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

[Ray Maverick]

Jacob "Prankster"

Jacob stirred impatiently in his seat, half-listening to the others as they laid their insight on the table while fiddling with his spoon. He had already discussed most of what was being with Garland and with his sister Sophia, earlier when they were brainstorming. He and Garland had tossed some ideas and bounced them back and forth until they came up with a plan: sneaking into the Spirit Summit unseen. It seemed their comrades all agreed in caution over boldness, and Jacob agreed too.

When Pendro finished, Jacob glanced over at Garland, who was looking directly at him. "Jacob, you're second in command," he said, "let's hear what you have to say."

Jacob shrugged indifferently, "nothing further to say. I just want to inform you all of the details of Operation: Sneak into Stoneyard (Unseen)." Jacob stood up from his seat, took a small cylinder out of his pouch and extended it to a pole; he would use that to point at various locations on the map on the circle table.

"Jacob, not now," Sophia whispered, grabbing his hand.

"Relax, Fi, it's not the Exploding Wand," he whispered back quickly and turned his attention to the table.

"Security comes first," Jacob said and pointed at Yvangarde Keep, which was north of Stoneyard. "We dock here and His Highness will stay behind."

The Emperor's face was a mask of steel, but he said nothing. "Strongest Keep in Hesperia," Jacob added quickly, "no need worrying about security there." Then he pointed his stick at the mountains that separated Yvangarde Keep with Stoneyard. "We manage to acquire a 'porter with a Psychic Gem from the Keep to jump-port us halfway through the mountains, then we continue on foot. It's a day's walk to Stoneyard, and we arrive by night. Full moon was a few days back, and I'm told weather is bad in Hesperia currently. Autumn rains and stuff. So, we reach the outskirts of Stoneyard, just far enough so that we won't run into any patrols, and close enough so we can teleport to the Spirit Summit."

Zack was sitting on the floor, rubbing his chin with his whole hand as he listened to Jacob. "Smart, really, I'll give you that.

"Ah, gentlemen, that is by far a most excellent plan," the Glameow said, smiling, though a bit sadly.

"Not done talking yet," Jacob said.

"--but how would you teleport inside the Spirit Summit?" the SIA agent continued, "as far as we are concerned - and we are very concerned - the Spirit Summit has been locked from the public for years! Nothing goes in, nothing goes out, chap."

Jacob tilted his head, his stoic expression somewhat changing to something comical. "I didn't say we'd port in. We'll port on the Spirit Summit, then find our way in. There's gotta be a way in - a window, or something. No building doesn't have windows."

"All of us are a big bunch," Zack noticed, "if everyone is going, we'll probably be noticed before we even set foot on the Summit."

"Well, not all of us. Only a stealth team consisting of selected members; should we meet any resistance, we dispatch them quickly and silently."

"Jacob will be leading the stealth team," Garland decided, "since he seems to have been inside the Summit. He'll know his way around."

Jacob nodded twice.

"I will be in charge of the second team," Garland continued, looking carefully at everyone, "the second team is treading on ground level; we port south of Stoneyard using a teleportation gem, then move to the north to find the Evening's Light Chapel. If we are lucky, that's where the priests have taken shelter in. We could ask them what is going on in person. If things look too grim, we will request assistance before dealing with these scientists... Jenkins spoke of. Any questions?"

​

 

[Typh]

Jeremy "Juggernaut" Daraxus

Jeremy nodded listening to Jacob and Garland explain the plans. then one of the SIA agents spoke asking for questions. Jeremy spoke up, "Just one... who are the members of each group? the way it seems we would need to organize ourselves in a manner that would allow for not only stealth for the first group but allow for significant power if necessary without taking from the capability of the second group to complete it's task."

Jeremy was silent for a moment then said suddenly, "I'll go with the first group...being an Aggron myself it might allow me to help get inside of the Summit... especially if there is no other stealth wise, way inside at least, and maybe past some guards once inside." Jeremy once again silenced himself, he trusts Garland... Jacob, "the Prankster", however was lacking that trust.

 

[Midorikawa]

Guardian "Knight" Vulpe
​

During the previous night when the cola berry had burned, Guardian had of course been affected. Not to the level of the Emperor or the Liligant that snuggled his hair, but more like Tahvir. He had fallen into a strange sleep, nightmarish based solely on not getting the chance to greet the his brother before the smoke hit. He awoke just in time to hear the emperor's instructions for the next day. He along with his fellow members then went to bed. During the night he had nothing but more nightmares, though this time they were not cola smoke induced but rather memory induced. He couldn't stop watching the murder of the young riolu he had once raised. Over and over he watched him die before his eyes. Thus nevertheless he was exhausted come the meeting the next day.

Regardless of his exhaustion he listened to the meeting carefully, taking in what was being said. He frowned at the comment that the other emperor would want to kill the prince. If that was so, then wouldn't the prince be dead by now, and if so why were they trying to rescue the dead? He didn't feel his place to question it though. He was still new to the tribe, thus he preferred to listen and follow orders. And he remained quiet until something did perk his interest. He looks towards Jeremy, finally speaking up for the first time in the meeting. "Wouldn't that suit you better for the second group then? As an aggron you are quite large, thus would it not be more difficult for you to sneak around? The first group should be able to move quickly and silently I would think," he stated, looking towards the other members as well. "Stealth takes silence, and careful movements. One must be quick, agile, alert," he told them. Having grown up in a forest and then mountains he had been taught to hunt for himself. He could remember his foster father telling him how lucky he was to be able to move so quickly and silently, as opposed to the large charizard.

 

[Ray Maverick]

Skysaber

"Right, I concur," Zack said, "I'll probably go stealth... heh. Gotta be stealthy."

The Emperor suddenly rose from his seat. "You have an ample amount of time to decide which team each of you will join."

"Indeed," Garland agreed, "we still have a week's journey to Stoneyard."

"Since everyone has agreed on our plan, we will part for now till further notice. All of you are dismissed."

"Oh, is that it?" the Glameow said. "I was hoping for the meeting to be lengthier."

"I wasn't," said the bored Jenkins from the Shellder on the other side of the line.

Zack watched Emperor Dareon depart hastily from the Dining Hearth, and he shrugged, figuring they would talk again when it was the right time; besides, lots of things could happen in a week. There was a little chance they'd need to remake their plans.


OOC: you guys are now free to roam the HMS Grand Megaera; if you want to spend some time before we reach Stoneyard, perhaps interact with other players while doing so, there's the dorms where the Gold Tribe is allowed to stay, there's the Playroom for most entertainment purposes, there's the library, there's the deck (quite windy up there) or there's the arena if you want to train. Good luck killing time!

Pendro, Tavhir, Cassandra, Skysaber

After the meeting, the Gold Tribe had been dismissed until further notice. Until they reached Stoneyard, there was nothing they could really do except wait and pass the time. Being the Emperor's personal airship, there were several facilities on board that would look out of place on any normal vessel. The vast Dining Hearth was evidence enough, and that wasn't including the other amenities provided; the luxurious bedrooms, washrooms... there was even a personal library aboard.

Cassandra immediately knew where she was going to be spending her time. Pendro, likewise, knew that this could be one of the only chances he would have to find a book he hadn't yet read. There weren't many - in Skyhaven, at least.

Cassandra looked around in wonder at the library as she entered. "Wow... is there anything that this airship doesn't have?" Regal wallpaper adorned in velvet and hues of dark red decorated the walls, mahogany desks lined along the exterior of the library. The carpet matched the wallpaper somewhat, though with zig-zagging lightning patterns stretching across the length of the floor. Windows were opened, extending their view to the night sky as a gentle breeze rolled in, causing the lantern flames that lit the room to flutter slightly. As small as the library was - at least compared to conventional libraries - the fact that such a room was housed in an airship, of all places, was awe-inspiring. Bookshelves stretched to the ceiling of the place, providing a somewhat large collection for such a relatively contained space.

Tavhir followed in behind Cassandra, walking over to the shelves and perusing the tomes contained. "Heh, Irene would make this her second home if she could," he said to himself. It was hard to imagine how much time the Emperor spent on this ship to warrant such a collection.

Pendro had been steadily usurping Irene's role of library hermit. Once in there, he moved to the back-left of the place, immediately withdrawing each book at a time; replacing it with a "Nope." or a "Read it.", and occasionally moving one to where it should have been with a disapproving tut. He should get the Emperor to pay him for this. Or at least give him a free snack, or something. Some tea would be nice.

Cassandra chuckled at Pendro's book search. "You've seriously read all these books?"

Pendro snapped to her, glancing side to side. "Um... maybe." He returned to his examination.

"What I wouldn't give to be able to read all day long," Cassandra said, almost whimsically. As much as she loved reading back home, to be able to read every book in the library would take quite some time. She couldn't imagine how long it'd take her. "So then, since you've read them all, any recommendations?"

"All of them." Pendro answered immediately.

Cassandra laughed at his response. "I don't think we have that kind of time, unfortunately."

"I- oh, sorry, heheh. Um, well, I couldn't really say without knowing your particular tastes."

"I know," Tavhir said, "she likes books with lots of cheesy romance and unbelievable characters that she can fantasize over."

Cassandra lightly smacked Tavhir on the back of the head. "Oh, hush, you!"

Pendro raised an eyebrow. "Well, um, I do know where they'd likely be, if you're that way inclined..."

"Oh no, that's fine," Cassandra replied. "I think I might just have a look around myself. I'm sure I'll find something."

"You know, for a private library on an airship, this place has... hmm?" Tavhir turned a corner, spotting several books haphazardly stacked in a large pile. Compared to the elegance in organization in the rest of the room, it was a peculiar sight. He approached curiously, unsure of what to make of the sight. Pendro, finishing his searching and sorting of the row, turned the same corner. As he spotted the pile of books, his eyes widened in pure horror.

"Oh, my goodness! Who would do this? This is awful! Oh, dear, this will not do, how did this- no!"

"Don't!" someone screamed from behind the books. "-touch anything. I have it like that for a reason." Zack's head popped from the top. "Oh, you guys. Don't mind the mess, I'll have it cleaned up soon..."

"What? I-" the Metang paused to calm his breathing. "You- you better still have all of those in order. Y- you have no idea how inconvenient a disorganised library is..."

"What exactly are you doing?" Tavhir asked, confused.

"I'm panicking!" Pendro replied, without real concern that the question wasn't directed at him.

Tavhir held his hand up to hush the metang. "Not you, Pendro."

"I'm still panicking!"

Zack rubbed the back of his head, quiet for a moment, as if he was thinking. "I'm looking through..." he shuddered. "books. Frank caught a cold so he couldn't be here... in my place... and I told him NOT to stand outside for so long! I hate books, this is hell. Could you guys give me a hand? Or an eye, or whatever..."

"Did... did he just say he hates books...?" Reaching Mind thought aloud.

Tavhir ignored Pendro's comment, looking over the pile that Zack had accumulated. "What are you looking for, specifically?"

"Do you remember what that Meloetta said in Bryn's memory?" Zack glanced over the books in front of him, then gestured quotes with his fingers. "Something about a... 'crimson dawn'? Well, I didn't think it was of importance, but Frank does. He says he thinks he's read the phrase 'a crimson dawn' somewhere, in a history or a fiction book, so it's either library and books or Frank's whining for me." He tilted his head, looking questioningly at the three Pokemon in front of him. "Do you think the phrase is important?"

The grey Metang blinked, seemingly now too intrigued to worry about issues of tidiness. "'Crimson dawn'? I think I have heard the phrase before... let me check - I'll try to be quick." And with that, Pendro set off, psychokinetically pulling out books in a wave, flicking through them and replacing them. His eyes seemed to jitter in their sockets as he moved through spaces on the shelf.

"I think I've heard the phrase as well," Cassandra chimed in. "One of my history lessons... but I can't remember which one. I'll go take a look, see if I can find any of my old textbooks in here." She quickly turned down the aisle, heading off in search of history books. Her school days back in Skyhaven were far behind her, but surely she would remember the book if she saw it again.

