PMD: Mission 7, Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Zayn stared down at the envelope in his paw. "A letter? Isn't this a postal service's job?" He growled.

"This is important, and last I checked, I'm still head of the Rescuers." Fresnel replied with authority. "Just get this to Anana and come back, okay?"

Zayn grumbled, but Solace nodded and took the envelope from Zayn. "We'll do our best."

"Good, now get going." Fresnel shooed the two Rescuers out of the HQ.

As soon as they were out of the treehouse, Zayn glowered at Sol. "Really? This is ridiculous, and it isn't going to help us get Marcia back."

"I know that," Sol snapped, "but sitting around waiting isn't going to bring her back, either. We have to help keep the Rescuers, and Tao, going until she comes back."

After grumbling, again, Zayn didn't object any further. What Solace said was true enough, but it didn't mean he had to like it. Being away from Marcia made his fur itch and his tail twitch. He just hoped he'd find her soon.

"Come on, we'd better head out right away if we want to reach Alomomola Bay by nightfall.

The zangoose nodded and followed Solace out of Tao Village. He looked back, feeling odd leaving the village. He hadn't been away from it since the village was destroyed by Sorbet. It felt almost like home, now. He turned from the village and followed the shiny eevee into the morning-lit Tao woods.

Dew dripped from the leaves of the trees and bushes, falling onto the damp soil where soft grass swayed in a breeze. Zayn's feet soon became soaked with the morning dew, but he ignored the chill. He'd endured hardships worse than wet feet in his warrior training. Besides, the sun would be fully up soon and he would dry out. He looked at Solace, who also didn't seem to mind the damp walking conditions.

I guess he's been around enough to take more than a little water. That's good. He shouldn't slow us down.

"So," Solace said, conversationally, "I'm curious. How did you and Marcia come to Tao?"

"You first." Zayn replied.

Sol chuckled. "My tale is simple. I was merely wandering, looking for whatever fate would bring me. It brought me Tao."

"Your face says differently." Zayn pointed out. He could see Sol's lie. Zayn wasn't much of a talker, but he could read faces like books.

"And your face says 'I'm a hulking furball who loves to eat small mudkips for breakfast.'" Sol retorted.

Zayn merely grunted.

Solace sighed. "I left my home to go and search for a... special kind of medicine."

Satisfied with the answer, Zayn nodded, signaling Solace to continue.

"The doctors in my city couldn't help me, so I left to try and find a miracle cure." Solace said, avoiding going into further detail.

"What's wrong with you?" Zayn pressed. He wouldn't give this poking eevee any more than he gave Zayn. Solace would have to trust him in order for Zayn to trust Solace.

"It's... complicated, okay?" Sol deflected. "Let's just go. I don't want to stay in  Alomomola City any longer than I have to."

So much for trust. Zayn knew Solace was too secretive to trust. Zayn had to keep his secrets as much as Sol had to keep his, so the two pokemon walked in silence the entire day. They stopped to pick berries in the woods, and they sat and ate them as a midday meal. By the time evening came, the two travelers were famished again.  As the sun set on the horizon, they spotted the gleaming city of Alomomola. Zayn noticed a visible droop of Sol's ears and posture.

"Now what?" He nudged the silver-gray eevee.

Sol sighed. "It's nothing. I can deal with it. Let's go and find Anana." He said decisively, walking off through the city.

Zayn followed, wondering how anyone would know where to go in a huge city like Alomomola. Lights were everywhere, like tiny fireflies all blinking or lighting up. The buildings were taller than any he'd seen before, except Monochrome Tower. Pokemon were everywhere! He'd never seen so many in one place. They ran around, performing errands, shopping, and gossiping. There were a few children running around, playing tag or ball, but their numbers were insignificant compared to the amount of citizens and shady-looking characters in the streets. It was the shady ones that made Zayn nervous. There were a lot of loiterers, giving him looks that he didn't appreciate. The zangoose wanted to pull Solace over into one of the alleys and show those hooligans who was boss, but Solace was walking too briskly to stop anywhere.

