Well... this isn't awkward ^.^; So yeah. I'm back. 'Course, I never left, but hey, look at this chapter! Sorry for keeping you all waiting. I hate to say that you should expect this to be a thing from now on. I've just been running on a huge lack of motivation the past year. I don't want to go into details and bore you, but... eh... it's been rough. Enough of that, though. I hope this large mass of words can make up for it. 17,011 words to be exact. Any errors, feel free to point them out. Any helpful tips? I'd be grateful to hear them. So once again, I apologize. I'll get to work on whatever's up next. Enjoy the read, and have a nice day. Love you~

Chapter 2: First steps, Final barriers:

I knew it was morning. I knew I should have been awake several minutes ago. And I knew that I should start my first day off at the guild with a good record.

But this bed. Oh man, it was amazing. I'm sure it's just me, but I think that anything plush and soft in any way is sleep inducing. No matter how hard you try to get up, the bed just calls to you. Try to lift your head, it falls straight back down. Try to open your eyes, some unseen force closes them back shut. And if you so much as even want to wake up, your imagination plays a small scenario in your head that will eventually result in a full-scale dream.

From the short intervals where my eyes stayed open for at least a few seconds, I could see that Amber was still fast asleep. She didn't seem to be fighting the drowsy feeling. Maybe I shouldn't either. Just lay my head back down. Relax. Close my eyes. Rest... "WAKE UP! YOU'RE LATE FOR THE MORNING ADDRESS!" Fall out of bed with my paws clamped over my ears.

"YOUR FIRST DAY HERE AT THE GUILD IS SUPPOSED TO BE AN IMPORATNT START! IT REPRESETNS HOW DEDICATED YOU ARE TO BEING A MEMBER! JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE NEW DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND SLACK OFF! WE EXPECT YOU TO WORK YOUR HARDEST IN ORDER TO-"

"Okay, okay, we understand!" I shout at the impossibly loud voice. "Just please stop talking. You're going to break my ears!"

The voice harrumphed. "WELL, AS LONG AS YOU KNOW WHERE YOU STAND! I'LL GIVE YOU A MINUTE! IF YOU'RE NOT AT THE MAIN CHAMBER BY THEN, I'LL BE COMING BACK!"

I heard the thumping of footsteps as the owner of the voice trounced away. Opening my eyes and looking around, I saw that Amber fell out of her bed as well and was on the floor, groaning painfully to herself as I stood up and shook my head to clear the morning drowsiness.

"Morning, Amber." She winced and looked up at me with one eye shut.

"Guh mornin'," She responded weakly, yawning in a lazy manner.

"Come on. We wouldn't want to be late."

She got up and smoothed the fur around her muzzle with her paws. "I think we're already late..."

I smiled at her response. "Yeah, so let's go. Charolette might blow a fuse."

She giggled lightly to herself. "Yeah."

I glanced at my satchel besides the log stand. Thinking it might be best to take it with me, I grabbed the sash and flung it around my shoulder. I stuffed the badge in there last night. It should still be there, so I guess I got everything I might need for today. I noticed Amber followed suit and proceeded to don her generic Treasure Bag on. It looked natural on her. As if she was born for it. Again, I got that feeling she should be someone I know, but the strange thoughts were easily forgotten when I was reminded of the voice and it's promise to be back soon.

I pushed aside the curtain of moss that hung down from the entrance/exit to our room and walked down the hallway towards the 'main chamber' as they called it. Amber followed close behind, silent all the while.

We reached the main chamber within a few seconds. The mass of pokémon already gathered there were lazing around, as if they were waiting for something to start. I walked over to the group and took my place besides a small blue dog, Amber wandering off elsewhere. Looking to my side, I studied the pokémon next to me. It's bottom half was colored black, and it's tail was tipped with what looked to be a star. Without much observance, I noticed the same star shape was placed on the inside of its ear as well. The little dog seemed to be staring off into nothing as if bored out its mind. It turned to me as I sat down and spoke.

"Hey. You're new here right?" I could distinguish from the voice that the pokémon was female. I was a bit curious as to how she knew that I was new, but there probably weren't much Eevee enlisted in the guild either way. She tilted her head and smiled as I nodded. "You're pretty cute, ya know? Has anyone ever told you that?"

She laughed lightly as the blush on my face showed itself. "I guess not, huh?" She leaned in close and whispered to me. "You just need a little lovin', don'tcha? I think I can help with that..." I shivered as she traced a claw on my chest. I couldn't do much but stare into her half-lidded eyes. The golden color of her irises shimmering beautifully. For no reason whatsoever, I felt myself getting dizzy and needed to take a breath or step back for a while. I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

"What's your name, hun?" She asked. Her voice made my spine tingle. I tried to respond. I wanted to. Opening my mouth, though, I couldn't really utter a word.

"Matthew?" I turned at the sound of my name to see Amber sitting by Charolette. She was giving me a quizzical look.

I turned back to the little blue dog. She was still giving me a smile of contempt, and I knew I should probably back out while I could. "I... I uh... have to go."

Her smile seemed to deepen. "That's fine. I understand. Make sure to come back when you find the time. I'll be waiting." I shivered at how confident she sounded that I'd return. It's like she knew that there was... something that drew me to her. I just met the girl and I felt this way about her. And that scared me to no ends.

"Uh... y-yeah. Sure." With a lot of effort on my end, I managed to tear my gaze away from her beautiful eyes.

Walking over to Amber and Charolette, I toss a look over my shoulder at the girl. She gives me a wink and my head spins. I sit by Amber as Charolette goes on about... something. I can't really pay attention to him because that same girl keeps drawing my attention. Her eyes. Her smile. Her form. Her playful giggle. The way she winks at me. She taunts. She teases. And... I think that-

Something hard slaps against my face and I'm thrown backward a few steps. My cheek stings as I look towards another blue dog figure. The very same dog that pointed out the stairs to me yesterday. "What the hell was that for!?" I shout at him, wondering how he even got here without me noticing.

I didn't even care that we were standing in front of the entire guild while I expressed my surprise and complete shock. In fact, they were acting as if nothing were happening. Almost as if someone being slapped around here was completely normal. Heck, for all I knew, it probably was.

The masked blue dog steps back and looks me over thoughtfully with his arms crossed. "You're not thinking about her anymore, are you?"

"Thinking about who?" I ask, trying to ignore the stinging sensation on my face.

He smiled and turned to Charolette. "Yeah, Emily got to him, Chatot."

"Who?" I ask again.

The blue dog in front of me points to the other small blue dog. "That Shinx over there. That's Emily." The Shinx, Emily, smiles at me and winks, but I don't feel that sort of... pull to her as before; which puzzles me. What had happened just now?

"She used Attract on you, dude." The blue dog laughed and placed a paw on my shoulder. He leaned down so he was about level with my head. "Be careful around her. She just likes to tease. She doesn't mean much by it."

I just nodded as he walked over to the group of gathered pokémon and took a seat. I throw another look at Emily– a Shinx, he called her– and she winked at me one last time. Her golden eyes shining beautifully and her smile deepening to a point where it seemed as if she were planning something for me in the future. A shiver ran up my spine as I turned my attention back to Charolette. Or at least tried to. The Chatot was going on about some important duty and whatever. I couldn't really focus much. That Shinx girl kept running through my head and it seemed to me as if I couldn't possibly get enough of her. A part of me so desperately wanted to turn around and confess my undying love for her. Yes... I love her. There's no way around it. I know that I absolutely want to spend every walking minute of my life with-

A flash of feathers snapped in my face and my cheek stung again. I winced against the feeling and turned my shocked expression to Charolette. I couldn't help but think that he slaps like a girl too. "What was that for?" I asked, barely concealing the hostility in my voice so it came out more as a harsh whisper than anything.

He cocked his head to the side and eyed me thoughtfully. "You had that look in your eyes..." He said wistfully. I wanted to rip that beak off his face at the smug look he was giving me, but I restricted myself. Mainly because if I did so, not only would I be jailed for attempted murder, but also because I couldn't accomplish such a feat even if I tried. I just rubbed my cheek and wondered how I succumbed to the effects of 'Attract' twice in a row.

"Anyway, you two know what to do. Or at least, one of you should. This morning briefing will be an everyday thing, so get used to it. Now go join the group so we can get started." He hopped off to stand in front of the many pokémon already seated.

I looked to Amber to see that she was giving me a thoughtful look, as if she were considering something. "What?" I ask while rubbing my cheek, "You going to slap me too?"

"Do you want me to?"

I couldn't help but laugh at the question. "No, I think I've been abused enough for one day."

She smiled and walked past me, heading for the gathering of individuals. "Come on. Let's take our seats." I couldn't exactly pinpoint where 'our seats' were located, but I figured anywhere was good. I walked over to the opposite side of the group from where I originally sat, making sure to put as much distance between me and Emily as possible.

After a few hushed whispers had died down at Charolette's raised wing, he started his morning speech or whatever he calls it.

"You are all here for one united purpose. You have all come together for one reason. Each of you have your own goals, dreams, and plans for the future. You are all different, unique individuals. However, there are some things you all have in common. These things are hope. Belief. Spirit. Potential. I share these things with you. I hope you will be able to transform this world into a kinder place. I believe everyone here has the abilities needed to take them where they need to go. My spirit reflects wisdom and knowledge that I will gladly share, if only to help extend your view of comprehension. My potential will reach its peak when an explorer from this very guild rises above and beyond the challenge and accomplishes something once before thought impossible and unbelievable. Yes, you are unique. Yes, you are in control of your own fate. And yes, there is no reason to doubt your abilities. But, as I said before; we are united for a common goal. To ensure peace within the nation and rid the world of all horrible intentions. I know you are able to accomplish such a feat if you were to put your mind to it every day. Now, I believe in you. But the question is; do you believe in yourself?"