"I'm... not sure how much help I can be," Tavhir said sheepishly. He wasn't the most attentive during his lessons, and admittedly the phrase was foreign to him. Regardless, he had to do something. He followed after Cassandra, searching the shelves alongside her, hoping that maybe he'd be able to be of some use.

Zack unwillingly rummaged through the books he already had opened and started looking at the most boring and lengthy recounts of old history, constantly on the lookout for words that started with the letters C and D. Minutes passed with his headache growing, the letters on the paper in front of him seemed to drown him; they were getting mixed up often and he would squint his eyes trying to read them properly. Frank had always told him of how he needed to wear Scope Lens so he could see better, but he refused to put anything on his head. The minutes became hours with him leaning over the books, and when he finally raised his head, two hours had passed with nothing but re-tellings of the history of Exathor found.
​

 

[Turnip]

Looking at Books​

Cassandra 'The Peacekeeper' and Tavhir 'The Restless' Eldren, Pendro 'Reaching Mind' Malis and Zack 'Skysaber' Dawson​

Cassandra visually scanned book after book, journal after journal, growing increasingly agitated. Reading was supposed to be fun, not annoying and tiresome. Tavhir walked behind her, casually running his hand over the books, unsure of what exactly they were supposed to be looking for.

As Cassandra paused to look through a familiar textbook, Tavhir stopped, glancing over at the row in front of him. Boring history textbooks and poetry. Tavhir had no qualms with reading, but poetry was something he never understood, the meanings of the verses often lost on him. He pulled out one book in particular, "A Quest for Salvation" by Perenth the Bard.

"Hey, Cassandra," Tavhir spoke up, idly flipping through the pages of the book. "Remember studying this guy in lessons? Perenth the Bard," he spoke the name in an overt posh voice in mockery. "Such a bore... those lessons were like free naptime, heh."

"Not now, Tavhir," Cassandra said, irritation evident in her tone. "This is kind of impor-- wait... let me see that book." Tavhir looked at the lilligant quizzically, before handing the book over to her. She flipped through the pages quickly; she remembered this author, one of her all-time favorites back in her younger days. Somehow... she knew that the phrase they were searching for was related, but this book did not have the information they were looking for.

"Ugh!" she exclaimed, frustrated. "I know it's in here, somewhere... wait!" Cassandra closed the book, quickly looking along the shelf where Tavhir had found it. She briefly scanned the book titles, before she found it. "Aha!"

She pulled out another book, related to the first. "Quest for Salvation: The Lost Verses." She flipped through the pages, before coming to what they had been looking for. "Guys, I think I found it! It's in one of Perenth the Bard's famous songs, one of the lost verses!"

"AAAH!" Pendro exclaimed in shock. He hadn't spent so long looking for something in a book since... well, ever.

"Right here, listen..." she said, before clearing her throat slightly. She began to read the passage outloud:

"... Here, we stood, on a hill, grass wet beneath our feet
Behind us, a sea of stone, not yet done for
Before us, a maelstrom of darkness, a haze of hissing, hateful chaos
The color of the sky brought fear to my comrades
And I will not lie - for lying is a coward's tool
Fear it brought to my heart, for I am but a mortal
But what we stood against was unlike us mortals
Darkness thick, and liquid in the sky, it snapped at us, "kneel in my presence"
And we said, "nay, foul being."
Our response was costly, for the very skies opened
My comrades said, "run, Perenth, so our memory may not fade"
I protested, not once would I think of abandoning them
But the wind pushed me aside
And as I searched for their eyes, the light found them first
Gone, the next moment they were, nothing but dust in the wind
The Crimson Dawn was upon us..."

"Is that it?" Tavhir asked, clearly not understanding the passage that had just been read. "Just a silly poem?"

"Shush," Cassandra chastised. "It's not just a silly poem. Look here, he mentions it specifically. The Crimson Dawn was upon us."

She flipped the page back and forth, checking the front and back; something seemed to be missing. "But this doesn't make sense..."

"You're telling me," Tavhir interjected.

"Hush!" she scolded again. "Listen. This verse... it doesn't connect with the rest of the tale; not as I remember it, anyways. Perenth never had any allies in the original story, but here he mentions comrades. If they died here, at this point... then this verse must have taken place before the actual story. It seems pretty chilling... I wonder what it could mean..."

"How do you know all of this?" Tavhir asked, confused.

"My cheesy romance novels," she said in a mocking tone. "I read this story all the time when I was a little girl."

Pendro coughed somewhat loudly. This wouldn't have been particularly out of place, if Metangs actually coughed naturally.

Cassandra shot Pendro an annoyed glance, before returning to her explanation. "It seems so... out of place. This is obviously before any of the events in the actual story... but it seems very apocalyptic, almost as if it belongs at the end, or towards the end, rather than the beginning." She flipped through the pages again, trying to find something else relevant to this opening verse.

"Endings and beginnings are, more often than not, one and the same." Reaching Mind noted. Cassandra nodded in response.

"That's true, though it just seems... odd."

Zack paced up and down the library, rubbing his hands. "Nah... Frank talks about this all the time - A Quest for Salvation is that guy's life after the Cataclysm that was the Great Sundering. Crimson Dawn," he muttered, "what could it mean? Never heard anything of the sort before... nobody has. The bard said something of the color of the sky. It must've been crimson. But if the skies changed color, I'm sure somebody else would've noticed... unless it was in a specific area. What if... what if that Crimson Dawn caused the Great Sundering? Or, this could all be fiction and we're dealing with a lunatic bard with wild imagination..."

"That's what I'm saying," Tavhir replied to Zack. "How do we know this isn't just some made-up story?"

"Unfortunately for us," Pendro said, "the cryptic riddles of a bard aren't much to go on. Especially compared to a detailed historical recount - what a shame those don't appear to exist. Just more poems. Arceus forbid Perenth would make it easy for us."

"Maybe it was written in a hurry," Zack suggested, shrugging. "I dunno. I'm putting my bets on fiction. The guy said he was blown by the wind. Is that even possible? Come on! The more I think about it, the more obvious it becomes: that verse wasn't real. I'm done with this place. Thanks for the extra eye. See y'around." He was about to leave, when...

"Not so fast!" Cassandra said, reaching over and grabbing the electabuzz by the antennae and stopping him in his tracks. "This is more than just fiction. I highly doubt that this Meloetta quoted a verse from this book just because she was a big fan of Perenth," she pointed out matter-of-factly.

Zack stopped in his tracks to think of it for a second. "You're right," he admitted. "But it still doesn't add up. This guy used the phrase only to give a flair to his verse! Now that's annoying--" he stopped abruptly. "Wait a minute..." He grabbed the book, Lost Verses, and looked into the verse. His eyes went back and forth as he read it again. When he raised his head to look at Cassandra, his eyes were wide with worry. "Oh my god," he muttered. "It says... 'behind us, a sea of stone.' A 'sea'? That's a strange term to describe mountains... the sea is flat, while the mountains... unless he was not describing mountains..." he muttered suggestively.

"It's a metaphor," Cassandra replied.

"No, I think it has special meaning," Zack insisted.

"He could perhaps be referring to stone in its liquid form." Pendro suggested. "A sea of stone could be some kind of expanse of lava, which would be reasonable in these supposedly apocalyptic conditions..."

Cassandra rolled her eyes in annoyance. "No, Pendro, and that's what I'm saying, Zack. This isn't meant to be taken literally. It's a metaphor for..." suddenly she realized, the place mentioned in the verses coincided with their destination. "Stoneyard...!"

Pendro humphed and crossed his arms. "Well, I'm sorry for considering all the possibilities..."

"Of course!" Zack shouted, "all those stones placed in rows... that's what Stoneyard probably looks like when you're on top of a hill - like a sea of stone!"

"Exactly!" she said, snatching the book from Zack, tucking the book in her satchel before turning to face Tavhir. "And you said poetry was a waste of time," she said teasingly, earning a eye-roll from the pawniard.

"Yes, well, you proved your point," Tavhir said, annoyed. "We should go and tell the others what we found."

"I ain't going anywhere," Zack said stubbornly, "except my bed. Have to take care of Frank, too."

"I believe you've got some books to take care of first." Pendro reminded the Electabuzz. "All of them."

Zack stared at Pendro for a second, overcome with surprise. Then, he threw his arms in the air and kneeled. "AAAH! I think I am cursed... it's the 'I-can't-take-care-of-books' curse! Quick... bring... ambulance..."

"You're, uh... Zack is your name, right?"

Zack fell over and pretended he was dead.

Pendro pointed at the floored Pokémon as harshly as he could manage. "You- you... have not yet earned my, uh, respect...! Yeah..." And with that, he sighed and floated over to clean up Zack's mess.

 

[Typh]

Jeremy "Juggernaut" Daraxus
a long meditation

Jeremy nodded to the ninetails, understanding his consern, taking it under advisement, when they were dismissed Jeremy walked over to the ninetails, "there are more than one way to sneak into an enemy base... especialy if you are the same species as some of the enemies members," he gave the ninetails a sly smile and started to walk away then turned around, "if you still need to clear your head of that berry's Toxins, come look for me... I'll be around." with that Jeremy left the dining hall and decided to look around a bit. after a while he entered the library, ignored the buffoon playing dead on the ground and looked around a bit. Jeremy went over and helped clean up a mess of books that was on the floor. After such was done he wandered the shelves over and over, eventually finding an old Eshir Book, in a corner shelf away from the others. he flipped though the pages briefly then said to himself, " If only history was something we actually learned from... how many old and ancient methods and traditions wouldn't be lost." he signed, then placed the book back on the shelf and walked out, nodding his head to the others as he left.

he wandered the ship for a while then went onto the deck of the ship, there he was greeted by only the sound of the wind, he found it soothing, he went to a location away from others and raised up slightly above the rest of the deck, there he keeled himself down, straightened his back and closed his eyes, listening to only the wind, it wasn't to much later that he had entered his meditative state, deep in thought, focusing on the tasks at hand, running through a list of things needed for the upcoming mission, clearing his head of unneeded nonsense, and filling his mind with soothing thoughts, and finding his inner peace, deep in his mind he sharpened his focus like one would sharpen a claw on a stone, he focused, sharpened and maintained this focus and frame of mind, till it came to the point that he could feel the focus becoming part of him, he had only known this feeling once before, when he was younger before he became part of the Gold Tribe, that was the time he defeated a dishonorable enemy in an Honor duel Tournament which returned his family to their rightful place, as superior Eshir warriors, disciplined by the ages, and faithful till the end. when his focus was at it's highest point, he stopped focusing it and started containing it, keeping it at this point was the hardest part for him... let alone using parts of it bit by bit to maintain his focus though out a battle to keep himself sharp and strong in a battle, he continued to work on this, maintaining the level of focus he has, without a change in his state of mind.

OCC: now before anyone says anything no he is not using Focus Energy. instead it's a method used by Ancient Eshir warriors, Now Jeremy's family is mostly the only ones that use this method, allowing them to have a unique strength in their attacks

 

[GastlyGibus]

Staring Contest.
|Thrasher, Pendro, Guardian, Cassandra, Tavhir, Zack.|​

It was at that moment when the door opened again and Thrasher walked on in. "Oh, you two are already here." He said as he looked at Tahvir and Cassandra, "Great! I don't have to go searching around for you then! Any-" He paused there as he glanced down at the lying Electabuzz. "... Is he already dead? Wow... that is the WORST track record of any Gold Tribe member since... ever."

"I'm not sure if he's medically dead," Pendro remarked, currently getting to the task of sorting through Zack's mountain of disorganised books, "but he's certainly dead to me."

".... Uh huh...." Thrasher walked on over, stepping over the 'corpse'. "And what were you all doing here?"

"Well," Cassandra started. "We originally came here just to relax and read a bit, but we ended up finding out some useful information." She held up the book they had found, A Quest for Salvation: The Lost Verses. "We're not sure how useful, exactly, but it's definitely something we want to look in to."

