anyone had spotted him, but it looked like no guards were patrolling this area at the moment.

He kept on descending and once he had reached the end of the stairs he knew where he was. There were steel cells all around and he smirked a bit. At least he was in the right place… or a potential right place. He glanced around left and right and slowly stalked forward. He kept silent as he waited for the guards posted to eventually start talking or start walking around, yet no sounds echoes around the largely empty area. He soon found himself straightening his back and getting out of his stealth pose.

"Where is everyone?" He murmured to himself as he looked at the various empty cells. "Well… this was but one part of the cells hopefully. Surely there were other areas that could hold their brothers and sisters captive, though for now he whipped out his journal and quickly jotted this note down. If they had been here though… they were here for at least a month, meaning that there would be at least some dried blood stains if they had been kept in this set of cells. He put his journal back up and began walking along, glancing into the cells to see if there were any contents disturbed. Cyrus did have fur, so it was possible that some white tuft had managed to get caught in at least one of the doors, maybe some Urasring shed fur, or even a crushed spike that had fallen off of a Cacturne.

He paused in the center of the room and cast a glance around yet again, "No blood…" He murmured, "So… they might not have been brought in here… either that or it was cleaned up or they were kept here for some time but not bloodied up yet." He said to himself. "Though… that room. I need to find a way into that room. There can't be many staircases so one of them has got to lead down that far."

He wasn't ready to give up yet, not until he had at least scanned every inch of the ground and bars. There had to be a clue here, he was sure of it. It just required a bit of patience…

~~~~


Thrasher could find not find one shred of evidence here. It was as if the cells had never been used... and if that was the case then why wasn't there an ambush set up? They had gotten Brynjolf's message, they would naturally investigate the cells and any other prison like area that was set up here... so why not have some ghosts or sneaky types lying in wait? It didn't make any sense to Thrasher... that is unless someone was following him and he just wasn't aware of it. He gripped his bag a bit tighter as he headed back up the stairs softly and cautiously glanced around.

He did see another hallway and so he quickly rushed that one, every so often having to hide in a dark corner or climb the rocky indents of a wall to avoid being seen. Still, he had no idea how large the summit was and if it was very large underneath, then they would most likely fail in their mission. He had no idea if the others had already glanced in other rooms or even had gone underneath the summit. Now that he truly thought about it, this whole plan was a joke. They would have been far better off if only one pokemon had come in, at the very least he wouldn't be wasting time looking in areas that had already been checked!

He glanced around a corner and made a dash down another hallway, breathing as softly as he could before he paused. There was another set of steps here and so he rushed down them. If he overlooked every single stair case then he would eventually miss some important clue. He kept his footsteps soft and as he got closer he froze up. He could hear noises and that immediately caused him to press his back against the wall in fright. He took in a deep breath and slowly descended. He formed his hand into a fist as he kept on creeping down. He had to check out if there were cells down here... and if guards blocked him then he either had to wait it out or start knocking them out.

Tavhir, keys in hand, began to make his way back to the orphans, until he realized that he had left the bloody corpse of the Vigoroth out in the open. He rushed back towards the body, frantically looking around for a place to hide it.

"Come on, come on, think!" Tavhir thought to himself, before an idea hit him. He grabbed the body, dragging it over to a nearby, vacant cell. He placed the body face-up on the ground, then took a nearby worn blanket, placing it over to hide the 'mon. With any luck, passers-by would think it a prisoner sleeping, and if they didn't, well, hopefully he'd be long gone by the time they figured out. For now, it would have to do. He quietly closed the gate to the cell and locked it, glancing around to make sure nobody was around. Just when he thought the coast was clear, he caught movement... a shadow of someone, creeping down the steps. Tavhir panicked slightly, trying to find someplace to hide. He ran down the hallway opposite the stairs, and turned the corner, pressing his back against the wall, peering ever so slightly around the corner at the stairs.

Thrasher kept his breathing shallow as he began to focus his energy, making sure that his first hit would would at least strike close to some critical region. Maybe if he got lucky enough he could interrogate the guard without him crying out for more backup. He slowly shuffled his feet along the stone, then he whizzed around the corner. He caught sight of something metal and without delay his fist flew out to smash into whoever it was, but as his fist flew forward he suddenly realized his mistake as he twisted his limb. HIs skin barely brushed by Tavhir's head as it slammed into the wall behind him. Tavhir flinched, ready to retaliate, until he realized whom it was that had thrown the punch.

Thrasher was silent for a moment as he stared wide eyed at his brother before hastily pulling his hand back, "So... have you found anything on your end of the woods?" He asked as he stepped back.

"Geez!" Tavhir said, slightly shocked from the punch that nearly hit his face. He turned to face the wall, seeing the stone visibly cracked and chipping in several places from where Thrasher had struck. "An inch to the left and I'd be pawniard-soup!"

Thrahser rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "Well that's the kind of training I've had." He dropped his sack and pulled out his journal as he flipped through it. "I've found no traces of the others. I made it down a stairway figuring that they might be lower in the summit. Remember in the memory? We did see naturally growing rocks down there, so that led me to believe if we head down far enough we might reach this cavern too. I did check some cells but as I see now..." He glanced at the other cells. "That there are more cells to check."

He raised his eyebrow as he saw the Vigoroth, "Good work on that guy. In any case have you found anything? Did you interrogate him? If he's down here he could possibly be a guard and know where the others are held."

"Unfortunately, I did not," Tavhir answered, looking over towards the Vigoroth in the cell. "He nearly caught me, so I was forced to, well, silence him, before he could alert anybody." He turned back towards Thrasher, holding up the key ring he had lifted off the Vigoroth's corpse. "Fortunately, he did have keys on hand. And that's not all. I found a group of orphans being held here by the rebels. However..." he thought back on his encounter with the group in the cell. "One of them mentioned Polo by name, and accused me of being a spy. I think they know more than they're letting on. I lied and told them I was a traveler, so they don't know I'm Gold Tribe... yet."

Thrasher nodded, "Then they'll know as soon as you take me to them. Now if they have been kept here it's likely they have overheard some things. Maybe even taunted to about how Gold Tribe are being kept as fellow prisoners. Maybe to even break their spirit, our brothers have been marched in and beaten there to try and demoralize them. Did they mention any names? Anything about others being there? Specific species or what not?"

Tavhir shook his head. "I asked if they knew other prisoners. That's when one of them accused me of being a spy. I panicked a bit, so I didn't press the matter further. Aside from Polo, nobody else was mentioned."

Thrasher nodded once more as he picked up his bag again, "Alright then. What did they mention of Polo?"

"Not much," Tavhir shrugged. "One of them thought I was spying, and mentioned something about Polo having sent me. The one who accused me was quickly shushed by the others, though. I think they're trying to hide something."

Thrasher nodded, "We'll need to find out what they know, tell them we're not with Polo, and even see if they know what happened to the others. If Polo is trying to interrogate them, then it could be that our brothers shared the cell with them and they got told some secret." He placed his journal back in, "Lead the way. Once we get there I'll do the talking, I have more experience with it than you."

"Agreed," Tavhir said, before heading down the corridor, motioning for Thrasher to follow.

Getting info​

"Hey! Heeeeey! Anyone up there?" one of the orphans shouted from down their cell.

"He left," another one said, "I knew it, he was just a spy."

The headmistress was shouting: "Tavhir! Tavhir! Oh, Arceus, why did he leave us? And he seemed such a good boy..."

Thrasher glanced over at Tavhir and then shouted on back, "He didn't leave anyone. He's right here with me." Thrasher made his way along as he kept on talking, "Tavhir isn't good with these kinds of situations, but I am. My name is Demetrus Sinclair, also known as Thrasher. I'm a member of the Gold Tribe. Tavhir here is known as the Restless, another Gold Tribe member. In case you are wondering, Polo is no longer considered Gold Tribe, he left the organization when this war started. Please hold all questions until I am finished explaining but several days ago Alamagna was attacked and we managed to capture some of the rebels. Luckily we managed to find out from them that this whole area was taken under their control. We didn't realize that before considering we were concerned with keeping Alamagna safe. In any case we also found out that some of our brothers and sisters were taken prisoner here and that's why we're here... and thus consider it luck that we came upon you as we were looking for them."

