Fandom Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: War Of Zodarus (Runesage & Riolux)

[Riolux]

Chapter 1: Hunters

Ryan started towards the Dancing Spinda Inn, gesturing for Miles and Aneirin to follow him. "If we're leaving town, I've got things I wanna grab first," he said to them, managing to keep a straight face despite the pain the Houndoom burn was bringing him. While he didn't have much that he could bring with him, he was going to at least go prepared, though granted they still needed to come up with a plan as to how they were going to get the Followers of Cresselia to even give them the NeverMeltIce. He was certainly skeptical but hoped that some deceit might make it work out. With a tired sigh, he kept walking.

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"I guess I've got a few things too. What about you Aneirin?" Miles asked.

"I just got here. I'll recover my energy in the main room, and consider how on earth we're going to get medicine for a Servant of Darkrai from Cresselia's camp." Aneirin said.

Miles nodded and headed up to his room. He gathered his sparse belongings, stowing them in a travel bag, and headed out of the room. After paying the Spinda at the front for the room, he wandered over to Aneirin. "So, any ideas?"

"Let's wait for Ryan, but I might have a small plan." Aneirin said.

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Ryan arrived at the inn, fishing through his dresser and retrieving his traveling bag as well as two books, one without a title, and then crammed any essential medicinal berries and seeds as well as some food. He secretly wondered if he was being uprooted again or if this was just a temporary trip and he'd be back home in a few days or at least a week. With a reluctant sigh, he hefted the bag's shoulder strap over his head and re-donned his cloak before exiting the room and locking the door. Heading outside, he walked over to Miles and Aneirin. "Sorry I took so long," he said, though he didn't sound apologetic.

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"Great you're here. Aneirin was just about to tell us the plan." Miles looked expectantly at Aneirin.

He looked away slightly. "It isn't much of a plan. It would be impossible for a Servant of Darkrai to receive medicine from the Followers of Cresselia. So I was planning on not letting them know it was for a Servant. I could walk into camp and express an urgent need for some NeverMeltIce, and they'd probably let me have some, but I don't know what I'd do if they asked me who it was for..."

"I might be able to help with that."

Aneirin turned and saw a Zoroark with the coloring of a Follower of Xerneas. "Who are you?" Aneirin said, genuinely puzzled.

"Chris!" Miles said. "Of course you could. You could disguise Ryan with an illusion!"

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Ryan rolled his eyes, already incredibly doubtful that it would work. "I don't know if you guys haven't noticed, but the Legendaries are at war with one another. There isn't a chance in hell that they wouldn't psychically evaluate us just to make sure we aren't trying to trick them and they'll flat out turn away any Dark-Types that refuse to be Aura tested so there's no way that I'd be able to get in there anyway. They'll also want to know why we want the NeverMeltIce and since none of us know any Ice-Type moves, we're very much out of luck when it comes to simply asking." he said rather cynically, not in a particularly good mood from even considering going there.

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

Chris began to chuckle. "What, did you think that that letter appeared in your room? No, I put it there, and you didn't even notice as I watched you throw it out the window. I can hide the aura and thoughts of at least myself from another. As for the NeverMeltIce, Aneirin can handle that. We tell them the truth about that part, that we temporarily need it to heal a patient. I can describe the effects of a Houndoom burn, and I could disguise myself as an Alolan Sandslash if we really needed to have another reason."

"What about mind readers?" Miles asked.

Aneirin stepped forward. "I can't have my mind read. I'm a Dark Type. If there is a psychic powerful enough to penetrate that in the camp, I can just worry about Ryan." Like I'm already doing, his voice seemed to say. "Also, Ryan doesn't have to come anywhere near the camp. We can just say that he's too injured to move."

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

"And if they send someone with to confirm this? Again, they're at war. They won't take chances that you're aiding an enemy. Granted, with Aneirin there, it'll be less likely considering he'd be identified as a Follower of Xerneas. Send anyone else, though, and it may seem suspicious. Especially if they end up unable to read your mind while disguised." Ryan pointed out, noting that if they realized that Chris was a Zoroark, they'd be in trouble.