Guardian had decided to start exploring the ship via the library. While he may not have been raised in buildings, he still knew how to read, and enjoyed it. The moment he entered however he felt a strange atmosphere from those already there. "Hello," he greeted, taking note of the electabuzz on the floor. "Is he okay?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Zack opened an eye. "Nope, not okay. Definitely not okay. Call ambulance. Wait..." he got up on his feet slowly, his 'curse' scheme already forgotten. "Who are you?"

"Hopefully some kind of malevolent spirit that can force you to repent your messy ways..." Reaching mind muttered, before coughing and catching himself. "Aghem, sorry, uh, yes, hello. Good afte- erm, hello."

"I'm Guardian. I'm new," he explained.

"Awh," Zack said, scratching his antennae and glancing to the left for no reason. "I, uhh, you can call me Zack -- b-buh-why is there blood on your tails?!"

Guardian looked at his tails as though he did not know what Zack was talking about...which he actually did not for a moment. "Oh right that... I killed some murderers is all. The blood on my tails is from them," he shrugged.

Zack chewed on his lips for a moment. "So you're a murderer... oh! We're all murderers, I guess, Gold Tribe or not... I mean, we've all killed somebody, heh, right? Welcome to the club, bro. This is..." his hand flew to show Tavhir and Cassandra, "uhh," he struggled for a moment, trying to remember their names. "Restless and Peacekeeper, that's all I know. We're formal, and stuff, you get me?"

"Tavhir," Restless spoke up to introduce himself. "Some prefer to use their titles, but you can just call me Tavhir."

Cassandra nodded towards Zack, having correctly remembered her title. "My title is Peacekeeper, but like my brother here, I prefer to use my name. You may call me Cassandra."

"And this..." Zack showed Pendro, "is?"

"Formal? I guess I should state my title then. Guardian is my birth name but my title is Knight."

"I- oh, hello, sorry, I'm a little busy clearing up someone else's mess. Uh, I'm Pendro - sorry, uh, title- Reaching Mind. And I'm not a murderer, thank you. Even if I have killed other people, which I hope I haven't, even killing doesn't necessarily mean murder, thank you very much. Aghem, uh, yeah- where on Exathor does this book go-? There, OK... sure would be helpful if I had some assistance from the person who actually took them out of their rightful places..."

Zack crossed his arms and frowned. "Get off my ass already!" he said irately. "I'll - tell you what, we'll compromise. I'll get Frank to help ya out with the books! There! Ya happy? Just don't make me touch them again..." he muttered.

"I'm clearly not on your ass," Pendro crossed his arms. "It's obviously too firmly rooted to the floor for me to even be in with a chance of reaching it."

Zack's cheeks reddened with anger and his eyes were sparkling. He was somehow able to stop himself from attacking the Metang; he would've certainly started a massive fight if he was younger and well, not member of the Gold Tribe. He only showed a momentary 'smile' and said coldly, "you know, a machine faulty in battle should have other uses to compensate for its poor performance. Something like putting books back in their places would be perfect."

Pendro, being in the middle of placing a book in its place at the time, immediately withdrew his psychic grasp, sending the tome spinning to the ground. He probably would have been bright red, too - things like that don't happen when you're metal, though. "At least I do something! What do you do? Any plans to crash this airship, or does it just happen on a whim?"

Thrasher blinked and went off to the side, staring on. He grabbed some popcorn that was in his pack and slowly chewed on it as he watched.

Cassandra raised her hands towards both Zack and Pendro, trying to ease the tension. "Now, boys, let's not lose our heads here. It's nothing to get so worked up ov-"

"Hah!" Zack faked a laugh, "you are talking about crashing! Somebody restrain this guy, before he shames us in front of the whole Council, the Emperor and our leader. AGAIN!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

"You-!" Pendro floated over to the Electabuzz, their eyes locking fiercely. "I've had it with you!"

"Staring contest, is it?" Zack said with his teeth and fists clenched and his eyes squinted. "I used to be a pro at those in school!"

"Well, good luck beating me! I DON'T HAVE EYELIDS!"

"Huh?" Zack said, confused. "You do, I see them, right here."

"You two, stop it right now!" Cassandra raised her voice. "You're behaving like children!"

"Shut up! I am- I am..." The two stared at each other for a while, completely enveloped in their anger. Both of them stopped, silent, as if at any moment they could break into a frenzy of maddened combat, and then, suddenly: "...really sorry, those were really hurtful things I said, wow, I don't know what I was thinking..."

Zack looked away in shame and fiddled with his index fingers idly. "I, uh, no, really, sorry for what I said, too, I mean really... uhh... sorry."

"Um, yeah, uh, it was bad, I- do you want some, like, tea or juice or something? I think we both need, like, uh... that. Sorry."

"Tea? Juice?! This guy's nuts!" Zack shouted, throwing his arms in the air. "It's moo-moo milk or nothing, yo. One and only drink."

"What!? You-" Pendro stopped himself. "Okay, you get moomoo milk, I'll have tea. Heh, phew, uhm... yeah."

"Are they always like this?" Guardian asked no one in particular, staring at the two with a mixture of shock and awe.

"We, uh, just met." Pendro explained. "Like... yesterday."

Thrasher groaned and set back his corn in his pack, "Just when it was getting good." He muttered to himself.

 

[SV]

The Peacekeeper, The Restless, 'Shadowrend', and Thrasher - Caught...on fire

Cassandra let out a long sigh, thankful that they weren't fighting anymore, at least. She cleared her throat loudly to get everyone's attention. "Well, I'm glad you two made up, but we have more pressing issues to attend to, remember?" She held the Lost Verses up again to remind everyone of the situation at hand.

Thus far during his stay on the ship, Gerrick had tried to do his best to avoid entirely the rest of the Gold Tribe. He figured the less he interacted with them, the better it would turn out. But given his most recent predicament with the Wise Master, he now knew it to be impossible. Whether he liked it or not, he would have to delve once more into the dirty 'watchin'-and-reportin' business.

"Storytime?" Gerrick chimed in, looking on to the group from the edge of the doorway, his arms crossed as he observed the book in Cassandra's hands.

Thrasher looked at the book as well, "And what were you discussing? I did ask Pendro here but then that captivating fight occurred and I was just drawn in like a moth to a flame."

Cassandra smiled, happy that at least someone was interested in their discovery. "Well, Zack here was looking into that phrase we heard in Brynjolf's vision: The Crimson Dawn. We don't exactly know if it's important or not, but we managed to find a mention of one Crimson Dawn in this book here. An old story written by Perenth the Bard."

"Yeah, but wasn't that book some kind of 'Lost Edition' or something?" Tavhir asked. "You mentioned that this wasn't a part of the original story, right?"

Cassandra looked back towards the book in her hands, a small sense of doubt creeping onto her expression. "That's true. The only mention we found of this Crimson Dawn was in the Lost Verses, the unofficial expansion of the Quest for Salvation. The Lost Verses were written by, well, people who decidedly weren't Perenth the Bard; people who heard Perenth sing them and wrote the verses down themselves. The authenticity of the verses is frequently called into question by the poetic community; some people think they're nothing but forgeries, while others believe them to be genuine."

Cassandra rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, feeling like some kind of poetry geek for knowing so much about the subject. "Anyways, We found this verse here, which mentions a Sea of Stone and the Crimson Dawn." She flipped through the pages to find the verse in question, turning the book around so the others could read. "We think it might be important."

As the book was passed to Thrasher he read along the poem... and had to reread. "This verse here..." He murmured. "Where they talk about their memory fading... didn't that Vendra girl say something similar in the memory?" He thought for a moment, "She said something along the lines of those they captured... told them that they would forget their brothers and sisters." He pulled out his journal and flipped through it, "Yeah... that's what I wrote down. Maybe this verse was written before the official version was written then, or written by those unaffected by what Perneth went through..."

He chuckled a bit, "I'm sure none of you have ever met a Beheeyem before. I know a good friend who is one. Beheeyem have a rare gift. You never know if you have met one because their ability allows them to erase the memories of others. Usually they use this to remain undetected, kind of like a cloak of invisibility. Once you lay eyes on a Beheeyem they can erase that short term memory just like that and suddenly you don't even remember what you were looking at. If this verse was copied down by someone other than Perneth..."

Already he was jotting some notes in his own journal. "Then that means that this being who caused this Crimson Dawn might have some memory powers. I don't remember any comrades being in the original tale... but it has been some time since I read it too. Let's see... memories fading here... this darkness wanted them to kneel. Almost like to a king I would say. This being even disintegrated them... and if memories do fade... then it's possible that whoever these comrades are disappeared entirely. No one would remember them... at least if I'm reading this right."

He sighed, "That's a theory of course, but you all heard what that Vendra girl stated, and here it is stated again in written form. It's too much of a coincidence for it not to mean something. If... If Perneth forgot his own comrades after the battle... and our own brothers were taunted about forgetting their own brothers and sisters..." He shook his head, "This is not looking good."

The entire time while Cassandra began to walk and explain about the Lost Verses, and Thrasher's ramblings after, Gerrick quietly moved into the room with the rest of the Gold Tribe to get a better ear in on the conversation. He tried being subtle about it, but he doubted the others were paying him the most attention when theirs was squared more on the two of them and the book. He found what they said to be a bit ludicrous. Secret messages carried in between tales and songs? That was ridiculous! But then came that word.

"Crimson Dawn?" Gerrick repeated out loud to himself. The word...the word was a strange one, and Gerrick almost had a thought about it for a moment, but the moment passed quickly after, and he simply shrugged it off. "This all sounds kinda...weird to me," He said, walking up beside Thrasher and taking the book out of his hands to get a better look himself. "Crimson Dawn? Secret Stone water things? Memory powers? Do you know what you sound like?" He asked them, as he looked down at the words in the book. Gerrick paced a bit to the corner of the table, squinting at the words as he tried to make sense of them. "Damn, wish I could read," He murmured under his breath, putting the book up next to a candle to get a better read of it. He raised his eyes from the book to the others in the room.

"I never hearda any of that stuff before. Sounds like a bunch of... errr... nonsensical... uhh... nonsense if you ask me," He stated. His eyes were fixated on the group, while his hands rested a bit from the weight of the book. He stared for a few more brief seconds, before a strange odor of smoke began to fill his nostrils. Looking down, Gerrick suddenly yelped as he realized that the book had suddenly caught on fire from him putting the book to close to the candle. "AHH, CRAP!" He yelled, dropping the book out of his hands and promptly began to stomp on it until the flames were put out. However, a good portion of the book had already began to char from the damage done. Gerrick's eyes trailed from the book to the other 'mon in the room, though he averted his gaze from them after too long, knowing he screwed up. "Uh...uhm..."

"Sh*t, just what I needed now, to make a fool outta myself."

Thrasher stared on at the Krookidile all the while. He grabbed up his pen and stared on as he turned to a new page and began to slowly write in it. He had the evidence now... and he smirked a bit as he wrote.

Cassandra nearly screamed as the book began to burn, hurrying over to try and salvage what remained of the pages. She knelt down, unable to speak out of shock.

"You... idiot!" Tavhir shouted, staring daggers at the Krookodile. "Do you know what you just did?! Are you... are you even real?! I... no... I can't. I just can't. This is insane! First, you're second-in-command, and now that paranoid fool Jacob... I mean, dear Arceus above, they'll just let ANYONE be second-in-command, won't they? Next I'll bet they promote a brain-dead magikarp to a position of leadership!" The pawniard threw his hands up in frustration, resisting the insatiable urge to just gut the nearest living thing. "Well, thanks for destroying the only important piece of evidence we had. You're a real help - wonderful addition to the team, I'm sure. If anybody needs me, I'll be on the deck. I just can't..." he stormed off in a rage as he headed towards the exit.