"Ah! The Gold Tribe!" The Lilligant sounded from inside the hole. "We're saved! Ohhh," she exhaled. "Oh, the relief! Would you be so kind to throw us a rope?"

Thrasher blinked as he saw the cell itself and sighed, "He didn't tell me it was a hole..." He muttered to himself. "Alright you all. I will ask this, try not to make any more noise okay? There are still guards about and we can't risk having the noise echo around up here. Stay calm while I try to find some rope around here." He looked about at the other cells and realized that some of them had beds. It was easy enough to force the doors open and his strength helped as ripped apart the fabric and began to tie the mangled beds altogether. "Tavhir, while I'm busy here go and keep an eye on the stairs. Can't risk having a guard coming down here with no warning."

Tavhir nodded, running back down to the end of the hallway, out of sight of the Thrasher. The Primeape made his way to the cell and tied one end of the makeshift rope to some bars and called down, "I'm throwing a rope down and I'll be coming down with the key. Be patient for just a while longer." Thrasher dropped the other end of the rope down into the hole and slid down it, landing down into the pit.

Orphans came pouring out of the cell.

"Thank you sir," the Lilligant said, "your timing was perfect. We were waiting for Mr. Kagemusha to arrive, but you beat him to it, it seems!"

Thrasher blinked at that, "Mr... Kagemusha." He was silent for a bit, "We'll I'm late on what is going on, but I filled you in on my side. Now.. do you mind if you answer some questions? I am in need of answers, now please don't try to talk over each other. My first question is this. We are looking for several of our brothers and sisters who were captured before the war broke out. Their names are Cyrus, Brandifer, Laila, Ileas, and Simon. They consisted of a Beartic, Cacturne, Goodra, Ursaring, and Embroar. Have you either seen or heard of them and do you know where they might presently be kept?"

"Nope, never heard of them," the Scyther said, crossing his scythes and staring at Thrasher examiningly. "Where's your badge, Gold Tribe?"

Thrasher reached into his pack and pulled out the golden band, "This is mine." He said. "I presume the others were missing theirs? Back in Alamagna we managed to find out that they were badly beaten. It is imperative that we find and rescue them."

Helena tilted her head, looking troubled. "Are you sure your friends are here?"

Thrasher sighed, "Truth be told, this was going off of a hunch. We were pointed here when we saw a memory from one of our prisoners. We weren't sure at first where the memory took place, but we did see an underground area with runes covering parts of the ground. The Trade Prince himself recognized the ruins and theorized that the memory took place here, and that is why we are here now. Were they here at some point in the past or have you not seen or heard about them?"

"They've never effing been here, we told ya," the Scyther snapped.

The Lilligant looked at Thrasher apologetically. "The Trade Prince must have been mistaken... though I do wonder why all these people have showed up. Mr Kagemusha said it would be alright, so..." She looked towards the stairs, in search for the Pangoro, "he hasn't arrived yet, it seems..."

Thrasher sighed, "I... am sorry. Mr. Kagemusha... is allied with the rebels. We saw him in Alamagna as he helped to lay waste to the city and in the memories we even saw him enacting plans with the leaders of the rebellion. Did he say anything else to you all? If he did lead you down here then it was likely that he was doing it only to get you all out of the way. So far scientists have gathered around the shrine up there."

"Mr Kagemusha?" Helena asked, as if she could not believe what she was hearing. "Absolutely not, sweetheart. We haven't seen him in some time, though... the younger ones have not met him yet, though I am sure they would be delighted to!"

"Mr Kagemusha! Mr Kagemusha!" Some of the younger orphans formed a circle around the Lilligant and started dancing and screaming the Pangoro's name. Helena shushed them and looked apologetically at Thrasher again and said, "sorry. They've been brought up with stories of the teacher's brilliance!"

Thrasher was silent for a moment, "What exactly has he taught you about?" Thrahser asked, "I am quite curious. I have heard talk of a Caretaker before, has he said anything about that? Or about this rebellion for that matter?"

The Lilligant's face darkened upon the mention of the Caretaker. Though when she spoke, respect was apparent in her voice. "The Caretaker," she repeated, "I have not heard of that title for many years. The Caretaker... is the head of the family that rules Stoneyard. Well... they ruled, till the last of them, Mr Kagemusha, disappeared... we thought he was gone forever, but now he told us he would be returning! And with a new member for the family, it seems. Oh! Praise Arceus! A new Caretaker has been found!"

"What do you mean a new member?" He asked slowly,

"Oh," Helena said cheerfully, "the Kagemusha family does not care for bloodlines. They usually adopt heirs to their fortune..."

"I am sorry if I seem to be disrespectful, but I have never heard of the Caretaker before, nor did I know he ruled Stoneyard. I am simply trying to understand to the best of my knowledge, and obviously someone as intelligent as yourself can give me some more information about this subject."

"'Obviously someone as intelligent as yourself can give me some more information about this subject'," the Scyther mocked, "you're a boot licker!"

"Quiet!" Helena snapped, slapping the Scyther, who cowered back from her blow. She turned her attention to Thrasher. She must've realized that she'd said something wrong, because she was now upset. "I shouldn't be giving out family secrets... Mr Kagemusha will be angered."

Thrasher smiled a bit, "Not if it helps someone else understand and respect the Caretaker. If I am able to understand and appreciate this Caretaker too, then surely it is worth it? I imagine it is similar to trying to tell someone who knows nothing about Arceus about how Arceus works and teaching them how to respect Arceus. It works in Arceus' favor because he gains one more follower. Would the same not be said for the Caretaker?"

The Lilligant rubbed her chin, glancing to the ceiling. "Maybe... I guess. What do you mean by follower, though? Like, a fan?"

Thrasher nodded, "You can say. What if one day I do come face to face with the Caretaker? At that point if I knew nothing about him I wouldn't know how to respect him. This Caretaker though I hear is a king. That is a rumor I have heard, but outside of Stoneyard I have not heard much else about this being. Is he really a king?"

Helena widened her eyes, showing confusion. "A K-King, you say?" she stammered, "you must be out of your mind... the Caretaker is only the head of the Kagemusha family. Nothing else, sweetheart..." she smirked, "what is this all about? Where did you hear such nonsense?"

Thrasher smiled a bit, trying his best to look embarrassed, "Well, it's just I have heard stories, small scraps of tales. Many outside of Stoneyard don't talk about him. I guess curiosity overwhelms me at times. I tend to let my need for answers overwhelm me. It is my weakness."

Punisher all the while happily cracked his knuckles, "Why should we go in all secret like? If we all put our strength together we could hurl something at them. Hit them by surprise while they are all in a group and SLAM! They get crushed. It's fool proof!"

Garland nodded, considering the Machamp's proposition. "That might surprise them, but it may not work quite in our favor in the long run. We must strike at the right moment, at the right place... and perhaps with a fitting distraction."

Punisher tilted his head, "So... should we cause a really loud noise somewhere or something? I know whenever I hear a loud noise I always turn to hear it." He gave a meek shrug.

"Maybe a kind of hit-and-run tactic would work?" Cassandra suggested, her hand resting on her chin as she pondered. "Our quickest members could engage the enemy and then run off. That could draw some of the rebels away... we might even be able to lure them into an ambush."

Punisher punched one fist into his hand, "And then that's when we SMASH them! ... Right?"

Cassandra grinned. "Yes, that would be when we 'smash' them, so to speak."

Punisher chuckled, "Heh, I can smash them up real good." He placed his two lower hands on his hips, "But who would lure them in? I mean, just taunting them won't be enough and they're scientists. They wear glasses and slouch over, they won't come out to start fighting one on one with us."

