Intermission 2: A bit of kindness and curiosity

Almost three weeks have already passed since the missions in Mosswood and Darkhowl woods and a few things happened to them. First, Harry learned about the Absol’s identity; which was a real shock for him and Katrina taking all the time of the world to explain it. Second, with Emma, she finished two chairs and opted to build a personal wagon for them, since they didn’t want to depend too much on the transportation service. Third, when Brandon visited the Scholars library for the first time, he was interested in some of their books when he was peeking into them, specifically the scientific ones, even if he understood a few things.

That was also Harry’s interest and after taking some of them, they began to read them together, stopping from time to time to explain to Brandon the topics he was lost. Sabine found weird that a witch would be interested in numbers and boring stuff from her point of view. ‘Maybe that was he liked before the magic thing’ She thought. They even done a few home experiments, something that the Poochyena felt proud of.

Cornelius only watched, sometimes listening to Harry’s explanations; others, helping Katrina. He also did a few training sessions with them, in which Brandon only fought on the defensive, something that stills annoyed to Sabine, considering him weak. The constant treat of the Vulpix against the Absol every day was starting to get the Eevee’s nerves.

Since they were inactive with the guilds for a while, they headed to the task board to see if there was anything to do. Katrina picked one from the Trackers; a request of Gnarl.

“It says that he needs help with the prisoners care” She read.

“Hmm; never thought we’ll do a guard duty, aside of the one in the farms” Cornelius commented.

“I don’t think he refers to that”

“Um, maybe we should check it out?” Brandon suggested.

“I have my doubts with you” Sabine commented.

“Sabine, the last time he didn’t use magic or any trick to do the missions, excepting with Morgan; give him a rest already” Katrina criticized her.

“Sorry for doubting of a witch” She said sarcastically.

‘Why are you still bothering him? The last thing he wants to do is to cause problems’ Katrina thought.

“I say we’ll give it a try” Harry said.

“Then let’s go” Cornelius said.

After asking for directions, they found the cells were criminals are being held. They found them odd, because of the form.

“I never saw a cell of these characteristics” Cornelius commented.

“Me neither” Katrina admitted.

“I never thought I would see the Apricorn Cell” Harry said.

“You know what they are?” Brandon asked.

“Yup; in resume, these things are used to contain criminals of any kind, even witches; it was crafted by the Artisans and the Scholars with a fruit of the Great tree that it has the strange propriety to warp anyone who touches in it and make it almost impossible to get out”

“Wow”

“How do you know all of this?” Sabine asked.

“I read a book about general information of the guilds; since we’re working with them, we must know some basic things” Harry explained. “And I know Kat wouldn’t read them”

“Ahahah, opsie; I’m not good at reading those kind of things” She said with an awkward smile.

“I know; now let’s see where Gnarl is”

They didn’t take too long in finding him. He was looking to an Apricorn cell when the group arrived. Brandon sensed something strange in him, but he let it go. ‘He cannot be a witch; Morgan’s magic was notorious, but it’s like it only surrounds him; maybe he’s just a normal Pokémon’ He thought.

“Excuse me, are you Gnarl?” Katrina asked.

“Um, yeah; are you here to help me?” He asked.

“Yipi, all of us” She answered. ‘Heh, he talks like Brandon; I think they would get along’

“Oh, thanks”

“So for what do you need us?” Harry asked.

“Well… you see; the Trackers help take care of prisoners, mostly low-ranking members; it’s supposed to help us learn restraint, and let the Keepers do other things… and things like that; you have to be able to stop them from escaping…um, so… I can do that, but I don’t know how to talk to them”

“You want us to check how they are?” Cornelius asked.

“Um, yes; you have to make sure they’re healthy; I guess that means not sick or hurt? Then, you have to bring them a gift; I think… Percy originally suggested this; give them something nice, since they’re… stuck; the way they are, that must be hard”

“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure those prisoners will be fine” Katrina said.

“Um, but we need gifts for them, right? What we have to give to them and where we could find them?” Brandon asked.

“I think something simple, like sweets, juices, those kinds of things”

“We can go to the bakery and buy what we can find” Harry suggested.