Thrasher was moving already as Cassandra and Tavhir made their moves. He positioned himself before the door, blocking the exit, "How about some questions get answered first..." He said softly, his piercing eyes remaining right on the Krookodile. Tavhir grumbled as Thrasher blocked his path, deciding to stay for the time being.

"Some questions have been rising up for me ever since I saw you again Shadowrend. You're not the second in command that you used to be. You stammer over yourself... you seem unwilling to even talk with others in groups... even your performance with the Emperor... even HE noticed something off. I do too."

Thrasher slowly began to make his way up to the Krookodile, "How is it that you, a second in command to the Gold Tribe, managed to get free from that ambush that happened? Surely with some of our brothers having turned traitor at least one of them might mention to the rebellion that the second in command was a Krookodile... and tell them that particular Krookodile's name and title. How is it that you weren't captured or killed while there?" He had now reached Shadowrend and slowly began to pace around him, "How is it that you didn't even tell us how you escaped? And just now our clue to this Crimson Dawn... and you burn it entirely."

He kept on circling slowly, "Such a lot of... coincidences here..." He suddenly stopped right in front of the dark type, "Don't let him leave until he answers my questions. How did you manage to escape that ambush my... 'brother'?"

"Sh*t,"Gerrick gulped. "Way to go, Gerrick. Now they're gonna find out about you because of your stupid clumsiness, and you're gonna go to the choppin' block, and you'll lose your nice pretty head. Had a happy life? Did ya live it the way you wanted? Well, too bad if you didn't, cause it all ends now!" Gerrick sucked in a breath, mentally shaking his head at his own comments. "Oh, hell no, you've talked your way outta worse. Suck it up and give it to him! Come on!"

Gerrick sucked in a deep breath, furrowed his brows, puffed out his chest slightly, and glared at Thrasher in as best an intimidating look as he could muster in the moment. "I escaped with blood and bruises...brother," He spat somewhat frustratingly (or the attempt to be) at Thrasher. "And I'm gettin' pretty tired of you accusing me with your eyeballin'. And I'd like to see you try and walk for days heavily injured and with NO food or water to sustain me to rejoin you in the capital and not have any lingerin' side effects."

"Why don't you explain in detail what happened? It should be no issue correct? Detail what happened, and if you can't then the logical explanation would be lying, would it not?" Guardian stepped in.

"Arceus-damn piece of Gold Tribe sh*t," He cursed in his mind. His glaring eyes were set on Guardian now. He hesitated for a moment.

"Well? Is there an issue?" Guardian sat down, waiting patiently for the story, even swishing his tails slightly.

"No...no issue. It just...I dun like talkin' about the memory. I saw a lotta brothers and sisters fall that day. It's like you would have heard. We went to negotiations. They quickly took a turn for the worst and many were attacked. We rallied together at Deathbringer's Ma-"

"We don't want what we have heard!" Guardian snapped slightly, cutting him off. "We want to hear what you saw in detail. What you experienced. If the event really was so horrific, and judging by the way you talk, it sounds as though you remember very well what happened. Horrific events are either remembered clearly or forgotten, rarely in between. So which is it? Did you conveniently forget or do you remember the details and are willing to share them with us?" he asked, a knowing look in his eyes. He knew all about horrific events. He had experienced them enough to know you don't forget even small details easily.

"Alright, lay it all on there," Gerrick slammed the tabled loudly, a piercing gaze catching Guardian. He appeared quite angered now. "Ok, Gerrick, remember those Gold Tribe guys and gals at the place, what were their names...?" "You wanna know what I remember?!" He growled angrily. "A Stygian soldier fought on my right side, a Golbat. Family right outside of Alamagna. He was just a boy, barely old enough to be in combat, and there he was, fightin' and sweatin' and then bleedin' and dyin' right beside me!" He averted his gaze from the group and onto the table. "I saw Stormwings to me left side, high in the air, avoiding all manner of blasts and burns from a pair of Charizards, but like the others, he bit the dust and I couldn't do anything but look on."

Gerrick turned his back to them, now thinking hard of the other Gold Tribe members he met and spoke briefly with during his attachment with the army. "Arceus help me, what was that damn Sandslash's title? Swiftslash? Rapidslash? Dang! Oh yeah!" "I saw Swiftslice paired up against Pokemon three fold his junior, and tear them apart, but sometimes ... numbers can outweigh even the strong. He took a few horns from a Rhydon and a Rampardos ... two to the front, another behind, and that was it. I got cut on my side, a Nidoking burst through a line of Stygians like toothpicks and nailed me... I was on the ground, and if it wasn't for..." "the name....the blasted Vigoroth's name..." "...Ironheart, I would be right there with him. He told me...he said to me that there was no way out of it. We were all going to die there, and if we weren't, they'd take us and use us to get an advantage on our other brothers and sisters still in Alamagna. They pleaded with me not to give them a chance...." He was a Togetic... Brighteyes? Brightmight? Bright somethin' ... oh yeah! "The Bright One gave his own life to make a path to the outskirts. Stygians and rebels collapsed all around. I escaped through the shadows and darkness, and limped away...." Gerrick feigned a deep, heavy sigh of regret. "That's what was at Deathbringer's Mark...blood. Blood and....honor."

"Okay...I don't know any names of the Gold Tribe...so do any of you recognize any of those names, preferably all? Assuming at least one of you have been a member of the Gold Tribe long enough that is."

Thrasher stared at him and then sighed, "Shadowrend... it is important you get this out now." He said slowly, "It may have been for other reasons this came out, but if you really want this off of your chest then simply talking about it will help. Guilt is a dangerous thing and if you simply let those scenes remain in your mind without speaking about them... then you will only get worse. We already see how clumsy you've gotten and how you are just not like yourself. If you want to get through this and get better you need to find someone and let it all out. If you keep it in, it will only harm you in the long run."

Cassandra sighed heavily; as terrible as it was that the book had been burned... well, most of them had seen it, right? If they were to all testify to the phrases they found, then surely Garland and the others would believe them. She stood from the charred remains of the tome and stepped back, thinking on Guardian's query. "I don't recognize them all, but I've heard of some. They told stories of Ironheart's courage in the ECUL."

After listening to Shadowrend's tale of trauma and death, Tavhir bowed his head. He took in a deep breath and exhaled, calming himself. "Look, Shadowrend, I'm sorry for my outburst earlier... we all saw the phrases, so I suppose the book itself wasn't completely necessary. Thrasher is right, though. I can't exactly say that I knew you, but even I could tell that something was off in your demeanor. Keeping your feelings bottled up is obviously affecting you more than you know."

"Then I guess this means he is telling the truth," Guardian commented. "Sorry for suspecting you."

"Gerrick, you've outdone yourself today," Gerrick thought to himself, trying his best to hide his relief and his pride in himself for being able to pull off the fib of the century on the spot. "You deserve a drink ... later. For now..." He turned back to the others, attempting to look as solemn as he could. "Err...yes, I guess you're right. I'll consider what you say. Pay it no heed...mind...brothers and sisters. Let's just..do what we were doing."

 

[Typh]

Jeremy "Juggernaut" Daraxus

After Jeremy's meditation session with nothing but the wind as his companion. he had a new focus and determination, and found himself ready to enter into combat whenever necessary.

Jeremy re-entered the inner part of the ship. once inside he heard voices coming from the Library, he stepped in to clearly hear the Krookodile in the room say, "Err...yes, I guess you're right. I'll consider what you say. Pay it no heed...mind...brothers and sisters. Let's just..do what we were doing." Jeremy finished walking through the doorway and closed the door behind him, then he stood there his arms folded, he watched the different Pokemon in the room for a moment, noticing that there was a saddened presence in the area, and it was directed towards the Krookodile then he said, "If I remember correctly about you Shadowrend... you were quite the tactician, able to determine the best way to defeat an enemy... so I'm wondering what do you think about this plan? what would be the best way to deal with these rebels?"

 

[SV]

Gerrick did his best to avoid sighing deeply as a response to the next set of inquiries thrust upon him by the Aggron who had just entered the room. "Of course Shadowrend was a great tactician. He had to be, with my damn luck," Gerrick's gazed fell from the Aggron who had just entered to the table. He placed a paw onto his chin and contemplated. Fortunately, Gerrick did have some skill with planning, especially back with his bandit group. They were mostly for robberies and kidnappings, so a rescue mission may not be that far off.

"We could split us up into two teams. A 'nitial team that screws around with the enemy and another team that goes in from the shadows and take the gold ... errr ... prize ... uh ... captives." He stated. It was a timeless classic of a plan, and one Gerrick relied on heavily on the road for armed caravans carrying plenty of loot. An initial team distracts, and the secondary team gets the job done. Gerrick suddenly remembered the agreement he made with the Wise Master and the item he wanted him to get. "We could move the shadow team and split them up to cover the entire area, then figure out where our guys...uh...brothers and sisters, are being held, and meet back together to get them out. That's what we're here for, right? Get them and go? We don't have to kill everything that moves."

 

[GastlyGibus]

Gold Tribe on Deck
|Garland and Tavhir|​

"Well, assuming we're done here, I'm heading out," Tavhir said. All the tension from the book and the ensuing war story from Shadowrend was beginning to wear on the young pawniard's mood. He needed some air, and maybe a little time alone to simply reflect on the situation at hand. He exited the library, heading down the long hallway of the ship towards the deck.

The cool night air gently flowed over the surface of the ship. Tavhir took in a deep breath, already feeling refreshed just from stepping outside, letting the wind float over his form. He walked over to the railing on the edge of the deck, peering over at the ground below. The glow of the moon illuminated the ground below, bright white beams casting all across the surface of Exathor. Tavhir wasn't usually one for sentimental moments like this, but even he had to admit the view was breathtaking. He spent several minutes just leaning on the railing, admiring the view even in the limited light.

"Plenty of fresh air up here," a voice said behind him. Garland walked from the bridge to Tavhir, touching the railing and looking past it. They were moving quickly above the wastelands of Stygia. "Are you from these parts, Tavhir?"

Tavhir was dragged from his admiration of the view by a voice. He turned to see Garland addressing him, the floatzel standing next to him as he took in the view. The pawniard looked back towards the ground of Stygia below, "I am, though it's been a while since I was last here."

"Oh? Where do you normally live?"

"I grew up in Skyhaven, actually," Tavhir said, thinking back on his time spent in Hesperia. "I spent the majority of my life there."

Garland scratched the fur of his neck, looking at Tavhir sideways. "Now I remember. Cassandra is your sister in law," he said, "you two are the children of Lord Eldren." He nodded in approval. "I have met him. A good man, indeed." Turning to Tavhir, "do you miss him?"

Tavhir nodded once. "I do. I wasn't too fond of him at first... well, I wasn't too fond of anybody at first," he gave a weak laugh as he thought about his childhood. "But you're right. He is a good man. Took me a while to realize it, but looking back, I can see it."

"It looks like he did a fine job raising you, lad," the Floatzel said, smiling faintly. "What of your biological father?" he asked.

Tavhir paused. It had been a while since he had last thought of his father. "My real father was..." he thought for a bit, trying to find the words, "... away, for a while. I don't remember much, just that he was very stoic and strong-willed."

Garland looked past the railing. He nodded quietly in understanding; in truth, he knew more than he let on. "... I see," he said after a few moments. "I was lucky to grow up in an affectionate family. But, even if I wasn't, the Gold Tribe is my family now and forever. How do you feel about the Gold Tribe, Tavhir? Have we done our part as your new family?"

"I can't say for sure," Tavhir said with a shrug. "I haven't been part of the Gold Tribe for too long. It's certainly an... interesting bunch we have here." He pondered over the others for a moment, thinking of their past experiences and the siege in Alamanga. "But despite our differences, we work well together, I'd say. I guess that's what families do, isn't it?"

"No," Garland said sadly, "that's what families are supposed to be doing. Not all families work together, you see. Have you heard of the War of Succession, Tavhir? Well, you certainly will have, if you paid attention in the history classes of the College, although the scope of the professors is... a bit biased."