The entire room went quiet. As if time had stopped for a few short seconds and gave this moment it's own little space. Then, without warning, the entire mass of pokémon shouted "YES!" and I jumped a little at the sudden noise. Amber seemed to react in pretty much the same way I did, except she settled for a small gasp and a relieved sigh after-wards.

Charolette's eyes seemed to shine knowingly. "Dismissed," He said, and the mass of pokémon dispersed; each heading to do whatever it is they set out to accomplish in this time and day, chattering merrily as they walked off.

Amber had started walking towards the Chatot at the head of the room. I followed closely behind, curious as to what she wanted with the music bird. When we got to his side, she spoke up. "Umm, Charolette?"

He visibly flinched at his name, but turned to look at us with a calm expression... more or less. "Please, don't call me that."

She ignored these words and proceeded to ask a question. "Didn't the guild members have to recite some saying? Something about... not shirking your work and paying when you ran away? Whatever that means."

He seemed to forget about the whole 'calling him by his name' thing and smiled. Or, at least... I guess it would be considered a smile. "Yes," he replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious," She responded in a tiny voice.

His smile grew wider... again, not sure if it was a smile... You know, taking in the fact he had a beak and all. "We stopped doing that in this here guild. The advisers over the years found that it wasn't inspiring enough to get the guild members going each day. I've taken it upon myself to change that little section of the quota. I provide you all with a thought provoking and invigorating speech: effectively putting the energy into you to keep going day after day. Each is different from the last, but each have a meaning behind them. Enough to make you believe anything is possible. It's a bit of a strange complex, but nothing I can't handle myself. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get to working on tomorrow's speech as well." He hopped off, chirping to himself idly and wracking his head for ideas... or, something.

I turned to Amber and smiled. "So, what are we doing today?"

She looked at me stupidly before remembering my current predicament and shaking her head slowly. "We need to complete a job request," She said. "Charolette said it was a first step to pledging our honor to the guild or some cheesy junk like that."

"Okay... how do we get started?"

She gave me another stupid look and said blatantly, "We head up to the first floor and accept a job request."

"Oh. Should we get started?"

"Yeah, I think so. Come on," She said as she started walking. I followed her towards the intended destination. Only a little while after did I realize she was leading me to the ladder that went to the floor above this one. By then, my mind had just registered what the words "up" and "first floor" implied.

"Woah, not happening," I said as I made a sharp turnaround and walked over to the nearby wall. Amber looked at me curiously to see that I was tapping on the stone with a paw.

"What... what are you doing?"

I smiled at her. "I'm looking for a hidden passageway. There's got to be some other way to get up there besides the ladder, right?" I pressed my head against the stone and squinted, knocking on the rock with my paw and trying hard to hear any faint echoes within the wall. To no avail, of course.

I didn't even notice Amber approach me until her teeth were clamped painfully around my ear and tugging hard. "A-ah. Ow! Amber! T-tha-that hurts! Ahhahow! P-please let go-oh. Mmmnh Ah!"

"Oh, man up, will you?" She asked, or more like stated, through my ear.

"I-I'm trying. Ah... ow! Ngh." At this point, I didn't even care if I lost a few masculinity points after the whole ordeal was done. I just wanted her to stop biting down so hard.

She finally released her grip and I moved to rub my paws over my pained ear lobes. I massaged them soothingly while wincing at the after-effects of her bite. "Why do you do that?" I asked, remembering she also pulled me by the ear yesterday just to get me over to the ladder.

She smiled. "I find it is the easiest way to get you where I want you to go. Now, I want you to climb up this here ladder," She said, patting the lower rungs as I stood up.

I took a step back. "And why would you want me to do something as crazy as that?"

She gave me another stupid look, but I'm sure she saw a bit of humor in my words and let out a few giggles. "Crazy? What's so crazy about climbing a ladder?"

"... Everything," I said in an harsh whisper.

This time she burst out in a fit of laughter and leaned against the wall for support. I just stared at her and cocked my head to the side quizzically. "What?"

She looked up at me and giggled lightly. "It's just a ladder, Matthew. Not the plague. Seriously, you make it sound like a big deal."

"It is a big deal," I complain as I start to walk towards the wooden contraption. "I mean, really, how is this physically possible? Quadrupeds shouldn't be able to access ladders. What kind of magic do you preform to be able to climb this thing?" I ask, pawing at the lowest set of rungs.

She giggled again and pushed me aside. "I've only ever climbed down ladders. Yesterday was my first time as well as yours, remember? Up is a new experience for me." She moved to climb the ladder, placing her forepaws on the highest set of rungs she could reach, making it look like she were standing on her hind-legs. She looked at me and wagged her tail playfully. "So, you're just going to let a little girl like me show you up?" She smiled knowingly before starting up the ladder.

Well, when she puts it that way...

I rushed to the base of the ladder and looked up the little chute to see Amber's fluffy tail swinging back and forth. "H-hey! Wait for me!"

I heard her giggle again as she called back, "Come on, Matthew!"

I took a deep breath to steady myself before placing my forepaws on the wooden rungs. Here we go. Raise my right hind-leg onto the lowest rung. Okay. Reach up my right fore-paw. Done. Reach up left fore-paw... next is the left hind-leg. Got it. Okay, Matty boy, you can do this!

Right, right, left, left, right, right, left, left... I look up slowly to have Amber's tail drag lightly across the tip of my nose. I feel a small twitch there that was the beginning signs of a sneeze. I panicked and lost my grip on the rungs as I drew in a sharp breath. Sneezing violently, I practically fell backwards. I hastily extended my claws and leaned myself forward to bite the rungs of the ladder; making sure I had a firm grip before attaching my claws to the wood. The extra weight, however little, my home-made satchel provided might as well have added to the chances of me plummeting down to the floor. Luckily for me, that wasn't the case.

I let out a sigh as a shiver ran up my spine. Closing my eyes tightly, I continued at a slower pace than before. It seemed to be too long before my paw made contact with solid ground while reaching up instead of a wooden rung. I opened my eyes to gratefully see that I was at the top of the ladder. I pulled myself out of the hole and flopped down gratefully on the floor next to the ladder chute.

Amber looked down at me with a smile. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

I groaned, slightly irritated at what had happened. If only she knew what it was like to be me. "You didn't almost fall backwards."

She reached down and grabbed me by the ear again. I was jolted upwards by her painfully sharp teeth. "Ow, Amber. Ah. Ear, ear, ear. Ah, teeth, teeth. Hah, A-Amber. Please, sto-ahah. Nnn, OW!"

I was defenseless. It was pitiful. I couldn't do much but flail painfully and lean into Amber's bite so it wouldn't hurt as much when she led me to wherever she was going. She was right. It is an effective way to get me moving.

I fell to the ground and clamped my paws around my ear when she finally let go. I winced painfully and looked up at her through one eye. "Pleeeaase stop doing that."

She straightened her back all lady-like and licked at the pads of her dainty paws, running them over her ears and smiling teasingly. "I'll stop if you get over your fear of ladders."

I sat up and groaned. "That's not funny," I defended. "I think I'm starting to develop a phobia for the things."

She raised a brow and clashed her teeth together; making a chomping sound. I visibly flinched. Her teeth were so sharp. "But... I could try?"

She smiled, successfully. "That's better."

Last time up here on this floor, Amber dragged me off; so I didn't have much of a chance to take in my surroundings. Now, looking around, I can see that this floor is a bit smaller than the one below. There's a window over to the farthest wall. Next to it sat a desk, and behind that floats some bell kind of pokémon that chimed lightly with every swift motion it made. To my right hung up on the wall was some sort of blackboard that had lists of paper pinned onto it. Just on the other wall was the same kind of blackboard, but the sheets of paper and envelopes on that one looked meager in comparison to the one next to me. In-between the two walls that housed the boards stood the ladders in all their glory and magnificence, a set of stairs set aside in contrast to the demonic things.

"So, what are we doing again?" I asked before giving the area around me one last look.

Amber sighed and gestured towards the board we were nearest to. "We're accepting a job request. She said for about the thousandth time." I sensed the tone of annoyance in her voice and focused more on the task at hand.

"Okay. Sooo... now what?" I know I wasn't making things easier for her, but hey, I'm one confused little Eevee. And is it really my fault that some Shinx happened to be flirting with me at the moment of briefing? I would think not.

Amber shook her head in response and directed her gaze at the board with the papers and forms. "We read these things and choose a job. Charolette explained everything to us. Or, at least, to me. This board has both casual, rescue, and escort job requests, and that one over there has 'Wanted' posters and bounty hunting kind of missions," she said, pointing out both in respective order.

"And we're going to accept a job from this one?" I asked, nodding my head at the Casual Requests board.

"Well, y-yeah. I just... kinda figured it would be... easier." As she uttered the words, her voice seemed to shrink towards the end and grow quiet. Amber looked away from me and down at her paws, seeming a little ashamed for saying something like that.

"Hey, It's alright. I guess we can do these. We just gotta choose one, though." I surveyed the jobs on the board and randomly picked one. Reaching up and grabbing it with my teeth, I snatched off the wall and placed it on the floor so I could see the details better.

H-hello? If anyone is reading this, then please come! I'm stuck and I can't advance any farther. I just want to get out of here. I don't know where I am. I-I'm sorry. I thought I could do it, but I can't! They were right! All of them! I'm sorry, and I've learned my lesson. Just... please... help...

Client: Ampharos
Objective: Rescue Ampharos
Place: Drenched Bluff
Restrictions: None
Reward: White Gummi + ?