“Okiie; you can go with Cornelius, since you choose better than me”

“Hard to admit it?”

“Not as hard as you admitting that you’re a nerd”

“Touché”

Cornelius with Harry went off while the rest waited. Brandon and Gnarl exchanged a few words between them in the meantime, with almost the same attitudes, apologies and way to talk. Katrina liked the scene, but Sabine was bothered. ‘Now I have two of him to deal with, ugh’ She thought. After some minutes, the pair returned with a bag of cookies, donuts and sweets, enough to distribute them to all the prisoners.

“Okiie; now we have to distribute ourselves to cover more cells” Katrina declared.

“Three pairs intercalated; Gnarl, how many cells do you think there are?” Harry asked.

“Twenty four, I think” He answered.

“Eight cells per pair; Brandon and Sabine are out, so it’s just the four of us”

“I’ll take Gnarl” Katrina offered.

“Um, you sure?” He asked.

“Yipi; I’ll help you to talk with those guys”

“Okay, thanks”

“That means we still in the same boat” Harry commented to Cornelius.

“I don’t really mind it; maybe you can tell more things about her” He said.

“Huh? I changed my mind; I’ll go with Cornelius” Katrina said fast.

“Sorry Kat, the pairs are settled; good luck”

“Really? Harry, you better not tell him anything”

“No promises” Harry said with an innocent smile and went with Cornelius to the extreme of the road.

“Ow, *inhale*; *exhale* why didn’t I thought it more carefully?” She hit herself in the head with her paw.

“Are you okay?” Gnarl asked.

“Don’t worry; I’m gonna shake Harry hard if he mentions anything from our childhood”

They headed to their respective sections and started to interact with the prisoners. For Harry and Cornelius, it was nothing out of ordinary, with the Poochyena talking and the Golurk listening. For Katrina and Gnarl, her good mood was enough to get a smile or a chuckle and letting sometimes the Bellossom starts the conversation, with a little help to keep it going. For Brandon and Sabine, his way to be had found a bit of compassion from them, while she was watching him.

She tried her best to keep the neutrality in the task, but his attitude was rubbing her; very little, but growing up, until she was able to talk to one of the prisoners with Brandon. The dude inside was a Rowlett named Craig, who was fourteen years old and he was captured after stealing a bag of coins from a house to buy something to eat. He also mentioned that he was separated from his family a couple of years ago.

“You couldn’t find your parents?” Brandon asked.

“*Sigh* no; I don’t know where they are” He answered.

“Have you tried to ask for help?” Sabine asked.

“The few times I tried, they beat me up; like, what did I do to them?” Tears started to appear on his face.

“I’m… sorry; to be honest, I… don’t know who my parents are” Brandon said.

“*Sniff* what do you mean? You are orphan?”

“Um, I think so; I grew in an orphanage” That caused a bit of surprise in Sabine.

“At least you had some friends”

“N-no; I was bullied all the time, because I was the ‘weird’, so…” He couldn’t finish.

“… sorry to hear that, and I find it really unfair to you; I mean you’re not that kind of guy”

“… Thank you”

“I should thank you for the visit; you don’t mind I we see each other again? If they let me out”

“Um, I heard you’re only going to be there a few days until the Keepers decide what to do”

“I hope nothing too hard; well buddy, see you later”

“Bye”

With that, they finished the checking of the prisoners, but before they could head back with the others, Sabine stopped Brandon. Her look was a bit different from the other days.

“Are you going to ask me again?” He asked a bit worried like usual.

“The reason you were with that witch, was because you run from the orphanage?” She asked.

“…” He lowered his head and closed his eyes. “Yes, I only wanted a place where they would leave me in peace”

‘He really suffered a lot; but what I still don’t understand, if he has magic to return the pain to those who tormented him, why he didn’t when he was out? What stopped him to even think of it?” She thought. “Okay, I’m not going to ask you anything else; let’s get back”

Gnarl thanked them for the assistance and as a reward; they received from him red lotuses. Brandon was strangely quiet on the way back, whit only Sabine knowing why. When they were passing near the plaza, another Absol called them. From the looks of it, they realized he’s part of the Keepers.