Tavhir rubbed the back of his sheepishly. "Oh, yeah... I paid attention. Of course I did..." While he did technically pass, for some classes he needed to... call on some favors, as he liked to put it. Academics were never his strong suit. "What do you mean they were biased, though?"

Garland looked reluctant to answer for a bit. Leaning towards the Pawniard, he said, "the Emperor isn't too fond of teaching things exactly as they happened, Tavhir... the War of Succession wasn't a gallant march to victory. Many atrocities were committed by both sides... events that he thinks are best left untaught, but I disagree. I can trust you with this education, I think... as you may be aware of, the War of Succession was caused by a dispute within the imperial family - Dareon's family, the Aurelius's. One side claimed Dareon's younger sister, Princess Kivandra, was born before him, and that she had better claim to the Thunder Crown, as she was supposedly older than him. Colossus, the leader of the Gold Tribe at the time, chose to believe Dareon's claim, and he was right, so he allowed Dareon to be crowned Emperor. But, just as Dareon was about to be crowned, the freshly forged crown was stolen and taken to Skyhaven, for Princess Kivandra to wear. They were both children, still Mareep, but the supporters of each side forced them to evolve sooner; men do not follow sheep to battle. Dareon evolved first, as he was indeed older, and that gave vigor to his old supporters, while he gained new ones - particularly Lord Vektor of Hesperia, who played a critical role in the war. Their objective was left unsaid: they were to re-acquire the Thunder Crown, the symbol of the Emperor, and put it on Dareon's head, by all means necessary. In the battle of Skyhaven, Princess Kivandra... died, from sickness, it was believed, so the siege was left incomplete. In short, look at what happened for conflict within the family. Thousands died, towns were destroyed and the survivors were scarred. Even Dareon. I remember he confessed to me his regrets about what happened to Princess Kivandra."

"I see..." Tavhir responded, taking in what had just been said. He knew that it was some kind of political power struggle, but he hadn't imagined it as brutal as Garland had put it. From the way he put it, it sounded like Dareon had been through a lot, which might have explained the Ampharos' current disposition. It was hard for Tavhir to imagine politicians and leaders as just... people. People with issues and problems, like everybody else. "Do you imagine any sort of conflict like that in the current family?"

"Another conflict...? That is unlikely... Dareon loves Cyrus, and I think that Cyrus loves him too. Though, there are times when they are too distant. I took the role of tutoring Cyrus, instead of Dareon. He will become a mighty ruler some day, I know..." if we manage to rescue him, he thought afterwards, but he didn't say it. "Cyrus is very brave; I can trust you with an unsaid story about him, can't I?"

"Great, another secret I get to keep," Tavhir thought to himself, before nodding at Garland's question. "You can."

Garland licked his lips and put one foot on the railing, now looking at the star-filled sky, reminiscing. "Nine years ago, the rebellion required all of us who occupied the Union Citadel to go to Alamagna to aid General Althalos; Emperor Dareon was there too. He insisted that the young Prince Cyrus - a Cubchoo by then - could not follow us grown men to battle. So he was left behind in the Citadel, with the Keeper of the Gold Tribe as his only company. Little did we know, trouble was brewing in the Union Citadel: somebody, consumed by greed, infiltrated the castle in search for the two crystals the Gold Tribe has been guarding - you know about those, of course, I have made sure our secret is taught to every new recruit. So, this man wanted these two crystals for himself, and found the perfect opportunity to obtain them, when the Union Citadel was vacant. But he made a very crucial mistake: he underestimated Prince Cyrus. He first brushed our Keeper aside with relative ease, then Cyrus. The moment he broke into the prison which guarded the two crystals, and grabbed hold of them, Cyrus had fully evolved into a Beartic. Keeper told me what happened in detail, as he was there to see it with his own eyes: Prince Cyrus grabbed the man - a Malamar - from his neck, pinned him on the wall and gutted him right there without flinching. I was worried, when I returned; as a Cubchoo, Cyrus could never hunt on his own, so he had never... well, killed before."

"Brutal..." Tavhir said grimly. Difficult to envision a child evolving and doing such an act immediately afterwards. "Bravery is certainly a desirable trait in leadership, but..." he stopped, making sure to choose his next words carefully. "... if it's not tempered with wisdom, then it only helps so much."

"Oh, I agree," Garland laughed lightly, "but Cyrus is still young. I say, let him be brave now, in his youth, and wise later... too much wisdom will make you stressed like our dear Emperor." He laughed again.

Tavhir joined in the laughter. "I suppose so. I guess I'm not one to talk though, since, well, I'm still young too. I have a lot to learn too, it seems."

"Perhaps," Garland smiled genuinely at him and patted him on his little shoulder. "I know for a fact you'll do well, Tavhir. I see your potential clearly, lad." The Floatzel hid a great yawn behind his hand and stretched his other arm. "I think it's time for bed."

Tavhir simply nodded in response. "Perhaps so. I think I'm going to stay here for a bit longer and enjoy the view."

"You do that. I'll get some sleep. I'll talk to you later," he shouted as he descended the stairs, headed belowdecks.

 

[Typh]

Jeremy "Juggernaut" Daraxus

Jeremy watched and listened to 'Shadowrend' speak, he heard the pokemon tripping over words, and trying to choose the right words carefully, then mentioning separating the stealth team into two smaller groups claiming that it would allow them to find the missing siblings and the emperor's son... something wasn't right about this though, Jeremy stroked his chin then folded his arms saying, "you know 'Shadowrend' having the group separate into two... I don't believe that's the right Idea, the group that is going in is already going to be small... to make them into two and smaller has to much risk... for the safety of those going in, the last thing we want is for even one of the groups to be captured to make the operation twice as difficult, let alone letting both be captured and the operation being blown... that's a risk I doubt we need to take... let alone want to take. so with all due respect... I disagree with separating the group into two, such a thing is not necessary nor is it a good idea, it's a recipe for disaster." throughout his speaking to 'Shadowrend' he was calm, focused... precise, Jeremy didn't trust that this person was who he said he was... there were plenty of clues that told him that this pokemon in front of him was not who he said he was, that backed him on this. Jeremy, however didn't say anything, he just watched the Krookodile, the focus he had developed earlier shown like a piercing claw, as he looked the Krookodile in the eyes, Jeremy had no intent on causing a fight... simply to know the truth... and thus he waited, like a Pyroar stalking it's prey... ready to pounce when the time's right.

 

[GastlyGibus]

Keeping Evidence
|Cassandra, "Thrasher," Pendro, Guardian.|​

As Tavhir exited the room, Cassandra looked towards Thrasher, remembering the notebook that he had been using. "Thrasher, did you by chance happen to write down those verses?"

Thrasher brightened up and looked at his book. "A few... I was going fast so it was short hand. Let's see... I only wrote down short phases that stuck out to. Got 'behind us, a sea of stone', 'kneel in my presence', 'run, Perenth, so our memory may not fade', and 'the crimson dawn was upon us'. Like I said I didn't write that much down before it was taken away, but there have to be more copies in the world. If this does indeed have to do with memories then everyone should get journals as well. Write down everything that happens. We can't afford forgetting anything important that happens."

"Where is there most likely a copy of the book?" Guardian asked. "Obviously we can't fetch it now, but after the mission, maybe we should make plans for the retrieval of one."

"Well, whenever the opportunity arises, I can send a message to my friends back in Skyhaven," Cassandra said. "I used to be part of a literature club a few years back; I'm sure if I can get in contact with my old acquaintances, one of them will most likely have a copy, or, at the very least, know where to find one."

Pendro cleared his throat loudly, raising a hand. "Uhm, before we go any further, I should probably say that I... I can kind of recall the entire verse..."

Thrasher blinked, "Well... that's good." He chuckled a bit, "But we'll still need to find other copies to see what the other verses said. I'm sure we can salvage a bit here but if they do contain clues that were forgotten by Perneth, they would help tremendously then."

"Yes, I'm sure, uh... should I just tell you anyway? I mean... I'm only going to forget it later. I just have an accurate short-term memory, is all, and it'd probably be best for reference, for now, at least until another copy is found."

Guardian nodded his head towards Pendro. "That sounds like a good idea. We should actually write it down, maybe a copy for everyone, that way we can each try to figure it out on our own, as well as together. Then once we get a hold of the other verses, we can use them to further our discoveries."

"Oh, uh, yes- Thrasher, could I, uh... should I borrow your notebook? I mean, if you don't mind."

Thrasher nodded and handed it to him as he flipped it to another page, "Yes, write it down."

"Th- thanks, thank you, uh..."

The Metang took the notebook and the pen, taking a short while to position each. He took a short breath, before rapidly scribbling on the page in a somewhat frantic manner - at least, it appeared that way. The movements were quick, certainly, but they left perfectly legible text with almost identical lettering. Within a minute, eight copies of the verse had been made on separate pages, layered on top of one another. Reaching mind handed the book back to the Primeape, taking two of the copies and storing them around his back.

Cassandra took two pages, one for her and one for Tavhir. She pulled out her own journal and tucked the verses within the pages before securing the book back inside her satchel.

Guardian used psychic lifting a copy and floating it over to himself. He then began to study it, attempting to decipher what he could.

Thrasher closed his journal and nodded, "Keep on the lookout then for more copies." He nodded, "Just... yes. I would say write down everything you know. No telling if what happened to Perenth might happen to us now."

 

[Greiger]

Meditation Session
|Noah, Tavhir, Darvin, Cassandra, Pendro.|​

The Gold Tribe was nearing their destination, some days having passed. The rest of the trip was mostly uneventful, aside from the continued planning for when they reached Stoneyard. Tavhir had taken to meditating on the deck of the ship... or rather, attempting to meditate. They said meditation was a time to relax and empty your mind, to focus your mind, but the pawniard found himself too easily distracted. Regardless, he closed his eyes and attempted to focus himself.

Cassandra, meanwhile, was simply leaning over the railing, looking over at the expanse of land below. She could see Stoneyard in the distance, the thought of arriving filling her with a sense of courage. They had their plans, and their objective was clear. Unlike their situation in Alamanga, she had steeled herself over the past fews days, her normal optimism having returned to her. She was confident their mission would be successful. They had ample time to plan, after all, why wouldn't it be?

After the events that happened at the dinner, Darvin began just to stroll and explore the ship overall. Not the person to quite interact that much with others, he was left by his own mostly, except when he decided to go out on the deck of the ship. Not one to look at the clouds, he inspected the others of the Gold Tribe, trying to learn something, or even more about them. At some point, someone, apparently from the Gold Tribe, came on the deck of the ship too, curious as to what he was doing outside, he began to follow him. Soon that Gold Tribe member sat himself down, and.. meditated? Curious, Darvin still watched him from the distance, but soon came closer, not really knowing what to say. He just did the same like he did back at the dinner.

"Hey," nothing more, and expected to be noticed now.

Pendro, meanwhile, had been unintentionally following the group. He'd mainly been going into the library or staying in his room when he'd wanted to relax a little, but for some reason, today the deck caught his attention. Supposedly, the views were quite spectacular, so perhaps, he considered, it could be quite a thought-stimulating place to be. Nevertheless, there he was: floating out onto deck with a nice book and a cup of tea, he soon realized his error. The breeze wasn't particularly strong, granted, but it was just enough to create an inconvenient dribble; a puddle was steadily forming at the base of his cup, threatening to consume his saucer if he wasn't careful.

The Metang sighed, sipping from his cup shortly and watching the liquid drip in disappointment. "Now I know why I don't come up here."

Tavhir opened one eye, noticing a totodile looking at him curiously. "Can't he see I'm trying to center myself here?" he thought to himself. However, he didn't recognize him. Must have joined after the battle back in Alamanga. He closed his eye again, exhaling slightly. He was calmer than usual, at least, so rather than snapping at the totodile in irritation, he simply remained motionless.

