Frontier Town Frontier Town Outskirts

[Inkedust]

"Something to be taken up with our Chieftain," Pyrrin told Kimiko. "And again, only if she desires to see you." He turned to Jade and looked as if he was about to protest but he quickly shut his mouth. "Then let me at the very least accompany you. I doubt you know these lands as well as I."

To the others, Pyrrin responded with an unamused snort. "The rail is a threat to our way of life," he said stiffly. "The Commonwealth's attempt to spread further so they can stamp us out." He whipped the rail with his tail. "We were going to do something about it even before the demons came. All they did was accelerate our plans." He looked at Dave and snarled. "That place is already on the path to destruction, we're just ensuring that it doesn't spread further by locking it down. Why do you even care so much? You're not anywhere near Blaguarro."

 

[Butterfree]

"How about because Blaguarro's still got people living in it? Who are probably the most impacted by whatever the hell's going on with the 'demons'? Jesus." Dave wanted to say they should at least tell the people to evacuate, but the words stuck in his throat. He'd sure attempted that with little success. "Look, we want to stop whatever's going on up there and get Brisa out of whatever trouble she's in out east. Without being responsible for the death of a bunch of fucking civilians. Was it your chieftain who ordered this or are you out here on your own initiative?"

 

[Shadow Serenity]

"Something to be taken up with our Chieftain," Pyrrin told Kimiko. "And again, only if she desires to see you." He turned to Jade and looked as if he was about to protest but he quickly shut his mouth. "Then let me at the very least accompany you. I doubt you know these lands as well as I."

Well... it wasn't a flat-out 'no'. Maybe that was the best Kimiko could hope for at this point.

"I'd appreciate the chance to request that audience then, thank you." She gave another small bow.

Jade was really the only one who needed this, since she was the only one who actually had info on Brisa, but Kimiko hadn't liked the idea of sending the meowth into it alone. She'd discuss becoming allies if she were given the chance, but that was secondary to helping her teammates right now. Besides, maybe helping the Escarpa find the chieftain's daughter would count for something.

That still left the problem of the railway attack, though.

"Is there any way we can convince you to postpone whatever it is you're hoping to do here?" she ventured. "Surely there's another way to handle this without harming innocents in the process."

 

[Inkedust]

"Who said anything about killing?" Pyrrin growled, ignoring Kimiko for the moment. "Is that what it is? You believe we're nothing but murderous savages? Kill first ask questions later? The point we're targeting is far enough to not hurt anyone and we were going to be keeping a close eye on the town to get rid of all the demons there while ensuring the people's safety. It's as much about Blaguarro's safety as it is for the rest of Sojaveña. If you have such a problem with it, I'm sure the Chieftan would love to hear it."

 

[Butterfree]

Dave sighed in exasperation. "No, that's why I literally just asked if the Murkrow blathering about your plans being liable to destroy the town was colonialist bullshit and you were happy to respond with 'It's already on the path to destruction' and 'Why do you care, you're not even near it'. Make up your fucking mind." He exhaled through his nose. Were they actually going to get anywhere with this guy? "How are you planning to get rid of the 'demons' exactly?"

 

[HelloYellow17]

Wes relaxed slightly when Pyrrin somewhat caved to their request. Good to know he wasn’t completely impossible to work with. Still, he watched Kimiko bow politely to him with a bad taste in his mouth—not toward her, but at the idea that this arrogant jerk had done anything remotely deserving of such politeness. Why does everyone around here expect every damn stranger to lick their boots? This place was feeling more and more like Orre with every passing day.

Part of him tensed at Dave’s heated exchange with Pyrrin, but most of him was perfectly content to let them have at it. Good. Tell him off. He met Pyrrin’s gaze and once again tried to speak in an even, measured tone. “Sounds like you and the townsfolk have some history with each other. Do you really think antagonizing these people further will make things better? For anyone?”

You’re one to talk, idiot, said a voice in his ear. Wes ignored it.