The only thing that brought the fervent eevee to a halt was a construction site, right in his path. Zayn walked up beside him, watching the construction pokemon repaving the road ahead and remodeling a building on the right side of the street. He was in awe of the technology they employed. He wanted to stay and just watch, but Sol tugged at his fur.

"I didn't want to have to go a different route, but this doesn't leave us much choice. You can't get around constructors when their working, unless you can fly." Solace looked at Zayn doubtfully. Zayn lifted his arms and gave a little mock-flap, but no elevation was granted to him.

"As I thought." Solace grumbled, then led Zayn down a dark alley. Zayn felt himself grow more alert. His ears flicked at noises, and his claws twitched every time he saw a shadow move unexpectedly.

Solace turned a corner, then suddenly held out a paw to stop Zayn. "I knew this would happen..."

Zayn sensed danger and his fur fluffed up. He crouched slightly, and curved his claws. Up ahead, between him and the main street, was a group of shady looking thugs.

"Well," the ring leader said, "look what we have here, boys. Two country bumpkins who got lost in the city." The leader was female, tall when she stood on her hind legs, but not as tall as Zayn. When she stepped forward into the light of an overhead lamp, Zayn saw she was an umbreon. A growl rose in Zayn's throat as two other pokemon stepped up beside her, a krokorok and a liepard.

"You know me better than that, Falare." Solace took a threatening step forward. "I'm no bumpkin, but we don't need to fight."

"Solace?" Falare exclaimed in slight surprise. "You bastard, you left Alomomola City long ago. You shouldn't have come back. You know what the head honchkrow is paying for debt-avoiders?"

The krokorok cracked his knuckles, and the liepard waved his tail and purred.

Solace looked nervously at Zayn, shaking his head when the zangoose tried to make a move at them. Sol looked back at Falare. "That's what you're doing now? Didn't our family mean anything to you?"

"That was when dad was still alive!" The umbreon snarled, anger flaring in her eyes.

Zayn growled. There's enough drama here to fill a miltank.

Falare spoke again. "After your little debt-dodge, the head honchkrow made our family disappear. When I went to him to beg for their release, he informed me that our father was dead, and to repay the debt, I'd have to work for him.

Sol was silent for several moments. "Sister, I'm so sorry..."

"Don't call me that! And don't you dare think you're sorry enough for what you did!" Falare unsheathed her rage, and pointed accusingly at Sol. "You are the cause of all this and nothing is going to fix it, except when I bring you to the head honchkrow!"

"Falare, that's not going to happen." Solace stood his ground, glaring at her. "I have a mission to complete, when that's over, I can help you."

"Too late, Sol." Falare signaled her henchmen to attack.

It was the moment Zayn was waiting for. He met the krokorok head-on, slashing him away from Sol's vulnerable position. The liepard slunk past Zayn and lunged for Solace. The shiny eevee lowered to the ground and scurried around the liepard, barely avoiding a face-full of claws.

Zayn snarled and brought his claw crushing down on the krokorok's body. The aggressor retaliated with a stinging crunch on Zayn's left arm. Zayn howled and brought his claws down on the krokorok again, dislodging him from his arm. Zayn's arm hurt painfully, now, but he had to keep this opponent off of Solace while he dealt with the liepard.

Solace wasn't the best of fighters to begin with. Throw in the fact that he hadn't practiced for years, and the fact that he was hungry and weary from a long journey, and he was in the worst condition he could've hoped for. The best he could do was toss sand and garbage-gunk in the liepard's face to keep him off of his tail. However, Solace caught a glimpse of Zayn's tangle with the krokorok, and he knew he had to finish off the liepard before Falare did something clever.

With a burst of adrenaline, Solace made a quick attack at the liepard from behind. The liepard, still blinded from gunk in his eyes, made a pathetic swipe at Solace, which he easily avoided. Solace attacked the liepard again and again, whittling him down until he finally collapsed in a trash heap. Sol, tired from his excursion, tried to catch his breath. He looked around to try and find the elusive Falare, but she was nowhere in sight.