"... Hey. Is there something I can help you with?" Tavhir asked calmly. Darvin was a bit startled that he actually replied, but remained calm too, trying now to look away a bit.

"Oh, nothing really, was just wondering what you were doing out here," He answered the question.

Noah exited his quarters with a calm sigh. The air that circulated through the ship had grown somewhat tiresome. That might have seemed strange at first since there had been nothing but meditation and planning, however the Typhlosion had begin to grow somewhat restless. He wasn't used to the monotony of air ship yet, and he was never the type of 'mon to stay still in one place for a long time. Regardless, there was no denying that the breeze and skyward view that accompanied the trip was nothing short of amazing. Rejuvinating, even. It was as this crossed his mind that he spotted his brothers, Darvin and Tahvir, seeming to be chatting. He walked over slowly, yet with an intentional dragging of his feet to make sure his approach wasn't a surprise. "How's it going?" He sat down on his hind legs as he said this. It was sometimes awkward talking to much smaller pokemon while standing straight up.

"Well, I'm trying to meditate, but I don't think I'm very good at it," Tavhir responded to the totodile, just as Noah began to approach from behind, taking a seat near the two. "Good, for the moment, that is."

The Flash nodded. "Yeah. A lot can change in a moment's notice. Err, I heard you was trying to get some meditation done?" He waited for a nod from the pawniard. "Well, believe it or not, I'm a meditating pro when I work up the nerve to sit still for it." He sat back on his haunches and rested his arms on his lap. He motioned the others to imitate him. Tavhir nodded in response, resuming his original resting pose.

Noah then continued. "Alright, now close your eyes for maximum concentration. I found the best way to meditate would be to focus on a goal. I always aim to become stronger, so I concentrate on the element - fire within me. I feel it burning inside." He took a deep breath. "Have that power within you circulate and passively grow within you, as if you were preparing an attack. But keep it calm and controlled. Concentrate on that for as long as you can." Noah then stopped talking as if issuing silence.

Cassandra looked over at the others gathered on the deck, seeing that Noah, Tavhir, and Darvin were all meditating together. She smiled slightly; it was nice to see the others getting along as they were. Just then, Pendro came up with a book and what looked like a cup of tea. Cassandra gave a friendly wave to the metang. "Come to relax a bit?" she asked. It took Pendro a second to realise he'd been addressed - and that there were indeed other Pokémon on deck.

He let out a cough of surprise and cleared his throat. "Aghem, oh, uh, hi - yes, or, um... I suppose." The metang took another sip of tea. "Yes, quite agreeable weather, I'd say, m'lady, definitely a-" Pendro coughed again. "I- uh, did I-? OK, um..."

Cassandra laughed slightly at being called m'lady. That was something she hadn't heard in a long time. "Indubitably, good sir. Quite agreeable, indeed, if I do say so myself," she said with a giggle. She hadn't spoken like that since the lavish dinner parties her mother hosted back in Skyhaven, but she was well versed in how to speak like a proper lady.

"I, uh, yeah... sorry about that. I'm not all that sure what that was. Though it did happen at the dinner, too, when- oh, uh... hmm, it is a little odd." He took a sip of his tea again. "Very peculiar, quite a conundrum indeed - I shall have to look into it in latter ventures-" The Metang clasped one claw over his mouth, thoroughly embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it," she said, stifling a laugh at the metang's nervousness. "My mother used to host dinner parties with the posh crowd a lot. I'm quite used to it."

"Oh, well... thank you, I suppose. I, uh... never really cared for the aristocracy, but evidently at least a little of it has rubbed off on me... that hasn't particularly happened before, though. I mean, I never said... things..."

Cassandra nodded. "Same here, in a way. It's funny... even though I grew up in what many would consider the lap of luxury in Skyhaven, I wasn't particularly fond of the aristocrats either. Thankfully, my mother wasn't like that, though she still taught me to behave properly when she had guests over. I guess old habits die hard." She smiled, thinking back on her childhood.

"Y-you grew up in Skyhaven?"

"I did," she replied with a smile. "Eldest daughter of the Eldrens... well, only daughter, I should say."

"Oh, um, hmm. Well, I can't say I ever saw you around - though that's not entirely surprising..."

"Yes," Cassandra replied. "I was sort of a sheltered child for a good portion of my life. My parents hired private tutors most of the time, so I never really had the opportunity to go out and meet many kids my age."

Pendro chuckled lightly. "If you were looking for a 'sheltered childhood' battle, you've come to the right place... ever visit the libraries?"

"I did, actually," she said, almost excitedly. It looked like she had a lot more in common with Pendro then she thought. "I used to go there all the time, parents permitting, of course."

"Then how did I not-? Hmm, I suppose even in the libraries, I wasn't particularly socially active... or even at all..." The metang kept his gaze down, fiddling with his teacup. "I spent almost all of my time there, when I wasn't asleep, at least."

"I see," she said. "You weren't kidding when you mentioned you had read all the books in the library." The lilligant took notice of the teacup in Pendro's hand; it was as if he purposefully trying to find things that interested her. "A fan of tea too, I see."

"Well, not quite all of the books in all of the libraries, but yes, some are completely exhausted, and most are mostly exhausted... heheh... erm- oh, yes, tea is nice. Very nice. Amoonian blend. Soft and warming, with a hint of Aspear."

"We'll have to exchange blends sometime," Cassandra replied with a grin. "My friend Varkas taught me all kinds of exotic blends back home."

"Oh! I like blends! Uhm, yes, uh... that would be, uh, quite nice," Pendro paused to sip from his tea again. "Yes, indeed - I should thoroughly enjoy to share in your company another time, madame, for you-" The metang clasped his mouth shut again, before shortly removing his hand. "Excuse me for a moment." Reaching mind turned slightly away, a worried look in his eyes. He coughed once, then turned back. "I... I really need to find out what is doing that..."

Meanwhile, Tavhir and Darvin had begun to follow Noah's advice. Tavhir closed his eyes, trying to focus on a goal... until he began to question himself.

What is my goal...? he pondered that question. It was something he had never really considered deeply. Was it strength? Justice? Wisdom? Revenge? He struggled to find an answer, but he kept calm. Perhaps this was the point of meditation... to find the answers to those questions. He took in a deep breath, then exhaled, as he tried to center his thoughts and find focus.

As Darvin sat himself down too and tried to follow the advice how to meditate, he thought about his goals. His thoughts all went about the main need to be needed in all of this; maybe that was his goal. He never really thought about it, or even asked himself this question. After all, he wanted to actually have a part in all of this, he couldn't really think about anything else as his goal when he asked himself this question.

Noah, several moments after the others began to settle down and concentrate, peeked open an eye lid. Grinning at his friends effort at meditation, he silently stands up and heads toward the mess hall. If there was one thing that helped him think straight other than meditation, it was a good meal. Passing by Cassandra and Pendro, he gives them a friendly nod before going down below the deck again.

 

[Ray Maverick]

OOC: Time skipping to Stoneyard.

Jacob "Prankster"

They arrived at Yvangarde Keep after the sunset and they didn't get to see much of it because of the accumulating dusk. The teleportation gems were presented to them by the servants of the Keep as soon as they got off theairship. They bid the Emperor and the cats of the SIA adieu and channeled the power of the gems as soon as possible, and with little conversation. They spawned in the mountains, right in the thick darkness of the pine trees. Jacob could tell all of them had successfully ported in the same place by their scents and breaths. He had also immediately sensed a feeling of dread that was rather unfathomable to him; he glanced at the sky, worried that there was something creeping behind the peak of the mountain. Feels like we're being watched, he would've said to his sister, but he decided not to, because he knew she was feeling the same way. He popped a bright blue miracle eye triangle in front of him and his sister forced the color out of it, so it was now transparent; Jacob looked through the triangle at everything: the forest, the mountain, the sky. It seemed like there was nothing to worry about, but Jacob always worried for the worst.

"Quiet, now, and no lights, use your ears to follow the rest," Garland whispered, "no need to arouse the wild Pokemon. Birds travel far to tell interesting news."

Having left the convenience of the airship at Yvangarde, they now had to walk the rest of the way to Stoneyard. As the dusk made for poor vision, Sophia had fastened a rope around her and her brother's waists so they would not get separated. Garland was leading the way as his eyes worked well enough in the dark. He was down on his four feet to scout the ground ahead easily and he occasionally stopped to sniff the air for any scents. "That's strange," he muttered, "no Pokemon to be found here. Could it be that we are alone in these mountains?"

Jacob walked up next to the Floatzel so he could look past the edge of the cliff where they were standing. He snatched a leaf off of a tree that was growing dry at the very tip of the hill. "No wild Pokemon," he said, "that's partly good. We may approach completely undetected."
​

They walked around the cliff and continued their way south through the pine forest. Jacob had spread open a large map that was twice as big as him and was examining it as he blindly followed his sister who was pulling the rope that connected them. On the map, Jacob could see that although they were in a forest, their altitude was immense. They needed to reach a massive cliff at the edge of the pine forest. The drop from that cliff would be about two thousand feet. Beyond that, there was only the grasslands of Hesperia, and a good view of Stoneyard's high mesas, not very far away from the giant cliff. "Good," Jacob said quietly to himself, "well, not good, but good enough."

It took them two hours to reach the giant cliff. The view would be great, if there were moon and stars to light it for them. The grasslands of Hesperia were dark, pale, and they seemed to whisper when the wind blew through. Or it could be Jacob's imagination. In his mind, the great shadows amidst the grasslands were the huge mountains of Stoneyard that rose like stone spears from the ground. They couldn't see much of them, and they certainly couldn't see much of the monasteries, but that also meant nobody from the monasteries could see them either. No patrols, Jacob thought, those scientists sure are lousy.

They stopped at the edge of the cliff and Garland held out the two teleportation gems they had gotten from Yvangarde Keep. Jacob knew the signal. He took one of the gems and stepped over to one corner, while Garland stood on the other corner. "I'm sneaking into the monasteries," Jacob said decisively, half whispering, half shouting. "Who's with me? Step over here, close to me."

"And I am headed further south," Garland declared, "to secure a good foothold for us in the Evening's Light Chapel. Those who want to join me, stay close."

Sophia turned to Jacob, touching the rope that connected their waists. "Jake, you want me to come with you?"

"Na, I'll be fine," he said quickly, untying the rope from his waist and letting it fall on the ground. He hugged his sister briefly and, although both their faces were blank, they could see supportive smiles in each other. "Take care, Fi," he reminded her.

"Always." Sophia walked over to Garland, who nodded.

 

[GastlyGibus]

Tavhir "Restless" and Cassandra "Peacekeeper" Eldren
Walking in the shadows.
-------------------------------

The sun had set, and no sooner had they arrived at Yvangarde Keep than they had immediately begun preparations for their departure to Stoneyard. All the better for Cassandra, who had developed a keen aversion to the Keep long ago. She looked visibly distraught as they departed the airship. As the servants of the keep prepared the gems for teleportation, Tavhir noticed his sister's gloomy expression.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned.

"No, it's just... this place gives me the creeps," the lilligant responded.

"Nervous?"

"Not exactly... I just don't like this place," Cassandra replied, trying to assure her brother that she was fine. Of course, she was only being partially truthful, and she knew it. It was more than simple fear and atmosphere that was the cause for her stress, though she would never admit as such. Truthfully, it was near Yvangarde that she had her final "mission" with her old friends long ago in the Guild. That was the day she had realized how far they had all fallen, herself included, and the day that she had resolved to leave her time, and her "friends," in the Guild behind. It was a trying time for her, and she had desperately wanted to put that past behind her. She was a member of the Gold Tribe now... a new person, in a way. Even still, the memories of the towers of Yvangarde towering over them as the Guild completed their mission so many years ago brought with them ghosts of the past, and it made Cassandra feel the pangs of guilt anew.

Tavhir, on the contrary, felt very different about the Keep. Standing once more amongst the looming towers high above the valleys gave him a sense of calm. He remembered this place well... it was where he had been brought as a child when Vennson found him. He had stayed a few short days in it's walls, before Vennson had made the proper preparations to secure them safe passage to Skyhaven. He felt safe here, just as he did years ago.