"Hey, Amber... I think we should help this person out..."

"Hmm?" She looked up from her paws to see me staring at the sheet of paper. Slowly, she walked over by my side and surveyed the job request. "Oh... they seem... lost."

"Huh... it says we get a reward for doing this," I remarked, noticing that little section of the job format towards the bottom. "White Gummi... I think I remember my dad coming back from somewhere with a few of these for me and my sisters before. My mom scolded him for a good while, going on about spoiling us and whatever. Heh, by the time she was done, we had already eaten them all. Well, at least, my sisters did. I gave mine to them. Sweets never really were my thing."

I look over to Amber to find that she's staring down at the ground with sadness reflecting in her eyes. "Hey." She slowly directs her gaze to look at me.. "Is... is something wrong?"

She blinks once before raising a paw to touch the base of her neck like she did last night. "No. Everything's fine. Lets just get this job over and done with."

I wanted to say something about her shift in manner, but figured it wouldn't get me anywhere anytime soon. So I examined the sheet of paper once more before stuffing it into my satchel.

"Alright. I guess we should leave?" I offered, walking towards the set of stairs that led out of the guild. I didn't get far before someone called out to us. The voice ringed happily and reminded me of Mom in a way. Looking towards the voice, I noticed it belonged to that bell looking pokémon standing... ah, floating by the windows.

"Are you the new recruits?" Again, how somebody can tell whether we're new here or not is pretty unsettling, but as stated before, there probably weren't many Eevee enlisted in the guild before Amber and I. I nodded before the pokémon gestured with its... head for us to come over.

I walked towards it, tossing a glance at Amber to see if she was following me or not, which she was.

Upon arrival, the bell pokémon chimed lightly and spoke in a kind of ringing voice. "If you didn't know by now, you gotta check out any and all mission form or job requests with me. Registering missions to a team is one of the many jobs I occupy at this here guild!" I couldn't be sure if the pokémon was a boy or a girl due to the voice. Maybe it's species have a natural sing-song tinge to their voices? "My name is Clementine, and I'll be happy to serve you today." Female. This one is definitely a girl.

"So. I'll be needing the job request of your choice and the badge of any one of your team members." I opened up the flap of my satchel and reached in to pluck out our mission form while Amber placed her badge on the desk. As I passed up the request, I found myself just a bit surprised as to how smoothly this was all proceeding. Why didn't I have any questions about anything? Well, that's one, but... you know, something useful or informative.

The items were surrounded in a kind of blue-ish aura before moving out of nowhere. The badge flew into what looked like a kind of indentation within the wood while the job request floated in front of Clementine. She hummed to herself while a sort of process went on behind there, evidence by the sound of a few clicks, whirrs, and beeps.

A faint buzzing sounded out from my satchel. I opened it up and, not surprisingly, pulled out my own explorer's badge. The image of a small envelope flashed on the screen with the words "New Mission Objective" displayed across it. After pressing a few flashing buttons that did I don't know what, a detailed list of our job request appeared on a blank background.

Clementine chimed happily, "Alrighty then! That should do it!" With a flourish of her tassel/tail looking thing, our items flew back to us still surrounded in that strange blue glow. The job request went into my satchel on its own will while Amber's badge floated right in front of her until she reached to grab it.

I didn't even want to know what was up with objects suddenly moving around like magic. In fact, I think it's better that I don't. Best not to question things like this.

"Uh... okay." I look at Amber as she looks at me. "We can go now, right?"

She smiles sweetly. "Yeah... Come on." I follow behind her, tossing a glance at Clementine to see that she was already back to work on doing whatever goes on behind that small desk of hers. Without knowing, I find myself steering towards the set of stairs set into the wall.

"Uh-uh, not that way!" I didn't get very far before a painfully familiar set of teeth clamped over my ears. A slight hiss of pain escaped me before I was dragged away by a very persistent Eevee.

I didn't protest about Amber wanting me to go wherever. At this point, I might as well get used to her method of doing so. But nothing could stop me from moaning painfully and begging her to let go.

When she relented her grip, I was facing a very familiar set of rungs. "Arceus... Amber, please-"

"Climb it." Those two words will possibly be the most horrifying I've ever heard leave her mouth.

"But... but..." I throw a look towards the staircase set into the wall just a few feet away. "The stairs are just over there."

"Yeah, I know," She said, eying me curiously. "I just want to see how you climb ladders."

I didn't even bother trying to argue. I've found it's easier to do what she says and get on with the day. With a heavy sigh, I assumed my ladder climbing position and started to slowly climb up it. I think it's better for me to do it with my eyes closed instead of looking upwards in expectation. I'll know the whole experience is over when I do.

After a few more seconds in quadruped hell, my paw made contact with the solid ground that marked the end of my journey. I reached up and pulled myself out of the hole. A rush of what felt like excitement hit me. I just climbed a ladder without any difficulty for the first time.

I looked back down the ladder chute to see if Amber was at the bottom looking back up at me. She wasn't anywhere in sight, and something told me that she lied when she said she wanted to see how I climb ladders. Anything to make me do it, huh? I need to be careful of that girl.

"You're doing it wrong." The simple sentence caught me by surprise and I jumped a little, causing my paws nearest the hole to lose a bit of grip on the dirt packed ground. I slipped down into the ladder cute and barely managed to catch onto one of the wooden rungs before the rest of my body fell along with me.

I lay there as a chill ran up my spine. Half my body lay outside the hole, while the other half pushed against the ladder rungs in an attempt to keep me suspended. I tossed a look up over my shoulder to see Amber staring down at me curiously. "You okay?"

I backpedaled out of the ladder chute, placing my paws on each rung before me and pushing myself out with each step. It wasn't long before I flopped down next to the hole, groaning tiredly. And to think my problem with ladders was finally over. I nearly fell down the hole... again.

I looked up at Amber, who was standing over me with questioning eyes. "Yes. I'm fine."

She smiled down at me. "You're doing it wrong."

I closed my eyes tightly in frustration. "As if I didn't hear you the first time I nearly fell to my death."

She giggled lightly. "I'm serious. You gooooo... left, left, right, right," She explained to me, doing a model-like demonstration in the little room we we're currently in. Her steps were jumbled and she looked as if she were staggering from side to side. "When you're supposed to go left, right, left, right. You know, like you're actually walking." She did another demonstration, her steps exaggerated and painfully obvious, as if she were teaching a newborn cub how to walk for the first time- walking slowly in a circle with her tail swishing back and forth almost tauntingly.

I stood up and brushed past her on my way to the exit/entrance of the guild. I looked at her as I passed by and said, "I'll try to keep that in mind. We got someone to rescue at the moment." Just then, a thought struck me. We had someone to rescue. In a dungeon. Filled with danger. And challenges. Exploration. Fun. This is what I left my home for. "Come on, Amber!" I yelled back at her, despite the fact she was only a few feet away. "We got to save somebody!"

She called out for me to wait as I rushed outside. Tossing a look at her over my shoulder, I didn't notice that someone was in front of me until I crashed into them. We fell to the ground next to the wooden grate a few feet away from each other. I sat up and groaned, looking towards the stranger who I bumped into.

A short, masked blue dog lay on the ground, suspending himself with an elbow and rubbing his head. The red scarf around his neck helped me identify that it was the very same guy that slapped me today. Yeah, that doesn't sound messed up at all.

Amber rushed out to meet us, seeing the small scene before her, she just settled for asking if we were alright. I got up and walked over to the canine figure laying on the ground. "Sorry about that. I... uhh... heh... was just a bit excited to start our first mission."

He looked up at me and smiled lightly. "It's fine. First time's always the most exciting." He picked himself up from the floor and held out his paw. "Figured we might as well get introductions over. The name's Nick."

I reached out and shook his paw while Amber walked over by my side. "Matthew. And this is Amber," I said, gesturing towards my partner. She nodded slowly at Nick.

He crossed his arms in front of him. "So, where you two headed?"

I blinked, slightly confused by the question until I remembered seeing a location on the job request. I flung the satchel onto the ground and dug through it. Pulling out a sheet of paper, I surveyed the list and found what I was looking for. "Some place called... Drenched Bluff..."

Nick smiled before showing us a sheet of paper he had in his paw that I hadn't noticed earlier. "Same here. I guess I'll meet ya there?"

Amber gasped when she saw the poster Nick had. "You're doing an outlaw mission?"

He laughed a little at her reaction. "Yes. But Drenched Bluff has some of the weakest pokémon around. I'm not too worried. I figured this would be an easy mission and I could get through another day with my head still attached to my shoulders."

"But... It says you have to fight three of them," She replied. I looked at the list a bit closer. I couldn't really read all of it due to the way Nick was holding it. But I could make out some of the details.

...anted for several accounts of theft. Trio of poké consisting of a Bulbas... Cha..., and a S... own location to be Drenched Bl... this group... sive and tricky. Good luck.
Objective: Apprehend Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Char...
Place: Drenched Bluff
Restrictions: None
Reward: 5,000 Poké + Reviver Seed + Orange Gummi + Big...

I cocked my head to the side and gave Nick a confused sort of look. "You sure this is as easy as you think? The rewards on that thing really say something."

He waved a paw at me in disregard and laughed as if I were an idiot. "Oh, come on! This is Drenched Bluff we're talking about. It isn't much of a step up from the Beach Cave. That place is for wusses! 'Sides, I'm a Fighting-Type pokémon. I got this." He turned around and strutted, no literally, towards the entrance of the Wigglytuff Guild. He walked with a sort of swagger in his step, swinging his arms dramatically and swaying from side-to-side in time with his walk, head bobbing as if to some imaginary beat in his mind... until I stopped him, that is.