"That's true," Cassandra replied. "We'd have to give them incentive to come after us if we went with that plan."

"They might only be scientists, but I reckon they'll be able fighters, if they're here," Garland mused, stroking his neck's fur. "Don't underestimate them. I like the sound of an ambush. Hear my suggestion: we divide our group in two. Group one, the smaller of the two, assaults the shrine, drawing as much attention as they can. Group two has sneaked around the shrine and attacks from the opposite direction."

Punisher smirked at that, "Heh, hit them from the back huh? I can dig that. So, when will we head out? I'm stoked already!"

"Maybe we should do more than just attack from another side. We could also use nature to our advantage, maybe drop stones or something of the like. And as for luring them out, is there anything we could take that they would find precious?" Guardian spoke up.

"Nothing precious out there," the pumpkin ghost said, "but the stones... that can be done, I'm sure, surely. Plenty of stones up in Sun Rise and Moon Rise, keheheh, we can help ya with that!"

"Aye!" all of the ghosts shouted at the same time.

"Alright, men," Garland said decisively, "it's time to head out and put some scientists to their place. Come on."

Guardian looked at Garland slightly confused. "Shouldn't we figure out who is doing what first?"

"We'll discuss it on the way," the Floatzel answered.

Ugh, thought I'd never lose those stuck up morons, Gerrick thought to himself, passing through the area after separating from the main group. His main goal now was to try and distance himself from any possible Gold Tribe members that were captured here so that they won't spill the beans on his 'story'. He figured the further he is from all of that, the better off it would be. So, for now he decided to do what the Wise Master asked for and find him his little trinket.

He slipped by in between a set of stones. Gerrick wasn't technically a dark type mastery, having focused instead on his ground abilities. However, during his time with the bandits, he picked up a few things about sneaking nonetheless. Still, he preferred bashing a few heads up front if he had the choice. He looked left and right to make sure no one else was around, and dashed forward as quietly as he could.

Gerrick traveled in relative silence, looking around and commenting to himself or aloud about a few things he saw, but mostly he just tried to stay out of the way of others. If he saw anyone else, he quickly hid and avoided them. He was maneuvering quite well around the area, roaming as if he knew where he was going but really didn't. Eventually, Gerrick came to a marble crypt of some sort, with a large stone door sealing the contents inside shut. "Hmm...wonder if this is what I'm lookin' for..." He muttered out loud. He stepped forward to the crypt, trying to force the doors open, but they seemed sealed shut. "Heh...closed tight. Good thing I know a thing or two about breakin' into places...." He began dabbling on the side of the massive, wide door, looking for something in particular. "...maybe there's a hatch or something to get inside...Oh!" After dabbling with a part of the door to the side for a while, the immense pressure of the door just parted, causing for a slight gust of the musky air of the interior to brush past him.

"That took pretty short...must be my lucky day," He said with a chuckle. Gerrick pushed the stone doors open, and proceeded down the darkness. Upon entering he was greeted by a dark, circular room made of grey marble. On the opposite side of the door there was a giant screen present. Gerrick eyed the thing for a mere moment, not interested remotely in it, it seemed. As he gazed around the room, he began moving around the side of part of the room, as a large hole was present right on the floor without ever actually looking upon it, as he must have seen it before upon entry. Or perhaps he was adept at the layout of crypts and vaults, having been in a few during his life.

Meanwhile, back in the hall, Zack and Pendro had failed at tailing the Krookodile, who was admittedly far more adept at sneaking in the darkness than they were. They wandered in the dark for a bit; they stopped at a crossing between the artifacts of the hall and Zack muttered angrily, "oh man, which way? Shoot... doesn't matter if you're lost..." and he just went forward, walking on his four feet to stay close to the ground. "Think I'm gettin' the grip of this whole stealth thing, what'd ya think, Pedro?"

Pendro cleared his throat. "It's, um, Pendro, with an 'n' - and, uh... well, it seems like an... improvement." He continued to follow the Electabuzz, claws holding each other in nervousness.

"Yeeeaah, that's right, we witness, we participate, we adapt, bro," Zack bragged.

Zack's antennae were perked up, searching for guards as they prowled through the dark. "On the prowl, on the prowl," the Electabuzz hummed, "I'm on the prowl, yo."

I'm sure you are, Zack. The Metang scolded Skysaber silently. And I'm sure all the nearby guards will be happy to hear it...

They came upon the huge, open door; letters were carved into the marble above it: Vault. "Huh? Vault? Alright... Pedro, look out for traps here. Whoever lived here was rich as f*ck, and I don't s'pose they wanted their stuff stolen easy." The Electabuzz slipped through the door with surprising flexibility, avoiding to touch it. He tread lightly, still on four feet, and stopped for a bit to observe the ground on a spot. "Alright, clear," he said and got up on his feet. Then, he noticed Gerrick up ahead. "You've got some mad skills, bro," he shouted.

"Yes," Pendro muttered, behind. "Skills, like knowing how not to shout."

"Sneaking into this place ain't no easy task." Zack took the steps down to the center of the room. "Eh? What's this hole about?" He bent, and saw: about thirty feet below them, there was another chamber, a huge dark rock on its center, and three layers of runes around it. "This place... that's what we saw on the memory," he realized, smirking as he looked around for the prisoners. "No prisoners to be found... Pedro? Let's jump? They could still be down there."

"J-jump?" The Metang flinched. "What are you, blind? That's a thirty foot drop, right there. I've had enough falls from great heights for one lifetime, thank you very much. Do we have any rope, maybe?" He coughed. "Also, it's Pendro. With an 'n'."

Gerrick quickly hid and waited as he heard the sounds of the other two who had been tailing him also enter the Vault. He waited for a moment, wondering if they had spotted something, though he was sure that the Electabuzz had yelled something at them. He figured they had already spotted him anyway, so he roamed around for a while, looking for a particular item that the Wise Master asked for. After roaming for a while longer, he managed to locate it on an altar, where the tablet lay.

"Gotcha," He muttered to himself, looking up to see what the other two were doing as he put the tablet in his sack. He decided to come up with the story that he wandered in here with the intent to look for more information about what was going on here, as he was feeling bad for burning the book before. Yeah, good one Ger'. He approached them casually, checking to see what they did next. He didn't hide his presence now, though he didn't alert them to him wandering closer either.

Gerrick sucked in some breath, deciding to approach the two and pulling out the tablet. He was a bit curious as to what the inscriptions on it said. "Hey...check this out," He said to the two of them, holding out the tablet to them for them to read. "Pretty cool-looking thing, right?"

Zack smirked at the sight of unintelligible runes. He took the end of the tablet on his fingers and twisted it a bit so he could have a look at the back, only to find it empty of any writing. "'Cool' isn't the word I'd use to describe it," he mumbled, and turned to Pendro, showing him the strange runes. "You're our letters guy, can you make any sense of this?"

"I'm- well, I can try, I suppose." The Metang replied, gingerly taking the tablet in hand. "A lot of runic languages are lost to our understanding, though, and Stoneyard supposedly houses the oldest - and thus, least understandable - ones of them all. I mean, it's more than likely I'll have absolutely no idea whatsoever what any of the words on this tablet say- oh. Oh, um, actually, it's quite legible. Never mind that. Err... should I read it out?"

"Nah," Zack said sarcastically, grinning and waving dismissively, "why would you?"

"All righty, uh, here goes nothing." And so, Reaching Mind began to read the tablet.