“I’d appreciate a bit of your time” The Absol said.

“Um, who are you?” Brandon asked.

“My name is…”

“Prier, the Keepers apprentice; son of Dandolo, the head of the bank of Tabira” Harry said in a plain tone.

“… So you know about me”

“Enough to recognize you”

“At least that’ll skip sometime”

‘What’s going on with Harry? It’s like he doesn’t like Prier and we just met him’ Katrina thought.

“Why did you call us?” Sabine asked.

“I need your help; you see; I’ll be visiting a friend who lives at some distance from here, so I have no time to speak to my father of why I can’t go home tonight, where he expects me to be; I want you to tell him that I can’t”

“And who are you visiting?” Cornelius asked.

“That is irrelevant”

“So you want us to freely cover you? Because it’s rare that you didn’t say about any reward” Brandon commented, causing a bit of irritation in Prier.

“In exchange, I’ll be happy to repay you later”

‘This guy is up to something; if not, his task would be on the board’ Harry thought. He looked to the rest. Cornelius nodded as well as Sabine. Katrina looked to him confused. Brandon titled his head. “Very well; we’ll make sure your father won’t suspect a thing”

“I’m glad that you understand; here” Prier gave both teams letters with a signature on them. “With that I’ll know I owe you one; now if you excuse me”

 Prier headed back to the Great tree and the group made a circle to discuss.

“What’s going on, Harry? Why did you talk to Prier like that?” Katrina asked.

“Because this is not a task of the guilds; he would not be waiting for a team if he doesn’t wanted to keep a low profile” He answered.

“Add his way to talk” Cornelius commented. “He wants to keep his visit as a secret to not even his father, but also his guild”

“So what we should do? Because I’m curious about his ‘friend’” Sabine said.

“Well… he didn’t mention anything about telling it to the Keepers” Brandon pointed.

“A small hole in his task we can use” Harry said.

“We’ll do Prier’s task?” Katrina asked.

“Yes; but then we’ll follow him, after he’s gone and letting know the Keepers about it”

With indications of the people, they headed to Dandolo’s house. Katrina and Brandon talked to him, saying that his son won’t be able to be on the night, because one of the Keepers members wanted him to go to Mosswood to check the situation of the sickness. The Furfrou was convinced of their story and thanked them for let him know. After that, they went to eat something and waited near the Great tree, at some distance to not be recognized, with the camera to have some evidence.

When Prier exited the tree and walked away from them, Katrina, Sabine and Brandon went inside to pass the information and the letters, while Harry and Cornelius followed the Absol, with the Poochyena tracking him and the Golurk at some distance behind him, in case for an unexpected motive, he would stop. The rest reach them after a while and kept traveling in a column.

It was evening when they arrived at Darkhowl woods. The trace indicated that Prier headed inside and everyone knew who lived in the forest.

“You’re kidding that he’s visiting that witch” Sabine commented irritated.

“I don’t think so, but I wonder why” Cornelius said.

“So we’re going in?” Brandon asked.

“It’s not the place I want to be; but to expose Prier, we have to”

“We’re already been here once, we can do it again” Cornelius encouraged them.

“Yipi, but if I remember well, there were some traps dispersed” Katrina pointed.

“You said that Brandon can feel when we’re putting ourselves in danger, right?” Harry asked.

“What are you suggesting?” Sabine asked.

“He’ll have to go to the front, with me and you tracking Prier, and Katrina and Cornelius behind”

“Then we have a problem; his fur is the most noticeable thing in the damn forest with the Shawl; he’ll be spotted in no time”

“Igh, you’re right about that”

“He had to get really dirty to cover the white” Cornelius pointed.

“I have an idea” Sabine said, took out Brandon's shawl and digging, she threw dirt to him.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Katrina asked a bit altered.

“What does it look like? If we want to keep the pace, you better help me to finish this quickly”

“*Sigh* Sorry Brandon”

“I think that’s okay; I’ll wash it later, right?” He said.

“Yep; close your eyes and cover your muzzle” Harry suggested him.