"Hey, uh... Nick?"

He paused mid-walk and tossed a look over his shoulder at me. He was leaning back with a foot placed out mid-air and ready to take a step, his arms stopped mid-swing, making him look like a kind of figurine with a major ego. "Yeah?"

"Why are you heading back into the Guild?"

He relaxed his muscles and took on a more normal looking standing position. With a weak chuckle, he scratched the back of his head, seeming to have been embarrassed. "I uh... forgot my Explorer's Bag." He cast a glance at me and Amber, but I got the feeling he wasn't looking at us in particular. "And to see that the rookies brought along their bags unlike I did just makes me feel kinda... stupid. Heh... yeah. See you in the dungeon, I guess?"

He turned and walked inside the guild. You know, minus the swagger. I felt as if there should have been a sort of humor to the whole scene, but honestly, I found it a little sad.

"We should get going," I said to Amber. She nodded and started down the steps. I walked beside her on the way down to the start of our first journey together.

At this height I could see the sun seemed to have just finished cresting the horizon, and I was surprised at the fact I was even able to wake up this early. Back at home I was allowed to sleep in however long I pleased. But this isn't home. Something tells me I'm going to have to keep reminding myself of that. Such is the life of an explorer.

"Do you usually wake up this early?" I didn't really mean to ask the question. It just slipped out. When I get lost in my train of thought, lots of things slip out. I guess it wasn't too bad a question. Could provide a conversation to pass the time down these seemingly never-ending steps.

Amber paused a for a little to toss a glace at me, and then to the sun off in the distance. She continued walking as she answered. "Sometimes. Yeah... I do. But usually when I feel I have to get things done for the day..."

"Like today?"

"Kind of... yeah."

We went downwards for another long while in silence, the floor not seeming to come any closer within the passing seconds. "Hey, do you know what species Nick is?" I asked. If anyone's noticed by now, I'm not well versed in other kinds of pokémon.

Amber looks at me out of the corner of her eye. "Eh? Nick?" She tilts her head slightly while pondering the question and generating an answer. "I think they call his kind a Riolu. They can sense auras or something like that."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Kind of makes me feel weird to know that he can just tell what someone is experiencing at any time. Those kinds of things should be kept private, you know? It's just not... right to be read like a book. Well... that's how it feels like to me, I guess..."

I lapsed into my own silence, choosing not to say anything because I knew I didn't have an opinion on the subject. My paws on the stairs thumped lightly, a small sound that just made the whole moment seem awkward to me. I at least owed her the decency of a response, right?

"Maybe... sometimes... it's necessary- to be able to have your mind read or whatever, I mean. Because if not, then you might become distant or something. All those thoughts and feelings bottled in. And eventually, even you wont be able to know what you're feeling. It'll just be... a mix of emotions. You won't be able to focus on one feeling in particular and in the end you'd just end up lost in your own emotional turmoil."

It's times like this where I like to respect how much of an idiot I am. "That didn't make any sense..." I said weakly, ears flattening against my head in distaste.

Amber giggled lightly besides me, turning to look down at the landing as it came closer. "No. No it didn't."

We reached the bottom of the stairs, our paws finally touching something other than the rocky stone steps. I stop now, not sure what exactly to do. Drenched Bluff. The name pops up in my head like a Diglet out of its hole. Suddenly and surprisingly.

I drop my bag onto the floor and rummage through its contents, not finding anything I'm looking for. I then look up at Amber, sitting a ways off. Her head is cocked to the side, watching me curiously.

"You got the map?"

She blinks, as if coming out of a trance. "Huh?"

"That Wonderful Map that Guild Mas... Miles, gave to us," I specify and watch as something seems to click in her mind. She drops her own Treasure Bag on the floor and opens it up to pull out the aforementioned map within her jaws.

She walks over to me and drops it at my paws. "Here. The Wonder Map." She strains the word 'wonder'. Seemingly trying to get the obvious point across as to what to call the piece of parchment. Whatever. I was close.

I open it up against the ground, spying the shifting clouds and one glowing dot on the crisp parchment labeled "Treasure Town". And then a thought hits me.

"Drenched Bluff..."

Another dot appears on the paper, forming as if out of nowhere and glowing mysteriously. The dot started to label itself, then. Letters scrawled themselves in front of my eyes without a hand to guide the pen that wasn't there. Underneath the newly formed dot, written in a fine cursive were the words "Drenched Bluff". I started to question on how this map worked. There had to be other forces at play here. Arceus, this is amazing.

I turn my eyes from the Wonder Map to Amber. With the kind of awe in my voice that hadn't been there since I was younger and more easily impressed by things, I breathed out, "This thing has got to be magic. I don't care what Miles said, that is the only explanation right now."

She gives me wary eyes. "I'm sure it is..."

I shake myself out of my daze and look at the map. Drenched Bluff didn't seem to be too far from Treasure Town. In fact, it looked like maybe a mile or two walk. I search the nearby area to find the teleporter pad glowing dimly in the morning shadows.

"It's not far from here. We could walk..." I let my sentence linger, so it asked a question more than it stated something. Amber didn't seem to acknowledge what I said much. Yet, a few seconds of silence later, she spoke up quietly.

"I feel kind of lazy today..."

A small smile found its way to my lips. I'm liking this girl more and more every minute we're together. "So, teleoprting it is."

I stuff the map into my satchel, heave it around my shoulders, and slowly pace towards the yellow glow in the ground; Amber on my tail. I reach the device and think back to when Dad explained how they functioned. Giving Amber a knowing look and a smile, I step onto the pad and wait a little while for the thing to calibrate my weight, height, mass or whatever it needed however it did so. In what seemed like a few short seconds, it beeped and pulsed lightly, already giving me that weightless feeling.

With having gotten to know the place by name, it had no trouble rolling off the tip of my tongue. And I felt that today, this place, this mission, would be something I would never be able to forget as long as I live. "Drenched Bluff".

The world around me blurred into a mix of colors. Amber's eyes locked onto mine in that final second before departing. Mild shock and surprise were clearly imprinted there. But there was something else, too- hints of fear and apprehension veiled behind shimmering brown barriers.

Then everything went white before my vision turned black.

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One could say that coming out of a teleportation was nothing- That it's as simple as breathing or thinking or talking. Well, I'd like to meet this person.

A fresh patch of dirt and gravel meets my face as I'm suddenly dropped out of nowhere into a straight away path. I flip, head over tail and land on my back, facing the sky up above; the morning sunrise giving the clouds a golden hue. I take a moment to recover from the fall- if you could call it that. It's all going fine before something starts falling towards me, having appeared only about a foot or so above my body.

"Waahaa!" Amber shrieks as she falls onto my upturned stomach. I buckle with the weight, popping up from the ground slightly before leaning my head back into the dirt with a barely audible, pained groan.

She scrambles off me, turning back with an "I'm so sorry!" in a panic stricken voice. I can't respond, turned onto my side and curled into myself in a horrible attempt at trying to get the wind back into me. Breathing hurts to some extent.

I struggle to get the words out. "Jus... gih...me a minuh... ugh..."

I hear some shuffling around before sensing something rest itself beside my head- tucked into my body mass. "O-okay..."

Shallow breaths. That's it, Matt. You got this. Slow and stea- agh... d... duhh.. don't breath so deep. G... ah. You can do this. Just stand up. Nice and slowly. That's it.

I stood on shaking legs. Gods, my stomach burns. The ground beneath me swayed and I toppled onto my side with a breathless groan. Amber rushes to assess the 'problem' and see if she could provide any aid. All I need is a few more seconds to recover. She stands back and, after what seems like forever, I am able to steadily support myself on four legs once again without having any trouble breathing.

I cough once to get the feeling out of my system. Amber stands by, ashamed, diverting her gaze from me to towards a small shrub by the side of the path. I don't want to bother telling her it wasn't her fault because it might cause her to feel a bit more responsible for my dilemma.

So instead, I shook myself off of the aching in the pit of my stomach; finally able to take a few steps toward the entrance of what I believed was the Drenched Bluff. Amber followed behind me, looking into the mouth of the cave system in awe and fear.

"Should we get started, then?"

I felt her nod behind me, edging a bit closer to my side. "I-if you want..."

I sighed and started to walk towards an opening within a rocky wall. Entering the cave, it started to get a bit darker as you progressed further. The stone clacked underneath my claws and echoed eerily. As if the silence weren't enough to put someone on edge, my badge started to beep loudly within my satchel, startling both me and Amber into gasping loudly.

Not moments later, Amber's badge began to emit sounds as well. I fished mine out of my bag while she did the same for hers. When I pulled mine out, the noises stopped and a metallic, computerized female voice spoke.

"Mapping the dungeon. Setting up sonar matrix... Scanning for most probable tunnel variables. Comparing and analyzing previous entries... No match has been found. Preparing new mapping systems. A new layout page has been added. Generating auto-track markers. Auto-track markers have been installed. Linking to the Global Exploration Unit. Connecting... … Linked to the G.E.U. Synchronizing data. Process complete. Projecting dungeon maps."

The mechanism beeps once, twice before an image of two dots between a set of lines shows. They blink, unmoving as I stare at them. "What... what was that?"

Amber moves to rest beside me, peering down at her own device. "I think... it made a map for the dungeon...?" She offers hesitantly.

I bite the badge between my teeth, take a few steps forward, and observe the item once more as I rest beside a rock. One of the dots has moved a bit further in, lines nearest to it extending up to where it stopped. The other dot approaches it and I look up to see Amber walking towards me.