"Tulos, to one of his students, on the Great Sundering and his studies upon it
119 AP

No more than sixty years ago, a series of calamities that we call 'The Great Sundering' shook the sky-gliding island. It lasted only for a week, but during that time, the entire landscape changed drastically. Earthquakes, floods, thunderstorms, eruptions of lava and darkness, hail, they all hit within a week and were gone afterwards. One would realize that the island used to be much bigger, were they to have a look upon old maps; though they are not easily found, for the cataclysm made the island suffer casualties of every kind. The shape of the island looks rather slender, now that it has been freed of its bulk. The torn parts did not float in the air like the rest of it, which is quite strange. They fell into the ocean, as if they were common rocks, and disappeared in the distance; and rightly you raise the question: why would some parts of it float, and others would not? We are looking into solving questions such as this with our expedition on this post-Sundered land.

I and my fellow historians have been traveling to new places, asking questions, hoping to uncover the cause of the phenomenon that sundered our continent, hence the stake with the name "The Great Sundering" we put into history books. The famous bard, Perenth, helped us with the name; we met him at a tavern, before our expedition brought us to the great graveyard, and he shared some drunken insight with us - and we could not get him to sober up, ever, because he seemed to have serious problems with his mental health. He was almost cross-eyed and drooling when we finally compelled him and his child-like mind to tell us something that would aid to our research. Slurring his speech, he sung us of a quick tale of a person named Thrace and her passion and dedication to her duties, but that was during an ancient, forgotten world, many, many centuries before our time, and it was of no use to us. He handed us a piece of paper with a verse written on it, about some of the bard's tales, describing a dark maelstrom that possibly eradicated Perenth's comrades during the Great Sundering.

He promised us, though, one thing: it was all connected to the Great Sundering. We stayed the night at the inn, waiting for tomorrow to question him further - with a faint hope of catching him sober, but we never found him again. What happened? The innkeeper told us he always followed the clouds, and the rain they brought, so he was like to have left during the night. We forged onwards to the..." Pendro paused. "The... the- no, no, no no no no no! It can't cut off there!"

"Apparently, it can," Zack muttered, though he was lost in thought. "That is some interesting insight. So, that's when the Great Sundering happened... don't mind my history knowledge, but I thought it was way earlier than a millennium. What worries me is, now that I think about it, we still don't know what manner of destruction was the Great Sundering. If Perenth was here in Stoneyard during the Sundering and he wrote a verse of some 'Crimson Dawn'... could those two events have happened at the same time?"

"Hmm, no, no, no, this is bad. Why do you have to be so inconvenient?" The Metang was still glaring at the tablet for defying him. "Ugh, never mind. This 'Crimson Dawn', along with the Sundering, sound like they could very well have happened at the same time, yes. Been part of the same event, even. It certainly is interesting... too bad the writing cuts off at a crucial moment..." Pendro grumbled angrily to himself, taking the tablet and stuffing it in his case.

Punisher hummed softly to himself as he leaned against the large rock, drumming his fingers along his thigh. "So...." He looked over at Cassandra, "What's it like being small? I mean, no offense to being small, I mean I was small myself once, but I kind of forgot what it was like I guess."

Cassandra smirked at Punisher's comment. "None taken. It's not as bad as others would make it seem. For one thing, it makes you harder to hit in a fight."

Punisher chuckled a bit, "That's-" He paused as he heard a loud whistle echo around them. "That's the sign?" He asked Cassandra as he glanced over his rock.

"Sounds like it," she replied, perking up slighty at the sound. "You ready, brother?"

Punisher cracked his knuckles as he quickly got up, "I was BORN ready!" He said eagerly. There was that small boulder he had sat behind so his four arms were quick to latch on. He spun a bit in place before letting out a shout and flinging the boulder right at a group of soldiers, "Heh, this'll be a piece of cake!"

As soon as that boulder left his arms and sailed through the air Punisher began charging the group. He narrowed his eyes as he took in the scene before him and unleashed a foresight. No double teams were going to trip him up this time! If that frog was here then he was going to get punched! In the gut!

"Subtle," Eli said sarcastically, before running down with the Machamp.

"Whoa, hold on!" Cassandra called, but Punisher and Eli were already dashing off towards the enemy. She sighed, before chasing down after themm. She managed to catch up as Punisher cast a foresight, staying a small distance away. Concentrating for a moment, Peacekeeper closed her eyes briefly, taking in a deep breath and utilizing her Growth technique to boost her own abilities. She opened her eyes again, exhaling and bringing her hands up, ready for combat. "Remember Punisher, we want to leave some alive for questioning later. Pull your punches, alright?"

"We're under attack!" some of the Shukahen Pokemon were screaming to wake the whole camp. They focused in fighting the pair of Gold Tribe Pokemon. The ranged ones threw every kind of attack they had at them, and although they didn't seem war-ready or able, their number were quite of daunting for just two people.

Punisher grinned all the while. He just kept on running forward and charged up his four hands. He crossed his arms and then gathered some power in his legs to leap forward. He was near the edge of the camp as his arms flung out. Two powerful Cross Chops slammed into a Lairon and threw him some distance away into the crowd of soldiers. He grabbed hold of a Sudowoodo and slammed him against the ground. Of course the rock type flailed in his grip, but Punisher's grip was stronger. The ranged attacks were still being thrown at him, though now he hand some cover.

The Sudowoodo, though thin, did end up taking a brunt of the attacks as the captive soldier cried out with insults anytime he was hit. "This is for Deathbringer's Mark!" Punisher cried out as he held up the Sudowoodo like a bat and began swinging away. Of course he was near the bare edge of the camp and could see the other soldiers not pelting out ranged attacks making a surge. He just smirked all the while, "Bring it on!"

"Mind if I join in?" Eli quipped, running up alongside Punisher to engage the enemy. The Breloom began weaving his way through the oncoming enemies, tripping them up and dodging their attacks, occasionally striking back with a Mach Punch.

While Punisher and Eli were pushing the front soldiers, Cassandra brought a hand up, a small glow circling her arm and spreading over the Machamp and Breloom with the same light as she initiated a Helping Hand. She then turned to the ranged attackers, creating a cloud of leaves with a wave of her arms, then sending them blasting forward with a flick of her wrists. The attackers were pelted with the sharp projectiles, the Lilligant not letting up for even a moment, following up one Magical Leaf after another.

The three continued their assault, Punisher and Eli engaging in melee with Cassandra providing cover and distracting the ranged soldiers with her own attacks. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a Aipom trying to sneak up on her side. She turned quickly, swinging her arm in a leaf blade and staggering the normal-type, before blasting the enemy away with an Energy Ball.

"Don't sneak up on me," she said coldly, turning her attention back to the battle. As skilled as both her, Eli, and Punisher were, they couldn't keep this up with so many enemies surrounding them. "The others better get here soon..."

Thrasher watched as Jacob ran off and he put his arm out to stop Tavhir, "You go Jacob! We still need to find the captives! Meet up with us later" He shouted out at the running Meowstic. He turned back to the orphans and smiled weakly, "Well, the guards are leaving, but for now you all should still remain here. If they are battling outside we can't risk anyone here accidentally heading out and getting hit by stray attacks. The summit however shouldn't have as many guards now. Still, I would say to be cautious. I am sorry, but we must go as well. We still have brothers and sisters to find." He gave a nod to Tavhir as he quickly began to ascend the stairs.

Tavhir nodded his agreement, taking off after Thrasher. He turned his head, calling out to the orphans as they left. "We'll be back soon."

The two began to quickly ascend the stairs. "Do you have any idea where our captives might be?" Tavhir asked as he ran up the steps.

Thrasher shrugged as he ran. He glanced left and right, "I checked where they weren't earlier. The others can handle the rebels, but we need to focus on this. This way!" He made a turn as he ran along a new hallway. Various symbols hung along it, most of which Thrasher hardly knew. If he could guess though, he would have say that most of them belonged to older periods in time and probably to ruling classes or the like.

"Now, let me ask this. You know of prisoners who can get out of their cells if you so much as leave the area. Every single guard in here is leaving right? So where do you put prisoners where they can't get out?"

Tavhir thought as they ran. "Ah, shoot, I don't know. You could throw them in a hole like they did with those kids?"