Both of their feelings were short-lived though. The gems were prepared extremely quickly, and the Gold Tribe wasted no time in their departure to Stoneyard. Few words were exchanged, the group remaining mostly silent as their corporeal forms faded, before vanishing completely from the Keep.

Instantly, they had arrived in the dark of the woods, several kilometers away from their intended destination. The dense fog made vision difficult, but the Gold Tribe stuck together, traveling at the same pace so they would not split up and become lost in the shadows of the forest. As the Gold Tribe traversed the woods together, Garland spoke up.

"That's strange," he muttered, "no Pokemon to be found here. Could it be that we are alone in these mountains?"

"No wild Pokemon," Jacob added, "that's partly good. We may approach completely undetected."

Tavhir nudged Cassandra slightly to get her attention. He motioned towards her satchel secured across her shoulder, and she knew what he wanted. Cassandra rummaged through her pack before retrieving a small, brown journal that belonged to Tavhir, in addition to his special pen that was made for his bladed hands.

"No wild pokemon..." Tavhir thought to himself as he quickly jotted down his thoughts in the journal. "Thrasher said to keep an eye out for anything strange... and the absence of wild pokemon here is strange... right?" He was unsure if this was really anything worth noting, but there was no harm in taking note of it regardless. After writing his piece, he closed the book and kept it on his person, just in case.

Some hours later, they reached the edge of the cliff, with Garland and Jacob splitting up with their respective teleportation gems. Jacob decided to sneak into the monastaries, while Garland had opted to secure a foothold on the ground.

Tavhir looked towards Cassandra, nodding towards Jacob. "I think I'll be of more use with the stealth approach. I'm small enough that I think I'll have an easier time moving undetected."

Cassandra lightly chuckled at his comment. "See? There are advantages to being small." Tavhir laughed slightly as well, before Cassandra motioned towards Garland. "I think I'll go with Garland. Stealth isn't exactly my forte, and I would be of more use supporting the others on the ground."

Tavhir nodded. Just as they were about to go their separate ways, Tavhir grabbed Cassandra's hand before she could move away. His expression showed concern as Cassandra looked him in the eyes.

"Promise me you'll be safe?" he asked. Even though he knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself, he couldn't help but fear for her safety, especially after the incident in Alamanga.

"Well, as long as there are no airships raining down on us, I'll think I'll be fine," she said with a reassuring smile as she bent down to his level. She dragged Tavhir in for a quick embrace before standing up again. "Don't worry about me. Focus on the mission. I'll be okay, I promise."

Tavhir nodded, before retreating to where Jacob stood with the teleportation gem. Cassandra followed suit, walking over to where Garland stood, the two groups mentally preparing themselves for their missions.

 

[Greiger]

The Stealth Team - Hooah!​

Thrasher paid heed to Garland's comment and glanced about warily. Yes... no wilds. It was problematic in a way and something of a warning. "Jacob... why would no wilds be here?" He said in a low voice, "The could have been driven off by someone, but nothing is out here. Why drive them out for that reason? Feral mon tend to be more in-tuned to natural disasters. They run away when tsunamis happen and when tornadoes are about to form. They felt something and they ran... that's not a good sign for us is it?"

"It does not bode well, no," Garland said, "but then again, this area is known for its obscenities. The monasteries aren't the holiest place on Exathor. Unfortunately, there's no time to investigate right now... and we are Gold Tribe, for Arceus's sake. We are not frightened by the same things that frighten wild Pokemon."

Jeremy nodded. "True, Garland... we are instead frightened by things far worse and just as deadly... and sometimes the wild ones are afraid of things far worse than we are... nonetheless, let's use caution... nothing is worse than bumping into an unexpected problem, storm or otherwise." Jeremy then took off both his Gold tribe emblem and his Eshir Emblem from his sashes and placed them deep in his bag, and prepared himself for the mission at hand. He stood, closed his eyes, and took control of his breathing and focus, disciplining himself and mentally preparing himself for the task close at hand.

Tavhir took notice of the others' thoughts concerning the lack of wild pokemon. "While it is definitely strange, Garland is correct. We can figure out later, if we need to. Right now, we should press on." He took note of who was going with Jacob to the monastaries; it seemed like such a large group, especially considering the sneaking aspect of it. Furthermore, as much as he wanted to trust Shadowrend, he couldn't help but feel that the Krookodile was going to muck things up again. Restless held his tongue for the moment, before looking over towards Jeremy. "No offense, big guy, but you don't exactly seem the sneaky type. You sure you're up for this?"

Gerrick could feel the musk in the air. He could smell the stench of uneasiness surrounding him. And he could see the sights of dreaded things to come. Yep, this was about as good as things were going to get. He did at least count his blessing for two things; One, he was going with the group that was probably less likely to get killed, and two, once he split up from these guys, his chances of dying would lessen even more. He had been on stealth missions countless times before. He was able to hold his own against many mon in upfront fights too, of course. But deception, theatricality, and secrecy were specialties of his after all. Likely, the rest of them will probably be caught by whatever's waiting for them, as he assumed they were no experts in this type of game. He'll meanwhile easily slip in, get what the Wise Master asked of him, and slip out. All while keeping his head squarely on his shoulders.

He hung to the back of the group and made himself as unassuming as possible, while he eyed the rest of them, with his eyes setting on Thrasher for a moment longer. "Arceus, if any of them have to die today, please let that one be apart of them," He prayed. He'd been asking waaay to many questions, and was quickly becoming a nuisance.

Jeremy turned to the smaller Pokemon who addressed him, a Pawniard that was rather short for his species and smiled, "You know how Lord Brynjolf is an Aggron?... well being an Aggron myself, I can see how I could probably walk past the guards out in the open without raising an eyebrow, or raising questions, and possibly distract guards if need be to allow the rest of the group to go by... so to answer your question, brother... yes I'm up to it... and besides, since the other group has enough heavy hitters in the group it would only be right that I work with this group to help prevent trouble... and if we do get caught... hopefully act as a get out of jail free card..." Jeremy paused, "hopefully..." he paused again, his mind almost drifting till his eyes hung on Shadowrend, then he spoke in a whisper to the Pawniard, "Now, a question for you, little one... what do you know about Shadowrend?"

Thrasher sighed as the topic quickly got out of hand, "We can discuss plans later." The Primeape said firmly, "Right now we need to get to the summit. Once we get there we can form a plan, and I have one going myself. Most of you know how to fight full on in the open; in stealth, not so much. Once we arrive I'll give you a two minute crash course and we can head in. Lead on Prankster." He said with a nod.

"Perhaps later," Tavhir whispered back to Jeremy. "We should focus on the mission for now."

"Do I, um... have to do things?" Pendro questioned.

Jeremy nodded to the Pawniard, then said to the Metang, "The only thing we have to do right now is get in there and save our tribe siblings, so let's get going."

Jacob nodded and raised the teleportation gem, sharing its power with everyone. It glowed bright purple, and in an instant, they were gone from the clifftop. Jacob's feet touched cold stone and the wind blew harshly against him. It was dark, so he couldn't see very well, but he could at least see past his feet. "We're here," he whispered, although he didn't need to tell anyone. This was the grey stone the Monasteries of Stoneyard were built with, but it wasn't only the stone that confirmed their location: it was that growing sense of dread, that thick aura that made the night seem darker and the air fouler.

"This place stinks," Jacob heard Zack say, "literally. I suggest we hurry up, lest this air kills us."

"Right," Jacob agreed. "We hurry up. Faster we get to the hostages, faster we can get the hell out of here."

Thrasher cleared his throat and looked at the others, "Alright, here's the starting situation. I've had some time to think of this so listen up, I won't repeat this twice."

"Be quick about it," Zack whispered, "we ain't got all day. Or... night. It's night."

Thrasher pointed over at Tahvir, "Tahvir, you're going to head in first. We're going to give Tahvir some time to get his bearings and head in. He's small, quick, and won't attract attention. Tahvir, your objective is not to fight anyone or steal plans or the like. It's to find Cyrus quickly and stay by him. The sooner we secure him the better. Don't talk to him or the like. Given that he's probably been kept on strict food and water rations he won't be in any form for fighting and also given that probably the Stygian's best torturers have been working on the prisoners, he'll likely want help. He's probably been separated even and will call out to you if he knows you're there. Don't let him. If you can't find Cyrus anywhere then find the other prisoners. As for the rest of us..."

Thrasher crossed his arms, "We will have to split up into teams. We want to cover as much ground as possible and wipe out as many guards as possible without any alarms being set. Make sure as you look around so you don't run into any traps. I have no idea what they've set up down here, but just stay smart is what I'm saying. Use common sense. Now, when we split up make sure you stay together. If you get separated find another group to join. Don't let any alarms go off. Cut off the throat of anyone you kill so they can't scream and if you have to, leave blood trails."

He sighed, "Now, plan A is the one we're following now. Plan A is perfection essentially. We manage not to set off any alarms, Tahvir secures Cyrus, we get the prisoners out with no casualties suffered. Plan B happens if Tahvir has already found the captives but we set off an alarm. Tahvir." He looked right at his brother, "If the alarm goes off and we aren't around it may mean the guards are coming to kill the prisoners. Free as many as you can and get them out of there. I don't care if you meet up with us again, just get out. The rest of us will fight off guards and still try to meet up. Plan C is if no one has found the captives and the alarms go off. In that scenario we rush through, find them, and protect them. Plan C is the worst one in terms of advantages, we will NOT go to plan C. Stay silent, remember your objectives, and don't f*ck this up."

He glanced around, "For teams I will recommend you all choose whoever you want. Shadowrend." He had to let out a sigh, "I'm sorry about this, and I don't mean it, but you've been acting out of sorts. I know why, but we can't let this mission be jeopardized in any way. I'll be staying personally with you. If any mistakes do rise up, I'll be quick to correct them. Everyone else, make sure you have at least ONE partner, I can already see a group of three forming from those still left over, but we'll give Tahvir some time to head down before we follow after. Everyone understand?"

 

[Typh]

Jeremy "Juggernaut" Daraxus

Jeremy nodded as thrasher went over how a stealth operation works, and nodded again after introducing the plans. Jeremy took off his sashes, folded them neatly and put them in the bottom of his bag. Now that he looked like a non-GoldTribe Aggron, he was more likely to get inside, but that wasn't all, all he needed now was a captain Aggron's Sash and he could pass as the captain.

as if on que Jeremy saw out of the corner of his eye one such captain walking by. Jeremy followed him, limiting the amount of noise he was makeing to nothing but a whisper and when the moment was right. Jeremy grabbed the captain, covering his mouth and nose then wrapped his arm around the Aggron's neck and with a quick twist, broke his neck, and not a sound was heard. Jeremy then grabbed the Aggron's sash and put it on himself, and with that he was now disguised as a rebel captain, ready to aid the Gold Tribe if things got out of hand.

Jeremy returned to the group, once he was where there was no need for shouting or raised voices he said, "Don't worry, if anything goes wrong I'll do my best to help as much as I can, and when needed I'll be able to suprise the Rebels."

 

[GastlyGibus]

Tavhir "Restless" Eldren
Scouting ahead.
--------------------------------

Spoiler:

Theme music - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX-hYRVCwDA&index=5

Tavhir nodded to Thrasher as the plan was explained. He took his scarf with his Gold Tribe insignia, flipping it over so his emblem would not be seen, before taking in a deep breath. Without saying a word, he silently headed out to the ground.

He headed towards the stairs near the back of the roof, creeping along the shadows. He stopped, finding a suitable spot to hide as he observed the steps for threats. There were a few 'mon keeping watch, but nothing he couldn't sneak by. Two in particular stood near the top, conversing with each other. Getting past them would be easy.

"Is it just me, or are sableye's kind of creepy?" the first sneasel guard said, clearly disinterested and looking to pass the time.