All of them threw dirt on Brandon, with Cornelius picking a great portion and spreading it above him; and Katrina, Harry and Sabine covering the remaining white parts in turns. When they finished, the brown color was almost the only thing it could be seen in his fur. He coughed and tried to rub his eyes, but the Eevee stopped him from doing that. She also put the shawl in the bag in the meantime.

“So how do I look?” Brandon asked.

“I think you look like…” Sabine started, but it was stopped by Katrina.

“I think you look good”

“She’s right; now you have the camouflage to pass unnoticed” Harry said.

“But…  I don’t think Morgan can be fooled; witch can feel other witches, you know?” Brandon said concerned.

“In that sense he’s right; If we approach too much to her, we would be spotted” Katrina conceded.

“In that case, he’ll have to stay at some distance from her and all of us are ready to run” Harry explained.

“Why we couldn’t fight her?” Sabine asked. “We’re five against one”

“We don’t have the ‘lucky’ potion this time; and even if she doesn’t expect anyone else, that doesn’t mean she’s not prepared”

“She’ll go twice as hard from the last time and we don’t want Prier to know about it; if Morgan sees us, she’ll tell him” Cornelius added.

“*Sigh* okay”

“Then let’s get moving” Harry said.

With the night approaching, the forest acquired a more sinister look. In all the time they’ve been walking, Brandon didn’t find any traps, but that didn’t calm his anxiety. The trace was making complex turns in some points. They deduced that Prier was looking for Morgan. ‘What visit this guy is doing; no invitation, no meeting point and with a witch’ Harry thought. Approximately one hour later, they found what it looked like a house in the base of a tree. There was light inside of it.

“The trace goes there” Sabine said whispering.

“Brandon, is she there?” Katrina asked.

“Hah… yeah… I can sense her” He answered trembling.

“Okay, we just need a picture of them together and that should be enough; maybe a part of the conversation if the Keepers want more details” Harry explained.

“Any idea of how we’ll do it?” Cornelius asked.

“Yep; Kat, Sabine, can you dig your way near the house and listen for us?”

“Yipi”

“I can do that”

“Are you sure?” Cornelius asked.

“They can get in and out faster than any of us if for some reason they decide to get out”

“Kat?”

“Don’t worry; I’m not gonna let Morgan catch me, besides I have Sabine” Katrina assured.

“Okay, just be careful”

“Um, and what about the rest of us?” Brandon asked.

“You with Cornelius will stay hidden behind those trees and I’ll get a position to take the photo; if we’re lucky, we’ll be gone before they finish”

“You sure you don’t need help? That thing is bigger than you” Sabine commented.

“I got that covered” Cornelius said.

Everyone headed to the hideout Harry chose. With Brandon and Cornelius behind the trees, Sabine and Katrina dug their way to the house, while he was looking for a spot. He found a bush near the house and the pair and made a signal to the Golurk to bring the camera to his side. When it was next to him, he moved it and adjusted it to point to the window. He took out the flash and observed.

Sabine and Katrina were in position, near to the window and heard the conversation.

“I understand that; say, are you looking for a new apprentice?” Prier asked.

“NO!” Morgan shouted.

“T-that’s fair; maybe at least observe your work, then?”

“…; …wait… yes, yes, I am; what’s your name, boy?”

“It’s Prier… Is there anything else you want to know about me?”

“Oh, I suppose; what guild are you from, what do you do, and why in blazes are you walking in here asking to ‘observe’ me?”

“You have a rather fierce temper…”

“I have a lot of reasons to! Now speak!”

“No, I respect that… in any case, I’m an apprentice for the Keepers, and I wanted to observe you because none at the guild will explain fully what ‘magic’ is”

‘Didn’t anyone tell you witches are not in the Keepers?’ Sabine thought. In the moment Prier raised his paw, showing the bracer of his guild, Harry took the photo. The noise of the camera caught the attention of Morgan, who approached to the window and looked outside.

“Something wrong?” Prier asked.

“Shh” Morgan shut him up.

Everyone hid the best they could. Excepting Cornelius, they heard their hearts bumping strongly. There were some minutes of extreme tension, avoiding Morgan’s vigilance.

“Are you sure no one followed you?” Morgan asked.

“It’s very unlikely; I made sure of that” Prier answered.