Thrasher smirked, "Now you're thinking with holes. Now at this point it means either that's the theory. They are stuck in one big hole and can't climb out of it, second theory is that they are dead but let's not focus on that. We need to find not cells, but a hole. We go down it, and we find our brothers and sisters. Now remember, there might be traps or other nasty things down there. I haven't seen Polo anywhere, yet those orphans talked about him, so no doubt he's still around. Either we'll run into him or the others outside will. Just stay on your guard." He made another turn, "Got it?"

"Got it," Tavhir replied. "Do you know anything about the layout of this place?"

Thrasher chuckled, "That's the funny thing when you've been an assassin. You learn layouts very quickly. Judging by the position of the cells I already explored they are centered mainly around the outer edges of the summit. If they are around around the edges and we can't find them there then where do we go?" He made another turn and saw a set of golden doors open before them, "The center. If they aren't here then they have already been moved or killed."

Tavhir noticed the golden doors, regarding them with slight suspicion. "Think we might find some of those traps you mentioned earlier in there?"

Thrasher nodded, "Yeah, I imagine so. Know those runes we saw in the memory? Watch out for them. Polo might be in here too. In any case, we have to take this easy. No anxiety or anything like that." He made his way into the vault and glanced about, "Oh... uh, hello Reaching Mind." He said as he caught sight of the Metang, "Well, I guess no traps then, otherwise they would have gone off."

"AAAH- oh, lord, Palkia preserve me..." Pendro exclaimed, before composing himself. "Hello, Thrasher."

The Primeape gave a quick view of the vault and saw a whole lot of yellow. Many items were gold, though Thrasher was no expert with such materials. For all he knew these could be simple everyday objects that had been painted gold. He saw a few paintings among the treasures, some armor, even what appeared to be books settled off in a bookcase made of very fine wood. Though something else dominated his sight, and it was what he was looking for.

"Now... that is interesting." He slowly walked over to the hole that was near the center of the room and peered down in it, "Pendro, have you been down here yet?"

"Erm... well, it's a giant pit of despair. Forgive me if that isn't the first place I'm eager to throw myself. It's possible our, uh, brothers and sisters could be down there, though - unless you've, uh..." Pendro gazed at Thrasher hopefully. "found them already... maybe...?"

Thrasher nodded as he looked on down, "Maybe indeed."

"Oh, I should probably mention," Reaching Mind spoke up, taking something from around his back. "we found this tablet in here, which seems to be vaguely interesting. Poses a whole lot of new questions, cuts off before it can really answer any. Not sure if there's any way to restore it to the point of usefulness, but for now it's little more than a brain teaser."

"We can look at that later," Tavhir said, glaring down the large hole. Even with his eyes adjusted to the dark, he couldn't see the bottom of the pit. "We need a way down here, now. Any suggestions?"

Thrasher smirked, "Our rope, the bed-sheets, remember? They should be long enough so that we only have to drop slightly. Still... no prisoners in sight. That's not good. Could be there are cells down there that are out of sight. If they haven't responded to our talking up here though, either they are held farther away, aren't there, or could be suffering from intense dehydration and hunger. Tavhir, go and fetch those sheets real quick. We'll head down and try to find them. Pendro, I'm going to tie the sheets against something here. Your job is to make sure, at the very least, that it doesn't fall into the hole with us. We'll do an hour of scouting. If we don't come back up by then assume something happened to us and contact the others. Also keep an eye out for Polo, can't have him coming in here and wrecking s**t up."

Tavhir nodded, running back out towards the dungeon earlier. Once again he found himself in the grand hall of the summit, looking around at the vast decorations. It would have been nice to peruse if they weren't in the middle of an important mission. He dashed off towards where they came from, keeping an eye out for any flying-type hiding on the ceilings. Ever since they had learned of Polo's presence, Restless had truly lived up to his title, constantly scanning the area for any signs of foul play. Once he made it back to the dungeon, he grabbed the make-shift rope they had used, then rushed back to the others. Part of him was secretly hoping that Polo would show up, he'd give that rotten traitor a piece of his mind... and his blades, too. However, he quickly pushed those thoughts away and got a hold of himself. Polo would probably be too tough for him to take alone, if all the stories he heard were true.

Thrasher, Restless, Reaching Mind : The continuing search​

Tavhir eventually made it back to the large pit with the others, bed-sheet "rope" in hand. He handed the rope to Thrasher, looking around for something to anchor it to. "Anchor, anchor, anchor... somebody might have to lower us down by hand."

Thrasher glanced around and saw a golden table that held many trinkets, "Let me see.." He grabbed the rope and moved over to the table, using both hands to quickly lift it as he used a foot to shove the rope underneath a leg. He let go and the table fell with a slam onto the ground, "There we go. Let's descend. Try not to cut the rope up, Tavhir." With that Thrasher grabbed on and slid down the sheets. As he said the rope ended just a few feet before it touched the ground so Thrasher let go and landed on a foot and a knee. He glanced around quickly and then called up, "Coast is clear! Come on down!"

Zack laughed nervously, peering down the hole. "You guys go on ahead... I'll monitor the situation. From up here."

"I will also monitor!" Pendro volunteered. "I'm glad you and I are brave enough to do the monitoring, Zack."

Tavhir followed suit, sliding down the rope carefully, hopping onto the floor below. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light, observing the surrounding area. Even being a dark-type well adjusted to the shadows, it was difficult to see. All he could make out was that they were in a cave of some sort. The jagged edges and cracks in the walls told him it was a natural formation, unlike the dungeon cells they had seen earlier.

Thrasher looked over at the tunnel, then back around the room. "There's the tunnel from Brynjolf's memory... before we go though..." He looked about, "Let's see if we can find a map. Remember, time passed in that memory and he was led along. Unless we find a map we might end up going in circles and at the worst take quite a bit of time to find our way back." He glanced along the walls, "There has to be some sort of map here. For guards at the very least or for the leaders in case they forget."

"I doubt they conveniently left a map for us to find," Tavhir said, still examining all around the room. "Why would you leave a map inside the prison cell?"

Thrasher smirked, "Because there is no way out." He said simply, "Remember, they had to use psychics to get in here, at least that's the impression I got from Brynjolf's memories. It doesn't matter how many maps they leave, the captives can't walk out, are in no condition to climb out, all in all it's simply a punch in the face to them. Have a map but no exit." He glanced over at the rock, then at the runes on the floor. He walked closer and frowned, "I know in Brynjolf's memory he said these could be traps... theoretically... there is a descent. I could jump over them and reach that black rock. Then I climb it and jump back over." He sighed, "I remember that feeling in Brynjolf's mind... yet I feel no evil from the rock now."

"Erm, guys?" Pendro called down to the two. "Do you guys need a light?"

"If you can go find a torch or a lamp somewhere out there, that'd be swell," Tavhir called back to Pendro.

"Ah, uh, alright! I'll get right on that!" Pendro replied, before turning behind him. "Zack, those two want you to go get a torch. Go, quickly." He made a quick shooing motion before turning back to the gaping hole. "Um, one more thing guys...! Did you say something about traps? And runes?"

"Yeah." Thrasher said loudly, "If they are trapping the way to this rock, then it must be important. If we do end up leaving I have a feeling that they'll be back to this area. They even stated this was a holy place. This rock obviously holds significance, so what better way than to give the Caretaker the middle finger than by destroying something he cherishes?"

"Well, uh, that's good and all... it's just I might be able to translate some of the runes. And perhaps more importantly, I can make us float. That's always something."

Thrasher rolled his eyes at Pendro's tone, "Well come on down then! Float us over there then."

Zack returned with a torch. "I got this from outside... uh, hope it doesn't go out."

"All right then, I guess. Zack, keep doing, uh... things... well. Okay, here I go." Pendro began to glow slightly yellow, raising himself further above the ground in a Magnet Rise technique. The then headed over to the abyss, grabbed the rope with two hands, then vaulted over. He made quiet panicked noises all the way down, arms moving frantically down the rope much like a Mankey would climb upwards. Eventually, he reached the bottom, coming to a stop. "Oh, I'm alive. That's mildly surprising."