"Well," I sigh as she approaches. "You're right. I guess this makes a map of the dungeon automatically as we go along." I stuff the badge back into my satchel, smiling a bit. "Nifty."

She just nods in response, fidgeting a bit with her paws and looking deeper into the systems of tunnels.

"Something wrong?" I ask

She bites her lip, not moving her gaze from the back of the tunnels. "It's kind of scary... you know?"

I nod, my eyes following hers to observe the walls of the dungeon's entrance. I get the feeling I should give some sort of motivation speech to rouse the adventurous side of her into action.

I never was good with words. "Well... at least we'll be together in there?" But I sure as heck can try.

She nodded at my comment, seeming to be reassured by the thought of not venturing into some unknown place alone. Without another word, I took a few steps forward into the cave, Amber automatically falling in step by my side.

The floor underneath us was damp with water, and an abundance of pokemon opted to attack us rather than leave us be. They were most likely the inhabitants of this place and probably really didn't enjoy a couple of strangers walking in on their territory. Me and Amber managed to either subdue them or just run until they got tired of chasing us. In one case, some pink slug-like creature drove us to falling into some small lake, after which we were promptly assaulted with bubbles shot from the pokémon's mouth which, honestly, tickled more than they hurt.

Aside from the layout of the dungeon, rooms and tunnels, yay, the only other thing I found strange about these places were the stairs. The first set me and Amber came across was clearly built into the ground. White, marble stairs leading deeper into the dungeon. Upon reaching the next floor, as soon as the things were out of your sight, they'd disappear. Literally. It'd be just you and a vast room with no evidence as to how you entered in the first place. All you really could do at that point was push on and locate the next set of stairs. Move on deeper into the unknown.

So me and Amber continued on without much of a choice. Admittedly, I was having the time of my life. Everything was so new and interesting. And from what I hear, there are more of these dungeons all around the world. Just thinking of the possibilities of exploring such places was enough to make my fur bristle in excitement.

My new partner, however, seemed a bit more cautious about venturing further into the dungeon. She seemed to enjoy herself for the most part, but there always was that underlying sense of worry and fear that I could sense within her. There were a few points in our travel that I wanted to reassure her that we'd be just fine in here. Though, for some reason or another, I couldn't bring myself to say those words. Maybe because I wasn't too sure that we'd be okay. But that's at least an always guarantee when entering a dungeon. You never know what will happen.

"You holding up there?" I asked out of nowhere once we cleared a room of a few hostiles. Nothing too dangerous. Just a couple more of those slug-like pokémon that my Explorer's Badge identified as Shellos.

She nodded, sitting down and looking around the room as if searching for something. "Yeah... w-when do you think we'll find this Ampharos? I want to get back to the guild and rest a bit."

I surveyed the area as well, nothing much sticking out bar the occasional puddle of water or indentation in the rocky walls. "Maybe they're deeper in the dungeon. If so, we should keep on pushing through." Taking note of Amber's increasing discomfort, I managed to smile at her. "Don't worry. This will all be over soon enough."

She just nodded in response, not seeming to be reassured by the words. Amber pulled herself up and started to walk on to the next set of tunnels. I followed after, starting to become a bit worried for her. Sure, it was none of my business that she joined an Explorer's Guild and couldn't handle a dungeon itself, but... being my partner and all, I still had a right to be a bit concerned, right? Nevermind the fact that I barely knew her, we have to watch our backs in this place.

My thoughts were interrupted by a sharp clicking sound that resonated through the room. Amber's fur stood on end at the noise and a distinct, feminine voice sounded out. "Teleportation sequence commencing."

Then Amber turned to me, crying out my name before she was abruptly cut off and disappeared into thin air, a square, metallic plate marking where she once was.

I rushed over to the spot, worry and concern spiking to new levels of discomfort. She... she just... vanished. "Amber!" I called out several times. "Amber?" I was left at a standstill, confusion clearly plastered onto my features until I took time to notice the metal plate embedded into the floor.

I inspected it for a while more, creasing my brow in thought. "What... is this?" I asked myself. I didn't really expect any sort of response, but once again, a feminine voice sounded out from my bag, albeit a bit muffled. It startled me, but it didn't take long for me to recognize it as my Explorer's Badge.

I pulled the item out and studied it before asking once again. "What is this?" The badge then projected a green, square grid and started to scan the plate before me, blinking once in confirmation before responding.

"Teleportation pad. Whomever steps on this spot will randomly be teleported to a location anywhere on this dungeon floor. Proceed with caution."

Randomly teleported? So... Amber is still here. Somewhere.

"Where is she?" I asked the small device in my paws nervously.

"Invalid request. No current members titled 'she' within your team roster."

I rolled my eyes. A machine getting smart with me. That's a first. "Where's Amber?"

"Invalid request. No current members titled 'Amber'" within your team roster."

And that's where I deadpanned. How could this thing not know who Amber was? She was literally the only other member of the team. And then the obvious hit me. I sighed and muttered to myself. "Cannot believe I'm gonna say this..." With out a pause, I turned to the small machine in my grasp. "Where is... Eevee?"

The badge flickered once, a small map showing the current layout of the dungeon we've uncovered so far. "Scanning for 'Eevee'. Location verified."

Two dots appeared on the map then, along with a small room we haven't discovered yet. I assumed that Amber had been teleported to a room we hadn't visited before and her badge mapped it out automatically. What caught my attention, however, was that along with Amber's dot, there were three other 'unknown' dots and a symbol that marked the staircase leading on to the next floor. The thing that worried me most were the other three dots. With what little time I've spent in this dungeon, I've come to know that markings like those were used to label hostile pokémon in the nearest area. Though, I'm sure Amber could handle herself, I still felt a bit worried for her.

Then something occurred to me. Yesterday Miles had said something about being able to speak to each other even when separated in the dungeon. "I need to speak to her," I told the badge, hoping that it'd pick up on what I was aiming for.

"Invalid request. No current members titled 'her' within your team roster."

I groaned in frustration. This thing is really starting to get on my nerves. "I need to speak with Eevee!"

It blinked a couple of times before responding. "Setting up telecommunications link. Verifying video request. Confirmed."

The screen in front of me then went completely black. Though, I could hear sound... a bit muffled, at that. It was distinct enough for meto make a voice. One in particular I only really bothered to recognize.

"...ll can be reasonable. P-please... we can reach some sort of agreement, I'm sure..."

"Amber!" I called out almost in relief at hearing her voice.

"Matthew!" She screamed back, and the tone of her voice told me that she was... scared?

"What's this?" A second voice asked. Male. I didn't like it. It... he sounded a bit sinister. Confident. A bit of rustling could be heard and I could now make out an image on the screen. Amber's badge was in her bag, most likely, which would explain the darkness. Now that it was out in the light, I could make out a... claw holding onto the screen. Then the image shifted and a reptilian face was clear in the picture. He smirked, voice taking on a playful tone. "Well well... what do we have here? Another explorer?"

The camera turned, and I could now see Amber wrapped up in... vines? She seemed on the verge of tears as she looked hopefully at me past the screen.

"Is this your friend, little one?

Amber struggled against her restraints and cried out, "Let me go!" Her voice shook, and I could tell how much effort it took for her to keep from crying in front of her captors.

The screen turned back to the lizard and he smiled at me. "Is she always this rowdy? Heh... women, am I right?"

Another unfamiliar voice called out, this one female, "Hey!" followed by a second, male voice,"Hah, good one, boss!"

Then I heard the sound of someone being... slapped? Yeah...

"Ow!"

"Hmph. Serves you right."

The lizard on screen snarled, turning over his shoulder and shouting "You two keep yourselves in check!"

A couple of apologies sounded out as he looked back at the screen, rubbing his head. "I swear, the things I put up with daily."

"Don't you hurt her!" I growled, sounding as menacing as possible. It was more than just a facade, though. I really would make this group of unknown pokémon suffer if they so much as made Amber cry out in pain.

The reddish-orange lizard rolled his eyes, waving a claw at the screen dismissively. "Or I'll make you regret it, blah blah blah, don't underestimate me, yadda yadda yadda, I've heard this one too many times. Don't try to play hero if you can't live up to it. Tell you what, though!" He smirked again, and I knew that if I ever saw that face up close, I'd claw his eyes out in pure rage rather than anything. "I'll be willing to trade anything valuable you got for that girl over there. She doesn't have much anything of interest on her, and to be honest, I was really expecting more. So... uh... yeah, I'll be seein' ya."

He winked at me and drove his claw straight into the screen, causing the call to cut off with nothing more but a static connection. The map of the dungeon flickered back into view, and Amber's little dot had disappeared, along with the three other ones. The only thing left to identify where she'd been was the one room left on the map with a single tunnel leading into it. I studied the map for a short while, planning a route that would hopefully lead me to where she was.

Without a second thought, I ran off into one of the nearby tunnels, bypassing a couple of pokémon native to this place. While they chased me down in anger, they eventually lost interest seeing that I had no intention of harming or disturbing them. Though, a few did manage to hit me with a freezing cold water attack or even ram into my side, throwing me off. The hostility of folks these days, I swear...

I couldn't possibly keep track of my movements as I was running so fast the walls around me became a blur. I had to check the map often, seeing that I was on the correct and incorrect path more than once. Making the necessary adjustments to my route, I shouldn't have been surprised when I happened upon a large, mostly empty chamber.

Near the center lay a set of staircases leading on downwards, and just off to the side, up against the wall were four pokémon. One of which I knew. "A... Amber!" I shouted, staggering into the opening and panting heavily, my chest burning with a need for oxygen and my legs shaking as if willing me to rest. "You... hah... y-you let her go..."