‘Everyone, except us; heh, you have no idea how screwed you are’ Sabine thought.

Morgan left the window and continued the conversation. “Where we were; oh, I remember… yeah; sounds just like them… I’m sure you know all about that; you’ve been wasting your time asking them” She kept quiet for a while. “I might be able to help you; but first, you’ll have to do something for me”

“I’m sure I can; as long as it’s only one favor; I won’t be led on, if your plan is so base”

“I don’t know who taught you to wag that tongue, but you better do less of it; I need two Ponyta ankles; any’ll do; and it’s for a speed potion”

Katrina looked to Sabine trying to avoid to vomit. She shrugged and whispered back. “Don’t get too surprised, apprentices normally do the dirty work of their mentors and I think Prier doesn’t like it either “

“… well, that’s a rather tall order; is there something else I could do for you?” Prier asked.

“No; if you can’t do that, you’ll be a useless apprentice; do we have a deal?”

Prier thought for a bit.

“We’ll better not give him the chance, even if he doesn’t agree” Sabine whispered.

“Yipi; we better get back before Prier does”

Katrina made a signal to Harry, Cornelius and Brandon to head back to Tabira. The pair near the house used the tunnels to retreat, the Golurk brought the camera with him and the Poochyena, looking one last time to not raise suspicion, fell back.

“We cannot ask for a ride at this hour; the service doesn’t work at night” Harry pointed.

“When we get out of the forest, I’ll carry all of you; the priority is to reach Tabira before he does” Cornelius said.

“Um, you guys think that he would stay in Fableton to pass the night?” Brandon asked.

“I think he will, considering that he would not risk himself to be attacked by bandits when he’s travelling alone” Harry answered.

“Now this is a race” Sabine commented.

“And we better win it” Katrina said.

They started the long walk to Tabira and minutes later, when Prier exited the house, with Morgan rubbing her paws with her characteristic chuckle, she noticed something odd. Doing a quick check, she found two holes near and for the looks of it, made them recently. ‘Grrrr, the boy lied to me; he was followed and whoever they were, they listened everything; *Sniff* they’re not too far away; if I can catch them in time; they’ll not be able to say anything’ She thought and using a talisman, she teleported to the nearest location she presumed she would find them.

The group was moving fast, trying to increase the distance between them and Prier. If they had to travel during the night, they were willing to do it. But when they were near to exit the forest, Brandon braked, with the entire group stopping.

“Why did you stop?” Sabine asked.

“M-M-Morgan; she’s near” Brandon answered.

“Oh shit; I guess we’re going to fight her after all”

“Not necessarily, the night is on our side and we can distract her to get out” Cornelius said.

“We’re not forgetting that if Morgan recognizes Brandon, she’ll be on our tails all the time?” Katrina asked.

“Then we have to lure her to a place we can trap her and with that buy us time”

“And how we’ll do it?” Harry asked.

“I remember a saying: ‘People fear what they can’t see’; time for Morgan to get a bit of it”

The plan was simple: Cornelius will use his Phantom force to make noises everywhere, getting the idea to Morgan that she was surrounded; the others would have to move in all directions and use their move sets to keep her in high alert. Brandon was the beacon of her, so he would be a little far away to not be recognized, at least in the first part. They hid in all the places, with the Absol accompanied by Sabine.

Moments later, Morgan appeared in the line of sight of Cornelius. She was looking everywhere, trying to find them. He started by breaking a few branches in the opposite side, causing her to dig in that direction, finding nothing. Katrina started to run, making a lot of noise in the bushes. She was heading to that place, but Harry did the same behind her.

Another branch was broken and Morgan started to feel a bit paranoid. She was hearing noises in all sides, but without being able to identify who was causing them. She used Fire blasts against those noises, only to see Swift, Shadow balls, her same move and Energy balls; hitting the trees.

“If you think you can scare me, I can assure you that’re not going to work! I know this forest better than you” She said, only to hear silence for a few moments before the noises restarted again.

Then she sensed the presence of magic near her. ‘Of course these tricks could only being made by another witch; I’ll show that dude how it’s really done’ She thought. She headed to the direction of Brandon, who was hiding behind a tree.