Thrasher did his best NOT to sigh at the performance, "Great Pendro. Now can you magnet rise us? I just want to examine this stone really quickly. The probability of us being able to do so later... well, it'll be pretty low."

"Okey doke, um, yeah, right away. You should feel a bit... floaty."

Thrasher looked down, blinking as he began to rise, "Well.. this is a different feeling."

"Well, this is new," Tavhir said as he began to levitate as well.

Thrasher looked over at the runes and carefully placed a floating foot over one of them, quickly withdrawing it as he waited... and nothing happened. "Well, I guess this works." Thrasher smirked and began to walk toward the stone, "Just one second brothers. Then we can start searching these tunnels." He made his way up to the stone and looked it up and down, "Well... it's very sturdy looking. I doubt I can break it..." He began to circle along it, "Hm... I do see anything written on it." He placed a hand and rubbed along it, "Doesn't feel that different either."

"Hey, it's a good thing we didn't just walk in here." Pendro noted, laughing worriedly. "I'm pretty sure that rune right there says fireball... heheh..."

Tavhir looked at the bould impatiently, not seeing any sort of significant features on it of any kind. It looked like nothing but a big, dead rock. "Come on, we can go rock-collecting later. We should probably go look for our captives."

Thrasher nodded as he floated on back over the runes, "Just curious was all. Nothing special here. Now..." He glanced into the tunnel and picked up the torch, "We have to stay close. If we end up separating it'll be harder to find each other. Tavhir, take up point. If you see anything or hear anything alert us. Remain on your guards for Polo too." He nodded to Tavhir, "Lead on brother."

"Polo? Uhh... I don't like the looks of that guy." Pendro muttered. "Nasty piece of work. If I didn't know Ice Punch I'd be running for my life."

Tavhir nodded in unison with Thrasher, using the last of the magnet rise to navigate away from the runes on the floor, towards the nearest tunnel. Once his feet were firmly planted on the floor again, he motioned for the others to follow. Before proceeding onward though, he glanced at the wall of the tunnel for a moment. With a swift slice of his hand, he threw out a metal claw, marking the entrance of the tunnel. "In case we get lost."

Thrasher nodded, "Good idea. Now... we might, MIGHT run into some dittos or zoroarks disguised as our allies. I'm not sure, but just as a word of caution, always be on guard."

"Everyone is a doppelgänger, got it." Reaching mind nodded. "It's easy enough, I've read up on how to tell these illusions from reality before. We can just ask them to laugh to see if they're a Ditto, and I can use Psychic on them to see if they're a Zoroark. Piece of cake. Mm, oy... I wish I was eating cake right now... somewhere safe. And not in a hole."

"Shh," Restless scolded, continuing down the tunnel, making markings on the wall every few feet with metal claw. "We'll figure that out when we actually find something other than rocks."

"Ooh," Pendro pointed at the markings Tavhir left on the walls. "Good idea. Like leaving breadcrumbs. I wish I was eating breadcrumbs right now... somewhere safe. And not in a hole."

"Hush!" Tavhir chastised again.

"Hush! Like hush puppies, I wish- sorry, I'll stop..."

Brand "Fire King", Petrina "Vanguard"

No matter how far through these caves they went, all of the features looked exactly the same. Petrina wanted to find something to trace her way back by, but all she could even hope to find her way by was the offensive stench. She had no idea where it was coming from, but it was worse than that one time they let Percival near some food - a stench that took a fair amount of beating. "So... Fire King. I know you've been here a long time, have you got any idea what's down here?" The caves looked at least like they were made naturally, rather than having been dug out intentionally, which could have meant wild pokémon. Not to mention that since they were captives of the rebels, there was almost no way there wasn't a rebel presence down here. Someone was going to have to stop the prisoners from getting out after all and that's exactly what they were trying to do.

"Urrh," Brand responded, limping forwards. "Down here's a big rock and..." his voice lowered into a whisper. "The Nest. In the light of those glowing mushrooms, I once saw many eggs - hundreds, thousands, I don't know - in a pit like hole. I don't know what kind of eggs, but they didn't look pretty, I can tell you that. So... best tread carefully, before we know what laid those eggs there."

"Eggs don't exactly sound threatening to me. Are we close? Is that why you're whispering?"

Brand stopped for a moment to listen. The cave wasn't entirely quiet - there was a buzzing sound coming from far ahead, constant, monotonous and chant-like. "I've a bad feeling. That's why I'm whispering."

They walked for a bit through the tunnels, then came upon a wider area; the glow of the mushrooms growing on the walls was visible, a fair distance away from them. This was a bigger part of the cave. The air was getting thicker, and the stench was beginning to overwhelm. Brand coughed with the first two steps he took, clutching his wounded side; he stumbled, falling down on a knee. "Think I'm gonna retch," he murmured, "what torture. I've nothing to retch." His belly rumbled loudly like the engine of an airship, the sound bouncing off the walls of the cave; so much for all the whispering.

"Hey!" It was only a matter of fortune that the Emboar didn't fall over completely - the Glaceon had jumped around to catch his fall. "You're not in any state for this... How am I going to get you out of here?" Petrina shook her head, eyes darting around what seemed to be this 'nest' Brand was referring to - although her nose could tell her they were in the middle of it far better than her eyes, not least because her eyes were watering up pretty damn quick, and not clearing out no matter how hard she cringed. "At least be thankful you're not going to throw up right now. I might not be so lucky. Look, with all these eggs around, we can't stop. If whatever laid these is wild, we've got to keep moving so it doesn't find us disturbing its kids, so hold it together. You're hurt, so let me take the lead and we'll keep moving."

So, they kept moving like Petrina said. Through the cavern they went. Water was dripping down and the sound echoed in a very long distance, it seemed; none of them could tell how big the chamber they were in right now was. The glow of the mushrooms in the distance seemed blurred by gas that floated in the atmosphere; every light around them seemed blurred, in fact, Brand noticed as he stumbled forward in the darkness. "I can do it," he muttered, but then abruptly stopped. He jerked around, trying to look carefully at the ground around them. It wasn't just rocks and mushrooms around them. It was eggs, lots of them; hundreds, thousands, the Emboar realized and remembered why he was running away from this place.

He extended an arm, stopping Petrina. "Not a step further," he said, "if you step on one, they'll break... I think. Something tells me we wouldn't like an early hatching here."

"Not a step futher for you maybe. I'm a bit smaller..." Petrina put one paw forward into a gap in the eggs. "...maybe I can fit through here. I'm betting they put the exit the other side of those just so we can't get there." Of course, the gaps between these eggs were few and far between... and there was something else at play too. "This gas is... something else. I've not felt this funny on a substance since... well, I'm not going into that." As much as she was trying to brush it aside with a joke, she was more than a little concerned about feeling light-headed enough to take off in a world that was just swimming around her head.

Just then, a bass, dreadful sound filled the cave, making Brand jump in alarm. "Arceus!" he cussed loudly, looking left and right for the source of the sound. It came again, only the note was higher this time - there were two Pokemon in the cave. "Their parents are here!" Brand said worriedly. The flames on his beard flared up and he slipped into his battle stance.

From the dark, a slender figure emerged. It floated gently, slowly, like a ghost, and it had red eyes and limbs that hung eerily from its body. Brand didn't recognize it at first, but as the Pokemon floated closer to the glow of the mushrooms, its shape became more and more apparent. The other one appeared from another corner of the dark cavern. Brand cussed again. "Dragalge," he said to Petrina, quickly calculating their chances, "they seem wild. Careful with your blizzards. Ice beams may prove to be more conventional here."

Petrina jolted back away from the eggs. Seeing her with her paws in the middle of the kiddies probably wasn't the finest idea when she didn't want to provoke an attack from them, but it already looked far too late for that. "Yeah... last thing I want on my mind is putting a load of these little eggs on ice. Hang back as far as you can, I can handle a few dragons.... I hear they don't like the cold much..."