 

[Sinderella]

A lot happened at once. Odette was already so edged out by the encounter that Jade’s sudden arrival almost gave her a heart attack. She had to put all her energy into not falling over and was eventually able to breathe through her sudden surge of fear. Something about this Brisa person—the other meowth, Jade, had met her—and had actual proof of it. It was enough to get the houndoom—Pyrrin—to simmer down some. Enough to be at least a little less curt. Enough to at least further explain what was going on. Somewhat. It wasn’t enough to settle her stomach but at least she knew they didn’t seem like a murderous freak.

“Not to mention, you don’t…sound particularly thrilled with the idea of these ‘inner clan issues.’ Not looking to psychoanalyze you, but…is there some disconnect or uh, beef happening there…?”

 

[Inkedust]

"I was assuming you were referring to the act of locking down the town," Pyrrin answered Dave flatly. "You seem to have difficulties parsing your murkrow." He blew a few embers on the iron, seeing how they burned before turning back to the group.

"Wouldn't you if you were chased out of your own home before it was plundered and commodified for your invaders?" he asked Wes bluntly. "We only act in self-defence." He then shot Odette a glare, deciding not to answer her.

 

[Butterfree]

"Well, one, I literally asked about destruction and you literally responded to me using that word, and two, just locking down a town that's being beset by murderous monsters is going to get people killed unless you have a great plan to prevent it, which you conveniently said nothing about until just now. If you're going to be willfully obtuse, you don't get to complain when you're misunderstood."

Dave exhaled through his nose, a low growl in his throat. "So okay. You say you just want to defend yourselves and keep the people safe. Sounds great. We'd love to stop this Shadow thing from spreading and save the people of Blaguarro. What exactly is your plan? Because if it's any good, and not going to get anyone murdered, there's like three dozen of us who could help."

He took a breath. Plundered and commodified, huh. That did probably check out. "So Blaguarro, or the mines, was Escarpa land?"

 

[Shadow Serenity]

A frown formed on Kimiko's face when Pyrrin seemed to ignore her; either that, or he didn't care to look for alternatives. She was too out of the loop in regards to the murkrow topic, but thanks to Dave's prompting (gods, she wished people would stop being so aggressive), she gathered that the Escarpa had more of a personal stake in attacking Blaguarro than she first realized.

And she couldn't exactly fault them for wanting to respond... but that still didn't justify the lengths they seemed willing to go without a care for the collateral damage it would cause, and so far there had been no response to suggestions of finding an alternative solution. Not that Kimiko had any ideas herself, but surely with the sheer numbers between the Wayfarers and the Escarpa, they could figure something out...

She'd been trying hard to be respectful, and really didn't want to come off as rude, but...

With a sigh, and having nothing to contribute to the verbal discussion, Kimiko slipped around Odette to plant herself on the tracks, just shy of the spot Pyrrin had blasted embers on. It wasn't as subtle as she would have liked, but she wasn't sure what else to do.

 

[HelloYellow17]

“Pardon me for not believing that destroying a railway is somehow self-defense,” Wes said. “Do you seriously think isolating Blaguarro will keep your people safe from the Shadows? Hate to break it to you, but they’ve already breached the town limits. They’ve tracked people down all the way into Frontier Town, and I’ll be damned if they got here on the train. There’s also the Wolf around these parts, and he doesn’t care who he crosses or how he gets from one place to another.”

 

[Inkedust]

Pyrrin was now glaring daggers at Wes but he seemed to hold onto his composure. "How else will we reclaim our lands? Live our lives undisrupted?" he asked. "Before now, we could live peacefully by remaining far from the Commonwealth, an option that is no longer available to us," he added, tapping a claw on the rail. "What holds more value, the lives and culture of the native 'mon or strips of wood and metal?" He didn't appear to have much reaction to the mention of the Wolf.

He shook his head before continuing. "The distance between here and Blaguarro is too large for a demon to track or follow before it loses interest in favour of something that can sate its desires sooner," Pyrrin proceeded to explain bluntly, looking off into the distance. "Either the demon you speak of managed to jump on a train or it followed the rail here. A trail that leads to many more populated areas."