"Up here, numb-skull." Falare came leaping from an overhead lamp, pinning Solace down on the ground. Solace's heart beat so loud with fear that he was sure Falare could hear it.

"Say 'goodnight' Solace," Falare smirked, raising a paw to knock Solace out.

Solace was making his final prayers when Falare's paw stopped in midair, caught by two, enormous claws attached to a white, fluffy arm. Falare squealed in surprise when Zayn pulled her off Solace and slammed her into a wall. He slammed her three times, then threw her a short distance away, where she plopped into a trash bin. Dusting himself off, he brought Sol to his feet. Solace saw the krokorok in a heap in the alley, no doubt not much of a challenge for Zayn. He tugged into the main street, where they were caught up in the traffic of pokemon.

"You okay?" Zayn inspected Solace and found no major injuries.

Solace's heart was still pounding. "Th-thanks..."

Zayn rolled his eyes and patted Sol on the head. "Just leave me out of family affairs, from now on."

The zangoose followed the weary eevee the remainder of the way to Anana's abode. Zayn saw Anana at a desk, looking over some important-looking papers. The kecleon looked up with a smile, and took Zayn's letter gratefully. While she read it, Zayn sat Solace down in a corner of the room to rest.

After a few moments of reading, Anana looked up and gave a gracious smile to the Rescuers. "Thank you very much! I appreciate you coming all the way out here from your poor little village to deliver this."

Zayn's one good eye twitched when she mentioned 'poor little village'.

"As compensation, I'll have transport arranged for you. It should be ready in an hour or so. Do feel free to visit the casino in the meantime!" Anana suggested, shooing Zayn and Solace out of her office and into the entrance-room.

The zangoose adjusted the bandana over his right eye. "At least we won't have to walk back." Zayn pulled out a few extra berries that they had collected, giving half to Sol.

Sol munched ravenously. "I had hoped I'd never come back to Alomomola City... but I guess the past has a way of creeping back into the present."

"I know that all too well, my friend." Zayn said.

Sol looked up, surprised. Zayn wasn't smiling, but there was a look of respect in his expression. Solace smiled contentedly. "I guess... it's inevitable that I tell you..."

Zayn waited a few moments for Solace to continue. "You see, I found out early in my life that I couldn't evolve. No matter how many evolution scrolls were handed to me, or evolution stones I touched. It's been impossible for me, an eevee, to evolve. The best doctors couldn't cure me. I heard of a miracle cure from the shadiest pokemon in town, and I took his offer. It was the worst mistake of my life. I ended up giving money I didn't have to the dealer, and I knew I had to get out of Alomomola. I traveled around, trying to find some way to evolve myself. You can see how well that's worked. Now I'm back, and my family has paid the price for my own greed."

There was silence between the two pokemon. Lights flickered outside, and it seemed like years passed before Zayn spoke.

"Our village burned." The zangoose began. "Raiders came to pillage our community, and soon it was set aflame. My family, Marcia's family, and everyone we knew, all died. I found Marcia barely alive and escaped with her. I've done the best I can to shield her from harm, and our terrible past. We've never stopped anywhere long enough to look back, except in Tao."

"That's rough," Solace sympathized.

"Yeah," Zayn murmured. Another long silence passed.

"We'll find Marcia," Solace reassured Zayn, "and we'll make everything right."

It was then that Zayn looked at Solace and cracked the faintest of smiles. It was the best Solace would ever get from the silent warrior.

An hour later, a flygon arrived to fly them back to Tao. Zayn tucked the small Solace under his fluffy, warm arm, and the eevee was soon sleeping. They both arrived back in Tao just as the sun rose at the beginning of a new day.

Zayn felt the warmth on his fur, knowing that everything would be all right, as long as the sun kept rising and setting. He'd have his little Marcia, his ray of sunshine, back soon.

The end.