"I know what you mean," the scrafty beside him said. "Those blank, expressionless eyes... it's a little unsettling, to be honest."

Tavhir looked down at the ground, finding a loose rock. He grinned to himself, taking the rock and flinging it over the edge of the roof, past the guards and onto the ground below. The rock hit the ground with a loud crack.

The two guards immediately stopped their conversation, peering over the edge towards the source of the noise. "What was that?" In a second, Tavhir quickly dashed past them as they were distracted, quietly descending the stairs to the ground.

"Brilliant security detail," Tavhir mocked silently. "Real top notch crew here." The other guards stationed were fairly scattered, and due to Tavhir's short stature, sneaking past the rest was nearly effortless. Once he reached the ground, he pressed himself up against the wall of the summit, sticking to the shadows cast by the walls as he made his way towards the front entrance.

Even with his mind focused on the mission, Tavhir couldn't help but notice the strange construction of the summit. Old was one word to describe it; the architecture was unlike any he had seen, even amongst the age-old constructs of Skyhaven where he grew up. It was almost alien in appearance...

Pondering over the summit's origins could come later though. Tavhir crept across the walls, until he reached the corner. He peered around the edge of the wall, seeing the entrance to the summit, guarded by two hitmonlee's. Maybe it was the aura given off by the summit... or maybe they were just lazy, but they didn't look to be completely attentive either. With some careful maneuvering, obscured in the cover of the shadows, he managed to get past them as well. Before long, he was actually inside the summit.

"That was... surprisingly easy..." Tavhir thought to himself, creeping to the corner of the main hall. He took a moment to look around and survey the area, though there were no pokemon to be seen. "Strange... this is almost too easy..." Restless, true to his title, couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Still, he had a job to do, and right now, he didn't have time to try and come up with conspiracy theories. He slowly walked down the impressive hall of the summit. Decorative paintings of historical figures and battles lined the walls, with candles providing a small glow to the dark room. Every few feet along the walls, there were pedestals, each with different artifacts from different points in history.

As Tavhir walked down the halls, he glanced at each of the displays. Armor apparently worn by an Eshirian warrior caught his eye... in addition to the other weapons on display. A blue headband and scimitar, an ancient Hesperian Vase from before the Third Threat, a rather old-looking stringed instrument belonging to a bard, one 'Thomas the Heartbreaker...'

"Pendro would have a field day in here," Tavhir thought, slightly amused by the thought of the metang seeing all this history. He didn't quite care for it, himself.

"Don't move," said a cold voice behind him; there was a shadow by the wall. "You're surrounded, so don't be a brave bird... how'd you escape your cell?"

Tavhir froze in place. Damn artifacts distracting him... of course, he should have had better awareness to avoid getting caught in the first place. He thought for a moment about retaliating; if he acted fast, he could probably dispatch his captors before they could react... suddenly, another voice began to speak.

"Little daredevils," the other voice said, "they'd have us looking around for them forever! Hey, you, orphan. Come quietly, now." The shadows in the dark approached Tavhir and one extended an arm towards him; the light revealed a Poliwrath's glove. His fingers made the 'come over here' notion.

"Orphan?" he thought, confused, until he realized. These people probably thought he was a child from the orphanage... he could possibly use this to his advantage.

"I-I'm sorry," he said as innocently as he could, putting on an expression of childlike shame. "I'll come back." For now, he wasn't discovered as Gold Tribe, which was good. Maybe they would take him to where he needed to go. He'd be hiding in plain sight. For the purposes of the mission - as long as his identity wasn't discovered - he'd play the part of orphan boy... for now.


***


The door to the dungeons of the monastery screeched as it opened; the Poliwrath had taken Tavhir to the cells, deep in the bowels of the mesa of the Spirit Summit. The good news was that there was a chance Prince Cyrus and the rest of the captured Gold Tribe were there. The bad news was that the place was thoroughly guarded, and the bars of the prison were made of tristanite; Tavhir could squeeze through them, though.

Cries were coming from deeper within the dungeons. As they approached the deeper cells, it sounded as if children were playing. The sounds were coming from a hole on the floor; the Poliwrath grabbed Tavhir, locked shackles on his wrists and raised him in the air above the hole... then let him fall inside. "And don't come crawling out again," he shouted, "that'll make me real angry, son, do you hear?" With an iron clang, the hole was blocked with heavy iron bars.

Tavhir tumbled slightly as he landed, ending up flat on his back. He shakily brought himself to his feet, still in mild pain from the fall, but nothing serious, thankfully. He took a look around his surroundings. There were children inside this cell. Small or big, they all had shackles on their hands, and some had them on their feet as well. They had gone silent with Tavhir's arrival; one of them, a Charmeleon, looked at Tavhir confused and begun saying, "who--"

A Lilligant that was looking much older than the rest of the Pokemon blocked his mouth with her hand. "Don't!" she said. "Sit down and be quiet, child." She looked at Tavhir with a sad but sweet smile. "I can't say 'welcome'... this hole isn't such a merry place. Excuse me, but, who are you?" she whispered quietly, a glint of hope in her eyes.

Tavhir almost did a double take, but then quickly realized that this was a different person than his sister. She looked older than the children by a wide margin... probably one of the care givers?

"I'm, uh..." he thought on the question for a moment. He thought about using an alias, but he sensed that this person did not intend harm. "I'm Tavhir. If you don't mind my asking, where are we, exactly?"

The Lilligant looked around the dirty, black stone walls of the dark cell. "We are in prison, Tavhir. Those monsters raided the monasteries and... and..." she couldn't finish her sentence; she brought a hand on her mouth and her eyes widened and watered. She buried her face in her hands and started sobbing. A young Bibarel walked next to her and put his hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her, but he seemed just as sad.

"They took us from Middlemesa and locked us up," he said. "I'm Mart, oldest one here, and this is Helena," she pointed at the sobbing Lilligant, "she's the headmistress of our orphanage."

"I've," the Lilligant started between her sobbing, "-I tried to convince them to let us go, but they wouldn't... Tavhir? Why are you here?"

Tahivr listened intently. Not much else he could really do. He nodded as he heard the explanation. "I'm looking for some... friends of mine... do you know if there are others being held here?"

A Scyther took a step forward suddenly, and he had a hostile expression on. "Are you a spy? Who sent you? Polo? We ain't playing games anymore, you tell him that."

"No no, I'm not a spy," Tavhir said, beginning to get a bit nervous. This person knew about Polo... and he felt that revealing he was Gold Tribe was probably not the best idea at this point. He had to think of something, and fast. "Think, Tavhir, think... damnit..."

"My uncle is a priest here at the Chapel..." he blurted out. "Brilliant..." He thought sarcastically. Well, he just started a story, no going back now. "He told me that some strange people showed up, and that he was worried. I came to check up on him... and before I knew it, I was captured and thrown in here."

He looked at the Scyther, trying to keep his expression normal and sell the lie. "Please, I left to complete my studies in Skyhaven, and suddenly I come back to this mess. I need to know if he's okay, as well as the other priests."

"Weeell," a Wobbuffet said from the back, "that's the wrong place for ya. No priests around here. Ain't nobody around here but us."

"Shut your mouth!" the Scyther snapped at him, "he doesn't need to know that!" He stared at Tavhir. "I don't trust ye!"

Tavhir had to come up with something quick. He was already lying... no use in being honest now. "Fine," he said coldly, standing up and analyzing the room. "Don't help me. I'll just get out of here and find my friends myself. You all can rot in here for all I care." He felt bad acting so heartless, but he had to keep up his bluff. He began to search the room for a way to escape, and possibly some way to break the shackles on his wrists.

"You won't get outta here alone, Tavhir," the Bibarel said. "You're the only one small enough to squeeze through those bars blocking the hole..."

"What're you doing?!" the Scyther shouted, but the Lilligant raised her arm.

"Enough, Karst. Children, let's play another game: help each other out. Tavhir... can you think of a way to reach that hole up there?"

Tavhir grinned, but quickly hid it. His bluff worked... for the moment, at least. Perhaps that moment was all he needed. He glanced up at the hole, trying to think of a way to reach it. If he could just get high enough, he could wrap his blades around the bars and climb out...

He looked over at the Bibarel. "You... Mart, was it? You think you could toss me up there?"

"I think I could," the Bibarel grinned, looking up. "Not with these," he shook his shackled hands, "but with this," he shook his tail. "Come on, step on it, I'll give you a boost."

Tavhir nodded, walking over and gently stepping on the Bibarel's large tail. "Ready when you are." Mart nodded, and after a moment of aiming, forcifully brought his tail upward, flinging Tavhir up towards the bars.

Restless aimed carefully... he just needed to get a good grip. One he was within range, he latched onto the bars, crossing his bladed hands and hanging on... just barely.

"Damnit," he cursed under his breath. Holding on like this was incredibly difficult, and somehwat painful too. "This would be so much easier if I had fingers..." The shackles on his wrists weren't making things any easier - as if it wasn't hard enough grappling the bars with no thumbs or fingers of any kind. Tavhir quickly swung his legs forward, building up momentum and reaching the edge of the hole with his feet. With some careful maneuvering, he managed to slip through the bars and escape.

Tavhir let out a sigh of relief, finally back on solid ground. "This is when it's nice to be the short one." He looked around, seeing that the coast was clear. He needed to find a key to break free from the chains on his wrists... as well as find a way to get the others out of their prison. Running down the a hallway in the dungeon, he stopped as he came to a corner. Tavhir peered around the edge, seeing a Vigoroth with his back turned, twirling a ring of keys in his hands.

"Perfect..." Tavhir snuck up slowly, trying to catch the Vigoroth by surprise. He was nearly within range, moving his hands up as he prepared the pounce. Unfortunately, the movement caused the chains on his hands to rattled slightly.

"Eh?"

Before the Vigoroth could even turn around, Tavhir took his chance. He lept up, wrapping his chains around the Vigoroth's neck as the normal-type frantically tried to shake off his attacker. Tavhir swiftly pulled the chains back, dragging the Vigoroth and causing him to fall over backwards. The two slammed into the ground, and before the Vigoroth could even vocalize, he was dead, impaled on the pawniard's body spikes. Tavhir slowly wrenched himself free from the corpse, standing up straight over the dead guard, his own body thoroughly painted in the Vigoroth's blood.

"Well... never thought I'd have to resort to that..." Tavhir though, slightly perturbed by the mess he had made. He would worry about that later, though. He swiftly grabbed the keys from the Vigoroth, breaking free from his shackles. With keys in hand, he made his way back to the orphan's cell. If this didn't earn their trust, nothing would.

 

[Greiger]

Thrasher - Cleaning up a mess​

Thrasher watched as Tahvir descended and he turned to the others, "Right. Give him several minutes to head in and at least get his bearings set. Probably about a good three minutes. Now then, remember, if you guys can find Cyrus first, great! Try to wait for us but if alarms are tripped then take them out. Now remember, stealth is-" He paused there as he saw Jeremy coming back. "Brother... where did you get that sash?" He asked warily. He glanced away and could see the moon shining off some steel nearby.

Sh*t He quickly made his way over and grabbed the still left out body and began dragging it along the stones. Thankfully with being a fighting type he was strong enough to pull it along himself. "Of course... just more things." He muttered to himself. He glanced over at the others, "I can't risk our cover being blown with... THIS being left out there. Go ahead without me. I'll try and find a spot to stash this so the alarms won't already be ringing. I'll catch up with you guys and if you can, try and mark the stones as you head out, that way if you're already checking a certain hallway I know not to go down that way." He grunted as he began pulling again.

Thankfully there were no bloodstains left from this guy, so at least that was a positive in this whole mess. He kept on pulling back, hoping that no guards were seeing a twinkling object in the distance being pulled along the stones. It took some time but Thrasher finally managed to pull the large body behind an outcropping of stones and he wiped his forehead of sweat, "Damn you're heavy." He commented to the Aggron.