To Dave, Pyrrin shook his head again. "Another people claimed that land of their own, long diluted, but they tell a similar story and warn us Escarpa of said fate if we continue along this path. What I speak of is the area surrounding Frontier Town. As for what we plan, our best warriors will keep an eye on the town of black water. Fight every demon within and purge Forlas of their scourge. Its people can decide whether or not they will choose to hide or fight alongside us."

When he noticed Kimiko sitting on the rail, the message of protest was not lost on him. A small, amused snort left his throat. "I am only testing its strength to see the power we will need to succeed - it is the Chieftain who will lead the charge to destroy the rail. She decides when it is time for to make our move."

 

[AdamArtDraws]

Felin breathed a relieved sigh and clapped her paws together. "Sounds to me like there's still time then."

She walked over the rail, lightly batting a paw against the metal. Her eyes drew to slits as she ran a few thoughts in her head. Felin shot Kimiko and Jade a glance.

"The two gals over there want to meet your Chieftain, right? How about giving them the chance to meet her and talk things over, Pyrrin?" Felin asked. "We can also speak to those in charge here, broker some peace agreements, get the mon to bring their heads together and find something that works for everyone."

She raised her paws up in defense and shook her head. "Yes, yes, that sounds naive, but what do you have to lose? If we pull through things work out for you. If we don't... well you destroy the rail anyway. Either scenario is a win scenario for the Escarpa."

 

[HelloYellow17]

Wes appreciated the feline’s friendliness—Felin, had she said? He then sighed at Pyrrin’s glare, too tired to return it. Clearly, there was a lot of history here he wasn’t aware of, so he wasn’t about to comment on it further.

“I’ll take your word for it. I just don’t see how destroying this rail is gonna make things better. They’ll just rebuild it, and worst case scenario, they’ll strike back at you.” Sure, Ignatius wasn’t mayor anymore, but Wes couldn’t say whether Lucien would be any better.

 

[Shadow Serenity]

When he noticed Kimiko sitting on the rail, the message of protest was not lost on him. A small, amused snort left his throat. "I am only testing its strength to see the power we will need to succeed - it is the Chieftain who will lead the charge to destroy the rail. She decides when it is time for to make our move."

"The two gals over there want to meet your Chieftain, right? How about giving them the chance to meet her and talk things over, Pyrrin?" Felin asked.

Interesting. So Pyrrin wasn't here to blow anything up on his own, he actually was just a scout. Which means they weren't in any immediate danger. They still had time. Kimiko felt her body relax a little bit.

She sent a smile and a nod of appreciation in Felin's direction for her backup, but felt a small blush creep onto her face, too. Oh damn it, even in this new body... It wasn't hard to pinpoint why she suddenly felt so self-conscious, though. There had to be at least a dozen others among the Wayfarers who would be a better representative than her, but...

"Either the demon you speak of managed to jump on a train or it followed the rail here. A trail that leads to many more populated areas."

"With all due respect," she started. "Destroying the rail will not stop the creation of the demons. What it will do is cut off the civilians here from outside support. Where's the honor in that? Shouldn't you be trying to stop the demons at their source, rather than just containing them?"

"We want to fight them alongside you," she added, using Pyrrin's own words - they at least showed that they were open to the notion. "But you're not going to make friends and allies by ignoring the harm your actions would cause in the process. All that would do is put you in the position of looking like another threat to be stopped, not an ally to aid."

 

[Butterfree]

To Dave, Pyrrin shook his head again. "Another people claimed that land of their own, long diluted, but they tell a similar story and warn us Escarpa of said fate if we continue along this path. What I speak of is the area surrounding Frontier Town. As for what we plan, our best warriors will keep an eye on the town of black water. Fight every demon within and purge Forlas of their scourge. Its people can decide whether or not they will choose to hide or fight alongside us."

Dave tilted his head. "What's this about black water?"

The others were being a bit dramatic about the impact of sabotage on a railroad that wasn't even complete yet - not cutting anyone off from outside support, as far as he could tell - but all the same, the industrial sabotage element here felt more driven by spite or desire for revenge than necessity, didn't it.