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

Chris shrugged. "I don't have to go all the way into camp. I could pretend to be Aneirin's guard. I can disguise myself well enough to blur my intentions, auras, and thoughts."

Aneirin nodded. "I realize that they're at war with you, but as long as the one they send isn't a completely maniacal aura-reading vigilante, we should be able to disguise you enough to fool whoever they send, or convince them to help anyways."

Miles sighed. "When you get that specific, it's hard to believe that that's not going to happen."

Aneirin shrugged. "Two battle trained Followers of Xerneas who are being stopped from healing their patients is a pretty intimidating sight, and I'm sure that there are followers of Cresselia who believe in helping others even if they're Servants of Darkrai, just like there are Servants of Darkrai who refuse to send others into nightmares."

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Yeeeaaaaah no. Cresselia, as 'nice' as she supposedly is, doesn't tolerate us at all. Zero tolerance. They fill their heads with illusions of grandeur and, well, someone has to be the bad guy. No. If you run into a Follower of Cresselia that doesn't hate my guts, you're looking at a Renegade." Ryan explained to them, viewing their optimism as ignorant.

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"Look, this is our only shot to get your medicine, so stop whining and let's get going. IF everything we've planned so far doesn't work, then Chris can just steal some." Miles said.

"Hey, why are you volunteering me this way?" Chris asked petulantly.

"You're the master of sneaking around where you're not wanted." Miles shot back. "You should be used to it by now."

Aneirin looked uncomfortable. "I don't know. I'd feel better if we could make a plan that's 100% sure to work."

"We have a plan. If it goes wrong, we can improvise. That's worked for me so far." Miles said.

Chris looked Miles's body up and down. While the Reviver Seed had given him all the energy he needed, he still looked pretty beat up. "So I see."

Aneirin still looked uncomfortable. "I don't know. It's your call Ryan, how much can you take? We can search for a different camp, one that will be more helpful. Isn't Zekrom's camp the next closest allies to us? It's still very far, but it'll be a sure bet."

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

"Zekrom's camp is much farther, yes. Why're we over complicating things? There's no need for disguises and robbing them would probably not go well. I'll hang back about a mile or two while you three go up and ask. Heck, if you're so good at illusions, make it look like Miles is the one with the injury. If you, Chris, transformed into a Houndoom and blasted fire at his back without Miles seeing, you might even be able to pass it off as real instead of them thinking it was staged, since they'd simply read Miles' memories. It'd probably help if you offered to wait outside while they went and got it." Ryan explained, shooting Chris a glare.

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"Hmmm... I certainly wouldn't object to that." A sly grin crossed Chris's face as his features rippled. Suddenly a Houndoom stood where the Zoroark had been a moment before.

"Oh Arceus!" Miles jumped back. "Please no! I'm still recovering!"

"I do know Flamethrower. I don't even have to make an illusion of that." Flames licked around Chris's face. "And you're fine."

Aneirin looked skeptical still. "You know, now that he knows what you look like, wouldn't that ruin the plan?"

"Nope. I have another trick, one that will almost guarantee you getting the medicine." The features rippled again, and Chris stood in front of them again. "Wanna head off, or plan a little more?"

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Ryan himself seemed more annoyed than anything else. "Why don't you let us in on your plan first." he said, his tone letting Chris know that he in no way said it as a question. He wanted to know every detail of this plan before they placed blind faith in someone with a similar skillset to himself.

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"Well... I can't say it with Miles around." Chris said, not particularly liking Ryan's tone. "Sorry buddy."

"Why do I not like that..." Miles said. He did, however, step out of earshot.

"I can project an image of myself into the party, making it seem like I'm still with the you all. Hopefully if I do it right, you all won't notice when. I can..." He looked at Ryan sidelong. "I can disguise my Aura as well as my body. I could make it seem like I'm a Houndoom Servant of Darkrai, and even their most powerful mind readers wouldn't be able to tell the difference through Miles's memories. If they see that Miles was attacked by a Servant of Darkrai, they're sure to give you the NeverMeltIce." Chris shrugged. "Basic subterfuge. If you can't use what they like, use what they hate."