I didn't even feel myself fall to the ground, let alone the buckling of my knees. Running has its disadvantages. As my vision began to turn black around the edges, I felt something wrapping around my body. I struggled weakly against whatever it was, knowing it was useless. Then I closed my eyes and let myself be carried away into a world of darkness.

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I didn't seem too long before the feeling in my body returned and I was able to open my eyes to survey my surroundings. There were... vines constricting around me. My attempts at shaking them loose only caused the things to tighten around my upper and lower body, restraining my limbs and crushing me, drawing out a soft whine of pain.

By my side, I saw Amber wrapped up in vines much like before. She seemed on the verge of tears. "Amber!" I called out to her. Her response was to turn to me, eyes straining with tears as if willing me to be quiet.

I held nothing but confusion for this until a claw swiped across my cheek, leaving what was sure to be a pretty deep cut. I hissed in pain, a light growl rising to my throat as a claw grabbed my chin and jerked my head upwards, forcing me to stare into the slitted eyes of the very same reddish-orange lizard that I saw over the video feed. Now that I was up close and personal, I could make out a few more features that just a face. Not much more could be noted other than how a flame flickered at the end of his tail. "Welcome back to the world of the living, buddy." He said, as if he hadn't just sliced my skin with his claws. "You were out for quite a while, ya know?"

"Out?" Was all I said in response, a little breathless from the constricting sensation around my torso.

"Yeah, you know. Unconscious, not aware, sleeping, whatever you want to call it. Point being, you're awake now. Awake, and still very much useless to me," He tutted, holding out my bag in front of my muzzle. "Nothing at all in here for us. You're very inconsiderate, aren't you?"

I would have growled in response, had the vines around me not tightened at my struggling, leaving me gasping for air. All I could manage was a weak "U-us?" Curious as to who he could possibly have mentioned. Probably the other two voices I heard over the badge's comm system.

"Yeah. The dopey Squirtle over there and the gal of a Bulbasaur right behind you," the Lizard replied, waving a claw over at a turtle like pokémon digging through Amber's bag and then pointing just over my shoulder. As I turned to look, I caught a glimpse of green skin and a bulb on the back of some creature before the vines around me tightened once more, forcing me to practically fall forward in their grasp and gasp in pain, accompanied by a stinging sensation as I felt the blood begin to run down my cheek.

Once again, a set of claws jerked my head up and I leveled a gaze with the lizard, glaring at him with an intense ferocity. "Aww, now don't be like that," He pouted, waggling a claw at me. "You brought this on yourself. What kind of explorers don't have any good stuff on them when they go out venturing, eh?" His eyes then widened in realization, a sly smile spreading across his features. "Unless you're newbies. That's it, huh? You're fresh off the grill!"

He laughed, leaning back and running a claw against his head. "Oh, it all makes sense now! Well, I am pleasured to be your very first villain, mind you. Not everyone gets this opportunity."

"Shut up."

The Lizard's eyes widened, almost in disbelief at what he had heard. "Heh... excuse me?" He asked, a harsh tone sounding clear in his voice.

I growled, struggling once again in my restraints. "You're obnoxious. The sound of your voice makes me want to hurl. Shut u-hahggh..." My reply was cut short as he jabbed a clenched fist straight into my gut, knocking the wind out of my body for the second time today. He pulled back with a snarl, wrenching my chin upwards to look him in the eyes once more.

"Apologize."

And I would have done a lot more than just that, had I not been able to breath from the after-effects of the punch, let alone the fact that my means of breathing were practically being crushed by the pokémon producing these vines. He seemed to notice my predicament, waving a claw at the body behind me. "Loosen it up a bit, will ya Sia?"

The bindings around me lessened their grip and eased up on my chest, allowing me to take short, quick, ragged breaths, coughing against the pit in my stomach that burned me to the insides.

Raising my head weakly, I purposely muttered something under my breath.

"What's that?" The Lizard asked, bringing up a claw to cup near his head as if to hear me better.

"You're pathetic," I spat, snarling at him. The punch to the side of my head was to be expected, sending my vision spinning, everything a blur and mix of colors accompanied by a dull throb that made my skull ache.

I then felt a breath against the back of my neck, fur bristling at the feel of it as a female voice spoke up just close enough to my ear. "Best behave yourself. The Boss doesn't enjoy when others disrespect him."

"Yeah?" I talked back, my voice rising. "Well maybe he shouldn't have pokémon wrapped up as he goes around and punches them!"

"You got your just rights, twerp. Now, if you'd have behaved yourself, maybe you two would've walked out of here alive." The orange lizard snarled again, flashing his claws at me.

"Boss!" A voice called out, most likely the turtle I had spotted earlier. Not soon after I heard Amber's cry of "Stop!" and turned my head to look at her, a bit more than worried.

She was struggling in her bindings as the blue turtle held onto some sort of gem strung on a piece of string around her neck. "This one has something on her!"

Amber's cries of protest were easily ignored by reptile as he paced over to his underling, taking the gem into his claws and studying it with a sort of glee. "Oohh... this is real pretty. It'll definitely sell for a lot. Great find, runt."

"T-thank you, Boss," Was the turtle's reply as he took a few steps back to allow the lizard some room.

The Lizard chuckled, kneeling down and inspecting the item more closely with a glint in his eyes. "Now then, little one. What's say we take this off your paws? Heck, this little discovery just put me in a good enough mood to consider letting you two run free."

"No!" Amber screamed, the tears practically flowing down her cheeks right now. "It's mine! You can't have it!" Then she unexpectedly clamped her teeth around his claw. From what little experience I had with those fangs against my ear, that had to have been painful.

He screamed, wrenching his arm backwards and eyeing the wound. Even from my position, I could see a bit of blood trickling onto the ground. The flame on his tail seemed to grow greater and he snarled. "You little..."

Amber cried out in pain as he swiped a claw across her face. The sight of the scene and her helpless whimpers devastated me. "I'll kill you!" I shouted at the creature, flailing wildly against the vines.

His response was to storm back towards me, a complete look of irritation and hate set into his features. "Say that again! Come on! Just test me and see if your guts won't be spilled over this floor in the next few minutes!"

Alright... we need to escape. The pokémon behind me is obviously the one holding both Amber and I with these vines. She was directly behind me, wasn't she? Yeah... has to be. I can still feel her breath against my neck. Getting loose of these restraints would only require a bit of... Arceus, why was my mind kicking in just now of all times? Why not think of an escape plan the moment I was trapped? Oh well, go with the moment.

Okay. So. This should be simple.

The lizard snarled, leaning in so that his snout was just inches from my muzzle. "Well? Don't got something to say?" Perfect.

I spit at him, landing a glob of saliva just between his eyes, and hopefully a bit inside as well. Jerk. His response was to pull back slowly, not believing what I had just done, yet having no choice but to do so as he wiped away the spit from his face. Then, he jabbed a fist directly at my muzzle with so much ferocity and power that I could see the intentions of it behind his wild gaze.

I quickly ducked my head down, feeling the rush of wind as his fist flew past my head and connected with someone else. A feminine voice just behind me cried out in pain and the vines around me receded. Just as I had hoped. Without thinking twice, I turned to Amber and screamed for her to run. She instantly leaped up, grabbing her explorer's bag between her maw before dashing down the white staircase.

So... around me was a confused turtle, an enraged psycho lizard, and a dazed, green so and so just standing there for a few seconds before the leader of the trio shouted at the turtle, "Go after her! She has the jewel!"

He began to stumble after the staircase, heeding the action. I immediately jumped up, dashing after the creature and ramming into it head-first from behind. Not one of my smartest moves, considering that shell was rock hard. Though, I did manage to knock him over and prevent him from pursuing Amber.

Ignoring the pounding in my skull, I jumped back by instinct to see the lizard slam his claws into the spot of ground I was just standing on.

I backed up a few paces, taking note of how the lizard stood directly in front of me. On my left flank stood the turtle, seeming to not have been fazed by my tackle. On my right side I saw a squat, green dinosaur-like pokémon with a plant bulb on its back. This must have been the very same one constricting Amber and I with the vines. Well, its nice to put a face to a captor.

Now... the leader of this group is a fire-type, without a doubt. Judging by the plant on the pokémon's back to my right, she had to be a grass-type. As for the turtle on my left, his distinct shell and blue skin left me guessing he had to be a water-type.

I won't be able to take on these three by myself, so I'd have to get them to use their elemental attacks against each other and hopefully take them down that way. Heh... who ever said knowing type-advantages could get you nowhere?

Without a warning, the turtle on my left began to shoot water out of his mouth at me. My fur bristled, legs kicking into action before I could put much thought behind it. I was running straight towards the lizard as the turtle kept its aim on me, his only intention obviously on keeping up the attack with no regard as to who it hit. Perfect.

Shooting under the legs of the red-orange lizard, I kept on running, unfazed. Looking over my shoulder, I saw the beam of water graze the fire-type's shoulder as he jumped back from the attack, shouting at the turtle. "Hey, watch the tail!"

"Sorry, boss!" Was his reply, and my mind caught onto this little detail. His tail. The flame. Something bad were to possibly happen to him if it got wet.

I didn't have much time to brood on this before a volley of leaves shot past my muzzle. I had just enough time to jump back before a whole new set of them launched by, whistling in the wind. One of them sliced against the other side of my cheek and I hissed in pain as a fresh cut was left behind, blood dripping down both sides of my face now. Arceus, this stings.

I saw a vine whipping at me out of the corner of my eye and dodged it, watching the ground where I once stood crack under the force of the impact. That's strong. Could use it to my advantage as well.