Punisher had been about ready to strangle some of those soldiers, but he had to groan as the lightning from the Emperor practically killed off everyone and he had to drop the dead Sudowoodo as he crossed his arms angrily and muttered to himself. He just gets off of the airship, barely meets the enemy, and already the adrenaline rush was gone just like that! He cracked his neck a bit as the Emperor and Garland chatted, but he wasn't interested in that. He wanted someone to plow down and perhaps snap their neck, and it seemed he would have his chance!

And... that chance was taken from him quickly. He knew he was slow, but he had thought that they would gather up and start making their way to the bridge... but the Emperor was faster. He had to sigh from boredom once more as he kicked at a rock. So why had they even come here if the Emperor would just kill everyone for them? It wasn't fair to be honest. The Emperor was supposed to stay behind, not be HERE! He sighed and crossed all four arms, but his irritation only increased as this mercenary group that had been talked about had arrived, and they were going to head into the summit!

He kicked another rock, "Oh yeah, take all the kills, take all the action..." He muttered to himself. As the Toxicroak and the others passed on by Punisher just passed Garland, "Hey, you know, when we're actually going to DO something, tell me." He marched on over to a boulder and sat on it. He wasn't necessarily ANGRY, more along very disappointed with how the whole battle had ended up. He had thought that at the very least, even if they had been swarmed, he would be able to fight off the whole army but nooooo, apparently these guys would take the lead and the Emperor would take the lead, so what was the point of even being here now?

"As you wish," Atris said respectfully, giving a small curtsy. "My men stand ready, should any threats arise."

Atris once again returned to surveying the rest of the Gold Tribe, chuckling slightly at the Machamp's expression of disappointment, then turning her attention towards...

"Hmm?" She glanced around, unable to locate the Lilligant she had seen earlier. "If you will excuse me," she said towards Garland and the Emperor, walking over towards the other Gold Tribe members. She searched around for the Lilligant, meandering a bit to locate her.

Meanwhile, Cassandra hid behind a large boulder, sitting on the ground with her legs curled up against her body. She clutched at her satchel, her face visibly distraught and her eyes shut. How she wished she were invisible right now; how she wished she had went with the stealth team instead. Then maybe she wouldn't have to confront...

"There you are!"

"Eep!" Cassandra squealed, her eyes shooting wide open as she nearly fell over from surprise. She stood up, regaining her composure. Cassandra stared daggers at Atris, the Braixen simply giving a warm smile. Unlike Rax, her smile seemed genuine.

"Is that really you, Cassandra?" Atris said softly. "It's been so long since I've last seen you, friend."

Atris reached over to take Cassandra's hand, but just as she did, the Lilligant drew her hand away quickly, her expression now furious. "We are not friends," she said curtly. "Don't even pretend for a second that we are."

"Still bitter, I see." Atris said with a frown. "Look, I understand we may have not always seen eye to eye..."

"You'll forgive me if I seem angry," Cassandra replied coldly, before turning to walk away. Atris reached out again, grabbing Cassandra's arm gently to make her stay. Cassandra immediately wrested away from Atris' grip, before turning violently to face the Braixen again. "Do not touch me!"

Atris frowned again, looking at Cassandra intently. "Cassandra, please. I had hoped to make amends with you..."

"Oh, spare me your lies!" Cassandra spat. "Do you take me for a fool? It has not been so long for me to forget all that you've done! Regret is not an emotion you are capable of feeling!" Atris sighed, clearly not getting through to her former friend, until Cassandra spoke up again. "Why are you even here, here with these putrid, disgusting excuses for Pokemon?"

"If you're referring to my friends, let me assur-"

"No! I will have none of it!" Cassandra said, losing her temper quickly. "I knew you had run off with some group those years ago, but the Imperatorium!? You ally yourself with that pathetic group of scum, and expect me to think you've changed? That you're sorry? You must think me foolish indeed!"

"Perhaps if you would let me explain, you might see things differently?" Atris asked softly. Cassandra simply scoffed, before leaning in close towards Atris, her voice now considerably lower.

"I don't know what you're after, but I've known you long enough to know that it isn't good!" Cassandra said callously, pointing her hand directly at Atris. "We are working together for this mission, and this mission only. After that, you are you friends, can go march right back where you came from and leave!" She turned around abruptly, walking off back towards Garland and the others.

"Cassandra, wait!" Atris called out after her. Cassandra stopped for a brief moment, turning her head back towards the Braixen. She looked sad, but Cassandra was convinced it was a ruse.

"I do not wish to speak with you further," Cassandra said bitterly. "As soon as this is over, I expect you to leave, and I hope that I will never have to see your face again." With their conversation effectively over, Cassandra left, walking over towards the other Gold Tribe, an angry expression evident on her face.

Atris let out a sigh. "Just let her fume; let out those pent up feelings. She'll come around. She has too, and I know her well enough to understand that she will... eventually." She looked over towards Cassandra, who was now standing underneath the boulder Punisher was sitting on, her arms crossed as she stewed in her anger. Atris shrugged, before returning to where Garland and the Emperor stood. "If you need us for anything, just say the word. My men and I are ready."

Cassandra and Punisher: Bonding of sorts​

Punisher muttered to himself as he kept his arms crossed and wondered if he could tell the Emperor to keep his lightning to himself next time. He just seemed too eager to show off for every single person nearby, and Punisher hated quick climaxes. Oh look here we have an army! We'll have to fight through them-oh Emperor took care of it, don't even stand up guys cause he's got it ALL under control! He could hear some walking behind him and turned around, "Cassandra? You angry too?"

"No, I'm not," she said bitterly. "Angry is when your father grounds you for staying out past curfew. I am beyond angry!" She fumed, taking in a deep breath and exhaling. "These people shouldn't be here. The Emperor should just electrocute them all and eliminate the problem altogether!"

He blinked, "Okay... I'm mad but isn't that taking it a bit far?" He turned around, "What's got you so riled up? I saw you were talking to that Braxien, did she insult you or something?" He cracked his knuckles, "Want me to beat her up?"

"Oh, believe me, if I had the authority, I would like nothing more than that," Cassandra answered. "She's nothing but trouble, I just know it. Her very presence here is jeopardizing the entire mission!"

He titled his head, "Why so? What did she do to you? I mean, they're here to help and they seem like a friendly lot."

"Exactly," Cassandra said, staring at the Braixen from afar. "She'll put on the friendly facade, act all nice and caring, then when you least expect it, she'll stab you in the back."

"So... you know her?" He asked, "You seem to know a lot about her, were you jiggy with the Imperatoreum before?"

Cassandra sighed, trying to calm herself down before she had a conniption. Her voice resumed a more normal tone as she closed her eyes for a moment. "I almost was. She and I... we used to be friends. Best friends, even. We did a lot together... some things I'm not too proud of." She looked down at the ground, her voice slightly sullen now. "She tried to get me to join her on some fool's errand. Said it was the opportunity of a lifetime. I realize now she must have been trying to get me to join those... mongrels. Long story short, we had a falling out. I don't want to say she ruined my life or anything... but it certainly felt like she did, at the time."

Punisher tilted his head, then nodded a bit, "So... you just want her to leave you alone I take it." He stood up, "Heh, I can get her to do that. Just wait here. Heh, with a big guy like myself many people I find don't say no. It'll be five seconds top." He said with a friendly smirk as he began to make his way over to the Braxien.

"No, wait," Cassandra said, grabbing the Machamp's arm to stop him. "No need to do anything like that. I'll be fine."

He smiled and easily lifted her up and put her on his shoulder, "Hey, I know from my own childhood that keeping stuff in isn't the best thing. Others bully you and sometimes you got to punch back. Don't worry, I'll just make it clear that, like you, I don't want her here." He kept on walking, "Nothing to worry about and after this it's highly unlikely we'll see her again right?"