Aneirin blinked. "You said you'd still be in the party? That means that Miles would think it's real... and so he'd imagine the poison in his bloodstream and still feel the pain without it actually being there. That's... horrible... but it's exactly what we need."

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

While it was admittedly a good plan, Ryan shook his head. "No way! You think this injury's a cakewalk? It hurts to freaking breathe! There's no way I'm gonna let someone go through that same feeling. I'm honestly appalled that you two are Followers of Xerneas. You're supposed to be against putting others through needless pain." he said scoldingly, specifically narrowing his eyes towards Chris, who was starting to seem questionable in his authenticity.

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"Needless? You think I'd enjoy it?" Chris was close to losing his cool entirely. "We've been TRYING to come up with a plan to get medicine for YOU, but every single time ANYONE here proposes ANY idea, YOU are the one who shuts it down. Do you have ANY ideas of your own, or is your role just to tell us what's unacceptable to do to try to save YOU a lot of pain? 'It hurts to freaking breathe!'" Chris said, disguising himself as Ryan as he mocked him, then changing back. "Then let us DO something about it!"

Aneirin stepped back a few paces from Chris, but nodded. "I don't like it at all. The only way I can convince myself to even agree to this is that we have no better plan, and even then, it goes against my beliefs."

Chris nodded angrily. "So do you want us to help you or not. Because I'm sure Miles is impatiently waiting for us to deal with YOUR problem before you even PROVE your innocence to him before we go looking for whoever killed his family. Decide now whether you want this 'unbearable pain' to be healed in the first place." Having finished his rant, he glowered over Ryan, standing at about double Ryan's height.

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

"Oh yeah, big talk. It's easy to act all high and mighty when you can run away and hide in a heartbeat, huh tough guy. I don't know about you two, but I managed to get along pretty fine on my own before running into either of you. Aneirin and Miles are fine. They're good people and I appreciate them trying to help me. They've proven they're trustworthy, but a good thief knows when a plan's going too far. Putting someone in the same kind of pain as mine is completely unacceptable. What happened to Aneirin's original plan, huh? I'm pretty sure the only ones I've 'shot down' are your stupid little inputs. So please! Tell us why the only 'acceptable solutions' have to have your tweaks?!" he snapped at Chris, the dark mists of Shadow Claws forming around his paws as he bared his teeth.

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

Chris didn't even bother shifting his stance. "Oh please. You're going to attack me? In your condition? And with a Ghost type move?" He spread his arms wide. "I'll give you three hits. If you can even damage me-"

"That's enough!" Aneirin stepped in between them. "You," he glared at Ryan, "are not going to be attacking him, and you," he turned his glare on Chris, "are going to stop goading him on. Now." He waited for a moment as the two glared at each other.

"Fine." Chris said. "I'll allow the moron to continue suffering needlessly."

"What is your deal anyway? Why are you here?" Aneirin asked, exasperated.

Chris glanced at where Miles was standing, watching the group and thoroughly entertained by the spectacle. "I owe Miles. He saved my life when I was at my weakest point." He said softly

"And your plan involves injuring him because..." Aneirin said, not convinced.

"It's because he'd want me to. I don't get it. You wouldn't get it," he pointed at Ryan, "and likely neither would you." He pointed at Aneirin. "He's the kind of person who would jump in front of a Hyper Beam to save a complete stranger. He's acting like he doesn't want it to happen, but if it would guarantee us getting the medicine for you, he'd do it. If it would get the medicine for anyone he'd do it. He can't stand seeing others suffer, but he doesn't have the skills to heal. So, he helps out in a different way, by taking the shots for the other person." He looked up at the pair of them. "That's what he told me after he took the Solarbeam that was meant for me and before he passed out. You have to understand that Miles is already suffering. Any pain that he takes to make you feel better will be worth it to him." He said to Ryan. He hoped that this calmer expression of ideas would let him understand. "But if you still object, then I'll withhold further suggestions and we'll go with Aneirin's plan."

"Well it wasn't much of a plan... It was just hide Ryan, and hope they don't ask who it's for..." Aneirin said, embarrassed.