Of course, being in the heat of battle, it wasn't long before the next attack was launched at me. The red-orange lizard opened his maw and let loose a torrent of flames in my direction. I couldn't react quickly enough and jumped out of the way, leaving my right hind-leg to be caught in the flames. I cried out, the sensation of my fur burning away and the skin just beneath already becoming charred.

Though the feeling of being burnt was possibly worse than chopping one's ear off, I bit through the pain and continued running, fresh tears springing to my eyes as the frayed nerves were being pushed to new extents of stress. It seemed all I've been doing was running. 'Course, being one normal type against three elemental types, it's not like I could do much to them. But they can definitely hurt each other.

Another set of razor sharp leaves began to shoot from directly in front of me, the source being that green dinosaur pokémon. Letting my instincts kick in, I dropped to the ground and rolled to the side, evading the leaves as they went whistling by me. I heard a shout of pain and got up to see where it came from, watching as the blue turtle was caught in the storm of leaves, his shell being scratched in places and his skin receiving a bit of cuts. The intensity of the attack pushed him back against a wall, his head crashing against the stone and then going limp. Well, I guess I was lucky to have had him standing behind me just then. One down, a green plant and a psycho lizard to go.

Speaking of lizards, the fire pokémon wasted no time in charging at me, swinging his claws in an attempt to cut me in half, or some other variant of the form. I did my best to dodge the attacks, receiving a few cuts against my brow and shoulder, adding to the wounds flowing with blood and not helping in the stinging, burning sensations my body felt all over.

Turning around and running, as it seemed to be the only thing keeping me alive right now, I planned out what I was going to do next. Fire-type on my tail. Grass-type standing just off to the side. Maybe I could get him to hit her with a fire based move. Adjusting my path, I began to rush towards the green pokemon, lizard hot on my heels as he shouted out several ways he would go about eviscerating me.

My eyes kept forward on the grass pokémon, I noticed her shake her bulb ever so slightly, sending up a bout of yellow spores between us. Something bad would probably happen if I breathed them in. Shutting my eyes and holding my breath, I angled my head downwards as I plowed into the spore trap, hoping to gods that I didn't breathe any of the stuff in. I heard something crash behind me, but didn't bother to look in case I wasn't safe out of the spores yet.

A short, surprised cry sounded out as I ran into someone, falling to the ground. Opening my eyes in my own bit of surprise, I saw that the dinosaur had been knocked over in my rush and was regaining her senses.

Looking back at where I had come, I saw the orange lizard struggling on his back, attempting at raising his limbs to no avail, a bit of yellow particles settling into the ground and on his body. He probably hadn't noticed the spores in his blind rage and breathed them in. That could have been me.

Before the grass type could get her bearings, I worked on duplicating myself using a move called Double Team. By the time she could comprehend what had happened, there were at least six Eevee surrounding her. The actual me was in a spot where she was positioned between myself and the wall. All it'd take was to ram her into the thing and hopefully she'd be knocked out.

What I didn't expect her to do was send out her razor sharp leaves in a circle around her, taking out a few of my illusions as the rest jumped over the attack along with myself. Now there were about three left, including me.

Okay, so here's a thing about these illusions. while they may be fake, they still hurt just the same. Her momentary cry of pain as my other two copies lined up on either side of me and proceeded to preform a triple Quick Attack on her would prove that so. She crashed into the wall and didn't move for a short while afterwards. I deemed her finished with and limped over to the orange lizard still struggling on the ground, my leg still burning from where the fire attack had hit me.

The sight of him filled me with an overwhelming hatred, and a deep growl rose in my throat. A similar growl came up in his own chest as I walked into his line of sight. He still struggled against his body's unwillingness to co-operate. I pressed a paw directly on his throat, applying a load of pressure, cutting off his growl and preventing him from using any fire-based projectile attacks on me while choking him a bit.

I searched around for his tail, which was just by my side and conveniently placed next to a puddle of water deep enough to douse the flame on the end of it. I grabbed his tail between my paws, easing it closer to the pool of water.

He choked, flailing a bit weakly under my grasp. "E-ck... h-hey... easy th...ere, b-buddy. Tha... that'll k... kill me!"

My growl only intensified as I glared at him, a fire of my own burning beneath my gaze. I whispered harshly. "You attacked me. You held me hostage. More importantly, you struck my friend and caused her to cry in pain. You are nothing but a thieving scum who gets by on the misery of others. Answer me honestly." My lips pulled back in a snarl, grip on his tail tightening as claws extended on the paw I had pressed to his throat, piercing into his skin as I gazed deeply into his evil, slitted eyes with a raw hatred. "Does it look like I care?"

Still holding onto a bit of reasoning, I noticed how his eyes darted behind me with a look of alarm. If that weren't enough to get me into action, I really don't know what would have been. Without thinking, I dropped his tail and rolled off and away from him, the sound of an object smacking into something else sounding out clear in my ears. Getting up quickly and wincing at the pain in my leg, I saw a vine extended, hovering just above the limp body of a fire-type as a bit of blood now trickled out of his maw, clearly unconscious.

The green dinosaur tried to land a cheap shot on me. If I hadn't moved, who knows what would have happened. Slowly swinging my gaze to her, my anger only intensified.

She stood frozen, not wanting to believe that she had just knocked her leader out cold.

I didn't give her any time to process this, slowly stepping towards the grass-type as a menacing growl rose in my throat, gaze hardening. I tried to come off as intimidating, and that was probably the result given her actions.

She nervously chuckled as I closed in on her, backing her up against the wall. The grass-type quickly glanced behind her, seeing her current predicament and held up a leg, motioning for me to stop, which I did. "H-hey, n-no need to be rash!" She spoke, voice shaking. "L-look! I'll make this easy for you! See?" She then shook her bulb again, casting green spores over herself. I took a few steps back and watched as she inhaled them, eyes fluttering closed before she collapsed on the ground, seeming to be asleep.

Hardly convinced in the slightest, I eased towards her and nudged her with a paw, observing as she did nothing in protest. Girl put herself to sleep. Why couldn't I have had something like this back at home when my sister's would rather jump on their brother than go to sleep? Ah... whatever...

I sighed, looking around at the aftermath of the chaos around me. A turtle slumped against the wall, a lizard bleeding on the ground, and a sleeping dinosaur. Some part of me couldn't help but laugh at the whole scene. A sudden rush shot through me. I could have died here today. Just the thought of it was exhilarating. No, I'm not saying death sounds appealing, but the fact that I'd survived that just made me want to laugh at the odds. Dungeons. Adventure. Danger. Fun. Dad wasn't wrong, but Arceus my leg is killing me.

I didn't bother to inspect the wound. I knew it was bad just by the feel of it. Limping over to my discarded satchel, I reached down and picked it up between my teeth, rushing down the white staircase, hoping I could get to Amber before she finds herself in more trouble.

Just reaching the bottom of the stairs, I heard a scream on my right side and didn't have time to react before someone rammed into my side, pushing me onto the ground as I let out a groan of irritation. My body...

"Oh, gods! Matthew? I am so sorry! I thought you were one of them!"

I weakly raised my head to see Amber standing there with the most worried expression on her features I've seen thus far. "Heh... eh... I don't... don't see how you could make that mistake."

"I-I'm sorry!" She said again, "I just... heard someone coming down the stairs and I got scared and..." She stopped, eyes widening in horror. "Oh Arceus... your leg!"

"Hmm?" I asked, raising my head even further to look at my exposed, burnt flank. "Oh... yeah... t-that. Don't worry. I'll be just... ngh... f-fine."

I pulled myself up, groaning against the pressure it put on my hind leg, each movement sent a fresh flare of pain shooting through the burnt nerves. "M-Matthew..." Amber said once more, scrutinizing my features. "You're cut! There are gashes and you're bleeding and... oh gods, your leg!" She repeated, lip quivering at the sight of me.

"Hey, hey! I'll be fine. Hah... d-don't you worry about me. What I want to know is if you're okay," I stated, bringing a paw up to turn her head and reveal her own cut on the cheek that was beginning to soak with a shiny coating of blood.

"Hmm? Oh... that. It's nothing too serious. It'll heal up. But... you..." I heard the tinge of worry creeping into her voice again, and I brought my paw back, letting out a laugh.

"I told you. I'll be fine. It's all so... amazing! Honestly, this is only giving me more of a reason to go on."

She looked horrified, shaking her head at me. "You're crazy!"

"I'm alive!" I laughed, limping forwards and wincing slightly at the pain it roused before giving a weak chuckle. "And I couldn't possibly be better."

She sighs, moving by my side to support me as we walked. "You're also kind of weird."

"Oh?" I laughed again, doing my best to ignore the stinging pain I felt all over. "You noticed? I'm so relieved."

Though I couldn't see it, I could swear she was smiling as she looked away and studied our area. "Come on, you big doof. Let's go find this Ampharos."

We literally just exited the room when a sort of sobbing sound could be heard off to the right. As we slowly proceeded towards the sound, slowly because of the burn on my leg, I could swear that this was the person we had to rescue from this place. I mean, not just anyone cries in a dungeon. Given the situation, I wouldn't blame them. It's easy to get lost and pretty dangerous if you're not careful.

Just a bit further along the tunnel, I made out a sort of figure slumped against the wall, shoulders shaking as more sobs echoed through the tunnel. A red orb sat upon the creature's tail and along with it's yellow body, black stripes lining its tail, neck, and ears could be seen even in the darkness.

"Hey," I called out. "How you holding up there?"

The pokémon looked up sharply, eyes widening at the sight of us as it backed away further down the tunnel with a cry of, "Go away! Please don't hurt me!" It was a male, judging by the sound of his voice.

"It's okay! We're explorers from the guild! We're here to get you out," Amber called after the pokémon, not giving chase as she knew my current predicament with even just walking properly was a problem.

