TW - Among Shades and Shadows - Page 5

Team Troubled Waters: Rescuers - M7 [Past]: Page 5

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Team Troubled Waters: [link]

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The shining colors of the setting sun would have been a welcome sight if the direct light didn't worsen the dull throb in Nauxis's head. Squinting, the small bird gingerly rubbed his temple with his good wing as he was carried out from beneath the woven blanket of leaves and branches and out into an expansive grass field. The stalks of grass were awash with bright hues of green and goldenrod, the warm sun guiding them to their next place of sanctuary: the omnipresent Monochrome Tower. It was there where the wayward caravan would convene to determine their next course of action with all of the other displaced pokemon. Perhaps they would simply return home; the village would only be a short distance away. Yet an unidentifiable feeling told him that such a journey would not be so easy...and trying to determine why only caused Nauxis's headache to flare. He chose instead to sort through the recent string of events, from the point where his thoughts were rudely scrambled through concussive unconsciousness to the capture and collection of the source of their problems: Shade of the Dark Moon Clan.

Nauxis had awoken surrounded by concerned pokemon. Hawkrow the starly was at the forefront, clearly elated that the round bird had returned to his senses. Nauxis heard nothing but apologies from his friend for the next several minutes; the adorned starly had hardly managed to react when the plan fell apart, and he was forced to wait until the opportune moment to rescue him. Once Nauxis found his voice, he assured Hawkrow that that was the wisest course of action and thanked him for his bravery. Relieved that his substitute partner didn't think ill of him, Hawkrow retreated to allow other nearby pokemon to address Nauxis.

The tiny bird found Aleena the clefable and surprisingly Dr. Quaak poking at him from both sides. Apparently some of the involved pokemon had ran to get help from other search parties after Shade was taken down; both the golduck and Vergil the watchog were present at the scene. Somewhat annoyed by the large amount of attention he was getting, he assured them that he was feeling much better since coming to. His legs felt fine after giving them a few stretches, and the feeling was coming back to his left wing (albeit by evidence of the soreness he felt in it). The doctor only scoffed at his comment and proceeded to bandage the top of his head. Apparently he had suffered some large bruises and small lacerations where Shade had gripped him with her claws. Aleena promised him that they were nothing serious, and they just wanted to make sure they wouldn't get infected. Nauxis grunted and allowed them to continue their work, the onsetting headache confirming that medical attention might actually be appreciated.

Nauxis noticed that the oddish girl had approached him shortly after. After briefly introducing herself as Petal, yet another stream of rapid apologies poured out from her. She had been so excited to catch the big bad guy everyone was talking about, she didn't even think about how someone could've gotten hurt. She even ran away from the partner she was to the source of the commotion she had heard, thinking that being the fastest to catch the bad guy was part of the game. Nauxis could hardly stop her as the "sorry"'s continued to tumble out of her mouth. She had made it clear (at least 4 times) that she would do anything to make it up to him.

Nauxis withdrew from his recollections and shifted to view the pokemon marching alongside his position. Vergil and Dr. Quaak, the two largest pokemon available, were dragging Shade by the arms across the grass field and towards their destination. Snuggled comfortably within the folds of the zoroark's chest fur was Petal the oddish. Small doses of sleep powder expelled from her grass plumage at regular intervals, each stream passing by the open mouth and nose of the unconcious Shade. After the group had learned that Petal had sleep powder in her organic arsenal, she had been tasked with keeping the criminal subdued during her transport to the distant tower. Despite her promise to take the job very seriously, Nauxis could tell she was enjoying her responsibility of restraining the bad guy. It shouldn't be a problem, he thought; the zoroark was surrounded on all sides anyway, should anything happen.

The remaining pokemon kept a diligent watch as they marched forward. Leila the magby kept a constant eye on the illusory pokemon, confident that Shade wouldn't manage to surprise her a second time. The pikachu, whom Nauxis now knew as Mia, was doing the same, keeping steady pace with the zorark's dragging heels. Nauxis made a mental note to give Mia a personal thank-you when given the opportunity, since he heard that it was her's and Hawkrow's impromptu planning that brought his hostage scenario to a quick and decisive end. The starly himself was circling overhead, stopping every once and a while to exchange excited words with Petal. Aleena could be seen a short distance ahead, trailblazing through the field for the smoothest path to the tower, lest they disturb their precious cargo.

Nauxis closed his eyes and relaxed into Katrina's arms, easing the strain on his head. The sneasel had been kind enough to offer to carry him to the tower once it had become apparent that any attempts to fly in Nauxis's condition would only result in stronger headaches. He was grateful for everyone's help and support. It hasn't been the most pleasant of days.

The day will only truly be over once the made it back home, however. And there was still unfinished business to take care of before that happened. What would they do with the rogue zoroark now that they had her apprehended? She was technically captured under Devonshire's request, so perhaps she would be handed over directly to him. Just what did the rogue leader have in store for her, he wondered? His thoughts trailed back to the instant he had first encountered the sableye himself, and he shivered. Is turning Shade over to Devonshire the right thing to do? Perhaps it is, considering that he was apparently familiar of the zoroark's background, judging by the knowledge of Shade's association with a "Dark Moon Clan." If her involvement with the initial destruction of Tao is to be believed, it would be prudent for them to hurry her to her interrogation.

Perhaps no further action was required on his part. He was sore and tired, and eager to return to Tao. He longed to be among his team once more. Both Shawn and (admittedly) Florrie were effectively his family, and he was already beginning to miss them. Surely they will be there waiting for him when he gets back. He'll certainly have a story to share with them on his return.

He hoped we would be able to tell it soon.

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Page Notes:
And that's a wrap. I seem to have a habit of having my stories end at sunsets. They just have aire of 'finality,' y'know? Maybe? Or is it just me?
...huh. I'm actually sort of proud of this. I really only gave this story though after I finished my [M7 Present] entry, so I think this story was conceived, sketched, written, and finished in the span of 2 weeks or so. With college work looming in the background, at that. I think I managed to cover most of the loose ends in the written segments...thanks to all of cameo characters and letting me shove words into their mouths!

Side note: I tried to improve on my shadows this time around. Seemed kind of important.
More side note: Probably worth mentioning that some inspiration was taken from one of Haychel's drawing when making this page.


Teams Cameos:

's Hawkrow from Team Electric Wings: [link]
--> He's been a real pal throughout this adventure. I hope the fates [read: admins] allow him to rejoin with Leon very soon. They can't be "two peas in a pod" if they're not in the same pod! Or the same freak'n time zone!!

's Aleena from Team Star Grounds: [link]
--> I had actually completely forgotten that she had a medical bag as an accessory up until now. That probably could have been a handy story element, considering this page. I had Dr. Quaak keep his own bag as seen on page 2 though, so it works out for now.

's Leila from Team Voyagers : [link]
--> I guess she had a fairly minor part in the story, in hindsight. She was very helpful in getting the main conflict going, though!

's Katrina from Team Hemlock: [link]
--> Katrina's design just screamed "extremely nice person" to me. I figured she would be happy to give the busted tennis ball bird a lift.

's Mia from Team Shockwave: [link]
--> She wound up being the heavy hitter in this ragtag group of criminal-catchers. Thanks for letting me chuck around an electro ball or two!

's Petal from Team Nexus: [link]
--> So there I was in my final planning stages, trying to figure out how the characters would get Shade safely to the tower, when Tayzonrai sends in his application saying that Petal's sleep powder would be pretty handy.
I love it when things fall into place.