“I think she found me” He said tensed.

“Okay then; let her come to us” Sabine said.

When Morgan was near them, she began to burn the surroundings of the tree to make the witch come out.

“Show yourself, so I can incinerate you!” She shouted.

“You better make your act believable, witch” Sabine whispered.

He nodded. “Y-you better back off; i-if you don’t do it, I’ll call my guardian to smash you!”

“Nyehehehe! Do you really think a puny living shield will protect you? Besides, no witch is able to do such thing”

“L-last warning; t-turn back now or I’ll destroy you”

In that moment, Cornelius was appearing behind Morgan.

“Pff, you’re wasting your breath; now get out of there!” She shouted.

“Y-you asked for it; g-guardian! Dispose of her!”

“Like I believe your…” She heard a noise behind her.

When she turned around, she saw the shadowy figure of Cornelius, with a leg raised. ‘Are you kidding me?’ She thought. Then, stomping the ground, he used Earth power, causing her to fly and crash with the tree, leaving her unconscious.

“Wow; I can’t believe it worked” Katrina said when she approached to them.

“Hopefully we don’t have to worry on the rest of the way” Harry said.

“Alright, we wasted enough time with her; let’s get moving” Cornelius said.

With the quick pace of Cornelius, they reached Tabira in half of the time than before. Since they were really tired, they headed to sleep first, but in case of Brandon, he had to bath himself, using a spell to move the water to clean his fur. At least Prier is now far away to represent a problem in that moment.

The next day, early in the morning, Harry woke up and still sleepy, he awoke the rest. With Katrina, they headed to reveal the photo. It took some time, but when it was finished, the satisfaction was visible in him. The image was clear, showing both Prier and Morgan talking. In the meantime, Brandon was writing what Sabine heard in the conversation. Then together, they headed to the Great tree, asked for Gemma, who brought them to Sela with other Keepers members. They exposed all the evidence they collected, which caused a general shock.

Resin asked to one of the members to find Prier and bring him to the reunion. Minutes later, he appeared as if nothing happened the day before. The group stayed behind, listening.

“Prier, we have a delicate situation we have to discuss with you” Gemma started.

“What is it?” He asked.

“What did you do yesterday?” Resin asked.

‘Why they asking that? It’s not like they know anything to begin with’ He thought. “A walk near the beach after my duties, why?”

“Prier; from what we know, you didn’t go to the beach; you visited the witch Morgan” Sela said.

‘W-what? How they managed to figure it out? No one was following me’ He tried to lie again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about; why I would do such a thing?”

“Maybe you should see this photo and read this paper before say anything else” Resin suggested.

When Prier read the paper and saw the photo, his face showed awe; it was evidence of his activities of yesterday. ‘H-how…’

“It seems that face corroborates everything” Harry said.

Prier looked the source of the voice and found him and the rest of the group.

“Y-you…” Prier started.

“Um, you didn’t say anything about telling the Keepers or anyone else” Brandon pointed.

“And follow you to Darkhowl woods” Katrina added.

“Consider yourself busted” Sabine said.

He didn’t say anything, but he was really angry.

“Alright, you can leave now; the rest is an internal matter” Sela said.

While they were heading out, Prier kept looking to Harry, who was returning the same expression. ‘Better think twice before doing another visit’ He thought.

Once they were out, a general sigh was heard from them.

“Well; I guess Prier got what he deserved” Harry said.

“Yipi; I didn’t know this whole mess would’ve happened” Katrina commented.

“Harry, can I ask you a question?” Brandon asked.

“Yep”

“Is there a reason of why you hate Prier?”

“Well… first, the guy is arrogant; second, when I was with Leite, he arrived with Madras, her granddaughter, for a visit and asked about information of something without saying hello; like, what the hell? Where are your modals?”

“Did you talk to him?” Cornelius asked.

“No; I was only looking him from the distance and honestly, I’m glad that I didn’t”

“*Yawn* I don’t know if you guys feel the same, but I need to recover those hours of not sleeping” Katrina admitted.

“Now that you’re mentioning it, me too” Sabine conceded.

“Better let know Emma why” Cornelius suggested.

“Okiie”