At this, the Ampharos turned back to us with wide eyes. It wasn't long after that he was standing just before us almost eager as a young child, spouting thanks and nearly breaking down in tears again.

"Oh my..." He gasped after thanking us for about the thousandth time. His eyes trailed over me, a bit worried. "Are... are you okay?"

"Huh?" I asked, a bit perplexed. Of course, it didn't take much to realize that he was noting my injuries and possibly feeling bad for putting someone through such things just so he could be saved. "Ah... these things?" I asked again, motioning to my wounds. "Yeah, I'm sure I'll be fine. But all that aside, we should really get you out of here."

As if on cue, the badge in my satchel began to buzz, emitting noises and vibrating against the cloth. I reached in and pulled it out, silencing the alert noises. I held it up as yet another grid was projected over the Ampharos and the badge began to scan it, beeping and speaking out in its feminine voice. "Scan confirmed. Client Ampharos has been contacted. Would you like to send Ampharos back to the guild?"

Then two buttons appeared on the screen. Yes or No. Well, the choice was obvious.

I pressed a digit to the "yes" option and ,in a flash of blue light, the electric pokémon before us disappeared. It wasn't long after that a fanfare sounded out, causing Amber to jump in surprise, fur bristling at the sudden noise. The badge spoke again.

"Job request complete. Would you like to continue exploring the dungeon, or be transported to the guild?"

Personally, the thought of venturing further excited me to no ends. I expressed this to the Eevee by my side with a wide smile.

She snapped at me, pointing out my injuries and said there was no way she'd allow such a thing. I probably would have ignored her anyway, but the way she put it made me re-consider my need for adventure. She was just looking out for me, after all.

With a nod, I told the badge in my paws that we'd be heading back to the guild. A flash of blue, and Amber was gone. Another beam of light, and the world around me vanished in an instant, carrying me further into my future as an explorer.

・。*。•○・゜•・。。*・・。*。・゜○・。。*•・。*。•○・゜○・。。*・・。*。・゜゜・。。*・・。*。•○・゜•・。。*・・。*。・゜○・。。*•・。*。•○・゜○・。。*・・。*。・゜゜・。。*・・。*。•○・゜•・。。*・・。*。・゜

"Ah!"

"Stop squirming so much!"

"Nmm... It hurts!"

"Well, it is a burn. Of course it does."

"Ow!"

"I said stop squirming!"

"Could you just try not to prod at it so hard?"

"Your skin is overly sensitive. I'm being as gentle as I can."

After arriving back at the guild in a flash of light, the Ampharos we had saved proceeded to award us generously. He had apparently been dared to venture into the dungeon and instantly regretted it. He thanked us once again before heading off. As an apology for having us come out to save him, he gave us a two White Gummis and a generous amount of Poké. Most of which went to the guild to fund the establishment, leaving me and Amber with a total of 300P left to share, which was still a lot in my opinion.

And much to my surprise, it turned out that the three pokémon Amber and I had run into happened to be the outlaws that Nick was supposed to Apprehend. After dismissing the Riolu's worries at my injuries, he began to tell us of how he came across the trio of pokémon, surprised at how easy he had gotten off the hook. Of course, being his noble self, he refused to take the reward for them as he didn't do anything to aid in their capture, leaving me and Amber with yet another payload of rewards. 1,000P, a Reviver Seed, a Big Apple, something called a Trawl Orb, and an Orange Gummi. Seeing as how Nick eyed that last item with a sad look in his eyes, Amber and I decided to let him have it. He thanked us profusely. It was his favorite kind of Gummi.

Amber and I even had the honor to meet Officer Magnezone, who had the three outlaws just before us. A Bulbasaur, Charmeleon, and Squirtle, he called them, listing off their species in turn. The grass type seemed to be still asleep, the water type held his head low, and the fire type wouldn't stop growling at me all the while... until he received a shock from his current captor, subduing him. The officer thanked us again for capturing the outlaws, to which Amber directed the praise to me, saying I had done all the work; evident by my cuts and burns.

The officer admired me, saying he was impressed at how a single Eevee could take down three opponents. Said I was going to go far in life. Said I had potential. Made my day.

All that leading down to the moment at paw. After feeling the full effects of my wounds, the other guild members began to get a bit worried, bar Emily, who purred at me as I limped past. She probably got word that I had taken out three outlaws alone. Definitely appeased to her, I could tell. I would have probably blushed, or even shivered, had the searing pain in my leg not let up. Amber hurried me on without another word.

After the adrenaline rush wore off, the pain of my injuries became just that much greater. It got to a point where I could hardly walk without collapsing onto the ground in a fit of whimpers, much to Amber's worry.

My partner led me to our room, and not long after a Chansey appeared to check up on my wounds. She apparently lived here at the guild and tended to any of the member's injuries. Turns out, Explorers get hurt all the time. Who would'a thought?

My leg kicked out again as a whimper sounded from me, and the Chansey continued to wrap my leg in a sort of bandage, seemingly undisturbed by my action. "Keep still. It's almost over."

I squeezed my eyes tight and absentmindedly chewed on the inside of my cheek as an attempt to get my mind off the unbearable pain traveling through my hind leg. Amber sat by cautiously, watching with worried eyes.

"Alright," The nurse said, cinching the wrappings around my leg up tight and drawing out another whimper from me. "So there's good news and bad news. Good news, the nerves weren't completely destroyed, and your hair follicles are intact. Meaning the fur will grow back instead of leaving a nasty scar and you can still feel back there." She poked at the bandages and smiled as I hissed sharply in pain. "See? It'll all be okay. Bad news is that while the nerves are still intact, they're highly sensitive and register pain even more than they would usually. On that, the burn is a bit severe. The salve I applied should treat the wound effectively. Just take it easy for a few days, alright?"

I nodded and thanked her for tending to me. She waved the appreciative gesture away casually and said that it was a pleasure to help. With a word of luck to both me and my partner, she left the room quietly.

Amber looked at me then. I lay on my left side with a bandaged leg, as well as a few bits of cloth pressed to my shoulders and around my face, treating the less serious, but still severe cuts left after my battle. I smiled weakly at her upon noticing the worried expression she wore, raising my head. "What? Never seen an Eevee before? You look shocked."

She didn't seem to respond to well to my playful jab at the situation, instead taking on a more somber tone as her ears fell flat against her head and she whispered quietly. "I... I should have helped."

"Helped?"

"You know... with the fight." She bit her lip, eyes watering as she examined me again. "Maybe you wouldn't have gotten hurt like you did. I could have helped, but instead I ran away without a second thought and-"

"Hey," I cut her off, looking into her eyes as my voice went soft and caring, the gentle tone seeming to ease her troubles. "I told you to run. You can't be held accountable for listening to me. Besides," I laughed, wincing at the memory of her ramming into my side with a faint smile. "You were ready to tackle the next thing that came down those stairs. Even if it happened to be me."

She blushed, turning to look away ashamedly. "Y-yeah... sorry for that. I just thought that... it couldn't have possibly been you, a-and..."

"Hah... you say that like you didn't believe I'd be able to take on all three of them by myself." I lay my head back down on the bed, a weak chuckle sounding from me.

"I-It's not that! It's jsut-"

"Hey, it's okay." I smiled, tail lightly thumping against the hay underneath me. "I wouldn't have trusted myself to survive something like that either."

Amber just nodded in response. The sound of her paw-steps slowly moving away graced my ears, followed shortly afterwards by the rustling of her bed as she settled in and made herself comfortable.

The window set into the wall let in a faint stream of reddish-orange light as the sun outside began to slowly descend past the horizon, paining the sky a pinkish purple as night had begun to set in. It almost surprised me at how much time had passed while we were off in the dungeon. A whole day spent in unknown territory. However exciting, it was awfully exhausting and my eyelids felt heavy just laying here. Then something occurred to me.

"Hey... Amber?" I asked, voice already a bit drowsy as I weakly raised my head to look over at her.

"Hmm?" She looked up at me with distant eyes as if breaking out of a trance.

"That thing. Around your neck. What is it?"

"Oh..." She looked down at her chest, eyes glazing over in thought before she reached into the tuft of fur and pulled out a crystalline orange droplet hanging off the thin strand of wire strung around her neck. "This," She breathed, a sort of saddened tone creeping its way inter her voice as her ears drooped down a bit, tail curling into her body. "It's an Amber Tear..."

The way she spoke showed how disheartened she was. I didn't bother asking her what was wrong. It wasn't my place. At that moment, though, her very being resonated a sense of loneliness and sorrow that it hurt to look at her.

My head slowly sank into the bed of hay beneath me, and I began to drift off to sleep against my own will. It was hard to stay focused now that I submitted myself to the comfort of the night. "It looks pretty," I whispered, shutting my eyes close as Amber's voice spoke up, softly.

"Yeah. It's... all that I have left."

"Left?" I whispered, hints of exhaustion and dregs of sleepiness sounding out along with my voice. "Left of what?"

She didn't respond for a long while. As I was just about to melt into my dreams and forget the world around us, her voice greeted me. Two words, and I was taken to a world of listless dreams. A hushed whisper. A soft, saddened breath in the dark of the night that left me unable to respond. I wanted so desperately to console her, but those worries were instantly forgotten under the hypnotic spell of sleep. And sleep I did, mind growing hazy as as the melody that was my partner's voice lulled me deeper into sleep.

"Goodnight... Matthew..."

Hope you enjoyed it. Once again, I apologize for the huge delay. And hey, if you're still around to read my stuff, then I can honestly say that I'm more than thankful to have a fan like yourself. I'll catch ya around. Stay safe.

-Dusk