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

"As loose as that plan is, it's better than letting someone get hurt simply because I underestimated who I was fighting. As nice as Miles may be, and as much as he might allow it, it'd be wrong to trick him and certainly be wrong to hurt him. I'm not gonna betray his trust. I might've been up for it in the past, but not now." he stated simply, his tone losing it's hostile edge, though while he no longer regarded Chris with hostility, he did regard him with ever growing suspicion.

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"All right. We'll go with Aneirin's idea." Chris said. "I know I can't heal the poison from a Houndoom... but this may make traveling easier. Note, I've never done this before, so I don't know exactly how it will turn out." Chris focused for a minute, and created a small illusion. It was harder than he'd thought it be, and the energy it took caused him to stagger. "Whoa, that's rough."

"What did you do?" Aneirin asked, troubled. "You're suddenly exhausted."

"I basically made an illusion version of the effects of a NeverMeltIce bath. It was harder without making the actual NeverMeltIce. It should have numbed the pain, but you're not cured. Also you're going to be pretty cold around that wound for a while. Now someone should be able to carry you without it causing too much pain. And yes, you should still be carried because walking risks reopening that wound and destroying my work." Chris's voice was strained. "Let's get going before I lose a grasp on this illusion. Miles, you can come back!"

"What, you're not going to Flamethrower me?" Miles asked. "I was getting pretty excited to see you two fight."

"You're not getting flamed, and I'd have won. It wouldn't have even been a contest. He's injured. No point."

Aneirin stepped over. "I can carry you. Climb on." His voice told Ryan he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Ryan wanted to glare at Aneirin, but it wouldn't have been fair to the Absol for him to be angry at Aneirin for being nice. He did, however, shake his head. "Aneirin, it's my chest that's burnt. Not my legs. Appreciate the offer, though." he said, at least trying to be grateful, but stay a little independent. There was no point tiring out both of the Followers of Xerneas.

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"He is right. We can't really risk the wound's natural cauterization breaking. If it did, we'd be stuck for days while the wound may or may not close up again." Anierin shrugged. "All your muscles are connected. If you walk, it'll affect your chest. Also, it'll give us a chance to talk about... a couple of things." Aneirin's voice indicated exactly who they would be discussing, but just to emphasize, he glanced at Chris. "There's something that's just not right here, but I can't put my finger on it. If I try to see into his future, it comes up blank. What is he hiding, or what is hiding him?"

Chris could feel the pair's eyes on him and he sighed. He expected the trust issue from Ryan, but Aneirin shouldn't be suspicious of him. Had he given himself away yet. "Miles, do you trust me?" Chris asked.

"Not with everything. I can tell you have your secrets." Miles thought for a minute. "But I trust you enough to guard my back in a fight. Why?"

"I can tell those two don't trust me as far as they can throw me, and that's not far." Chris sighed again. "Let's just get moving."

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Ryan didn't glance at Chris, but he nodded, already having suspected the same thing. "Same with his Aura. Granted, my ability to sense Aura is...subpar at best. Regardless, when I can, I'm going to use him as practice while trying to pick apart what he really is at heart." Ryan whispered. Speaking up, Ryan sighed. "Don't suppose you come with a saddle?" he asked, not thrilled about the trip ahead.

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

Aneirin chuckled. "I'd rather die than be caught in a saddle, but I have carried a patient before." He sat on the ground. "Just climb on, and gently. I'm a pretty smooth walker, you shouldn't get too jostled around. Unless we're attacked again of course." He looked again at Chris and lowered his voice. "The only thing is, whenever I try to sense disasters, the path with the least is the one where we're following him. And that's saying a lot, because we're still going to have a rough road ahead."

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

"That's a pleasant thought. Thanks," he said sarcastically, though he climbed on, grabbing Aneirin's mane, trying not to pull it. "If he wants us to trust him, he's gonna have to be honest. All I have to say on the matter," he whispered, shaking his head. "When we get within a mile of the compound, drop me off and I'll make a camp. I can take the pain for long enough to have you three get the supplies and I can still look after myself for just a little bit." he called back to the others.

Runesage