"I appreciate the offer," Cassandra replied with a smile, "but Atris is hard to convince. She'll deny that she's here for any reason other than to help. Besides, whether we like it or not, she's here for the time being. I hope that, after this, she'll be gone for good, but in the meantime, just... keep an eye on her. I don't know what she's after... but I've known her too long, and whatever she's here for, it isn't good."

Punisher chuckled a bit, "Heh, still, I'll let her know. Hey Atris!" He shouted out to the Braxien as he walked up to her, "I hear that my sister here has some bad blood with you." He crossed his arms, "Look, I don't know the specifics, and probably even if you told me I wouldn't understand it. Women, right? Anyways I will tell you that if I see you bothering my sister here or pestering here when it's obvious she doesn't want you around, know that I won't like it one bit. So don't go and pull anything on her, you got it?"

Atris chuckled slightly at Punisher's remarks. "Message received," she said with a grin. "If she doesn't want me around, then I'll leave her alone. But for this mission, we'll have to work together, alright?"

Punisher smirked, "Well, I know I heard a saying a once, if the parts don't fit together then... they don't fit..." He frowned, "Uh... hm... okay I forgot that saying, but I think it means if someone doesn't like someone else then it makes stuff harder? I think? Anyways, I'm sure Cassandra can do other things that doesn't involve having to be around you. If you really need some help then I can substitute for her." He put his lower hands on his hips, "You don't need her for every single activity that we'll need to do, right?"

Atris shrugged, "Well, if I knew what we were doing exactly, I'd be able to give you a more confident answer." She looked towards the Emperor and Garland for a moment, "All I know is we were called here by the monks to take care of some trouble, which I assume was these guys," she gestured towards the cowering rebels, then turned her attention back towards Punisher and Cassandra, sighing. "Look, I know you won't believe me, and she probably told you not to believe me, but I'm here to help. Honest."

He snorted, "Yeah, she said you would say that. Look I don't know you but I know Cassandra here. She's my sis, so she has priority over you. But I guess that's really all I wanted to say." He gave a weak shrug, "So... see ya around." With that he began walking away, "See, not so bad." He said to Cassandra, "She didn't seem angry about it or anything."

"That's what I'm worried about," Cassandra said. "Still, I appreciate you trying to help." She gave Punisher a friendly smile. "Well, like I said, keep an eye on her."

Punisher paused and glanced back, "Hm..." He looked over at Garland and then reached up to grab Cassandra and let her down, "If you really are that worried, I can just stay over and guard her. She might be smart for a psychic, but I'm stronger. I'm sure if it does come to a fist fight we all know who will win."

Cassandra laughed, "In a fist fight? You, hands down." She looked over towards Atris, seeing the Braixen scribbling something in a notebook. "I don't think that will be necessary. We'll just see what happens, and if she does anything out of the ordinary-"

"That's when I punch her, right?" Punisher asked.

"... I was going to say tell Garland..." Cassandra said. "Not that I would mind seeing her knocked out."

He smirked and proudly flexed his upper arms, "Heh, well I'm here for ya. Garland talks, I punch. It's just how it is."

Cassandra nodded, taking a seat on the ground and reclining against a nearby boulder. She couldn't help but be worried; Atris was playing the nice card well... too well. It had been over a decade since they had last seen each other, though... could she have really changed? No, that was impossible. Atris was travelling with the Imperatorium. That Braixen had an ulterior motive; she always did, and Cassandra saw no reason for that to change now. "Believe me, when the time for punching comes, you'll be the first one to know."

The Smelly Tunnel

Featuring Tavhir, Thrasher and Pendro​

Tavhir led the small group they had down, deeper into the depths of the tunnels. With Thrasher holding the torch and Restless' night-vision, the task of navigating was made easier, thankfully. He stopped every couple steps, marking the walls with his metal claw; the winding paths and forked paths were sure to make finding their way back difficult.

As they progressed, Tavhir began to notice lights up ahead. Dim and faint, but light nonetheless. As they approached the glow, further inspection revealed it to be.... mushrooms? Tavhir picked one of them off the wall, examining it closely. As soon as he did, though, the mushroom began to lose it's light, until it went completely dark, indistinguishable from the ordinary plants of it's kind on the surface. The paths up ahead were littered with these same mushrooms, growing more numerous farther down.

"This place is... weird," Tavhir said quietly, still looking over the dead plant in his hands. He dropped it to the ground, looking ahead, the glows from the flora sufficiently illuminating the path farther down. "Just how big do you think this cave is, anyways?"

Thrasher shrugged, "Hard to tell. Judging how high the summit is, and judging by our slope... I would say that this tunnel could lead a long way down. If it takes too long to head down we'll have no choice but to head back up and alert Garland and the others as to what we are investigating." He crossed his arms, "Still, something doesn't seem right. If the captives are down here, then why not just kill them before? I mean, if there are cells down here and it isn't an ambush for us... why not just kill the king's son then instead of letting him potentially get rescued?"

"We can figure that out after we find out what's happened here," Tavhir said, his eyes drawn to the strange glowing of the plants on the walls. As they walked along, something else caught the Pawniard's attention; an awful, wretched smell. It was small, hardly noticeable at first, but as they progressed, it got worse. It smelled of decay and death. Tavhir paused, taking in a breath and nearly gagging as the scent overwhelmed him. "Arceus above, what is that awful smell?"

"I fear Arceus may well be too busy reeling from the smell to answer that." Reaching Mind answered, grimacing, floating down to pick up the mushroom on the floor in some vague attempt at taking his mind off the stench. "Hmm, Dapplatitus Incertus Lucem. Species of luminous mushroom, found in dark caves and caverns. Edible when cooked. If only I could cook them... somewhere safe... and not in a hole." The Metang sighed. "Oh, do remind me: if we need to scout ahead for any particular reason, I have Flash Cannon to light the way if need be."

Thrasher frowned, "Hm... this isn't good." He stepped back from the smell and took in some fresh air, "Okay... we can't pass through there. We need to use the other tunnels to try and find a clear path through. We won't be much help to anyone if we hack and cough all the way through that stench."

"Flash Cannon to check it out before we try another way?" Pendro suggested.

The fighter thought about it, "Hm... we ARE in a cave. If you have it hit into a wall, it could collapse parts of the area. that might mean our brothers who could possibly be near that wall end up crushed. Or even worse, hit by the attack."

"Ah, yes, it would normally - but, with- wait... no, that was a dream. Oops." Reaching Mind shook his head, embarrassed. "Um, anyhow, I could use Psychic to levitate the torch. Forget what I said. Though I suppose if there is decaying flesh, it could be emitting methane... hmm, best only move it a little way, perhaps..."

"I don't care what's down this path," Tavhir began, backing away. "One step further and I'll be out cold from that... whatever-that-is."

Thrasher nodded, "That is true... if they put the prisoners down here, why even bother with this gas? Obviously they are trying to kill them off... but if that's the case then why not just kill them?" He groaned and rubbed at his forehead, "This all doesn't make any sense." He paused a bit as his ears twitched, "Did you guys hear that?" He asked. He focused a bit, "I hear... some noises down this way."

He pointed down into the smelly tunnel, "Sound like fighting... okay. If anyone else can control their breath great. If you don't know how, take in a deep breath and keep it in, breathe deep breaths to keep too much of this smell from coming into your lungs. Short breaths only let more of it in for the long run. Thrasher turned to the fog, took a deep breath and ran along the tunnel, soon disappearing into disgusting odor.

"Wh- we're going down there?" Pendro gasped, though he regretted the intake of foul air. "Why are we- oh, yeah, heroic things... I hate my life... Ah, well. Come on, Tavhir. Wait- Thrasher? Shouldn't you just let us two...? He's gone. Wonderful. Remind me to blame him if he dies. Wait, wha-? Never mind, let's go..."