"Either way, sure, maybe the Skorupi that attacked us hopped on a train, but I don't know that blowing up a section of the railway would help all that much here. Sure, it means the trains can't go, but nothing's stopping the Shadow Pokémon from scattering out of town anyway, unless you've got enough people to completely surround the area, and if you do, you could do that with or without the rail. Meanwhile, if they can follow the tracks, they can still do that if you blow up a section - just keep going past the debris until the railway picks up again. You're not going to stop that unless you're going to seamlessly vanish a huge section of wood and metal to the point they can't find the other end. By all means let's fucking talk to the Blaguarrans and organize a raid on where they're making the Shadows - we know where that is, by the way - and root out whatever's going on there, but I don't see the big pressing need to sabotage the rail."

He took a deep breath, frowning. "Look, you've obviously been treated like shit, guessing you never got a seat at the table when they decided to build this thing. But hey, Frontier Town's getting a new mayor and so far the leading candidate this time seems to be actually not a giant bag of shit. So how about you first try just fucking talking to him and tell him your grievances and figure out an actually productive way to proceed? I'll personally give him a fucking earful if he decides to be a dick about it."

 

[Sinderella]

Odette felt her blood curdle when Pyrrin shot a glare at her. She physically braced for him to lunge at her, but he was soon off responding to the others. That left her with time to breathe again. Her heart was beating so loudly against her eardrums that she could barely hear what was being said. Pyrrin wasn't there to immediately blow up the track, just to do some scouting. Talking to the Chieftan was in the cards somehow. Kimiko had somehow ended up next to her, but was now sitting on the track, and Wes, Dave, and Felin were saying things that she was pretty sure she agreed with.

Yeah, fuck this. This was an awful idea. She was of no fucking use here when she was so scared she couldn't even hear straight.

"N...not to mention, blowing up the rails just creates another point of contention." Breathe. She needed to breathe. She didn't sound shaky and she needed to stay that way. "The demons are on your ass, and if the rail gets bombed out, so will the civilians. It sounds like they already have it out for the Escarpas as it is, but if you sit down and, well...discuss ways to work together on something that's affecting both sides...you probably can reclaim your lands and live undisrupted. Or at least make a big stride toward that end goal."

She was suddenly bracing for another glare.

 

[Inkedust]

"As if a town mayor has any say in Commonwealth matters from thousands of miles away," Pyrrin snorted. "We tried to resolve things peacefully, live quietly but they made their stance clear to us long ago. To put it in a way you'll understand: The time for peaceful resolution has long passed, targeting the rail comes with the benefit of stopping the demonic spread while we target its source. But don't take it from me, take it to our Chieftain who called for action. I'm sure she would love to see you argue in the Commonwealth's favour as you insist you have our best interests at heart."

He looked to Jade, narrowing his eyes. "You, at the very least owe the Chieftain a visit although she would have expected better from someone Brisa would trust."

 

[Butterfree]

Dave rolled his eyes. "Who the fuck is arguing in favor of the Commonwealth? Look, I literally just fucking pointed out why targeting the rail isn't even going to stop the Shadows from getting out. You got anything to say on that? Or are you just looking for an excuse to blow up the infrastructure of people you don't like for shits and giggles?"

Fuck it. This guy was a brick wall. And why the fuck was he antagonizing Jade? She hadn't even fucking said anything. "Fine, we would like to talk to your chieftain. Where do we find her?"

Hopefully she was at least a bit more worth talking to than this dickhead.

 

[Shadow Serenity]

But don't take it from me, take it to our Chieftain who called for action. I'm sure she would love to see you argue in the Commonwealth's favour as you insist you have our best interests at heart."

Well, it had been an interesting turn if nothing else, going from having to argue their way into a meeting with the Escarpa chieftain to being invited to one. The politics of the situation were above Kimiko's pay grade, though, and she could only hope Jade would handle it better than she currently was. All she really knew was, 'don't fight back against the people doing you wrong' was always a slippery slope, especially when she sympathized with the side wanting revenge.

"All we're saying is, destroying the rail would cause more problems than it solves. We have the same immediate goals, stopping the spread of the shadows. We just want to find a way to do it that doesn't cause more problems than it solves. And surely, as I said earlier, you'd rather have more allies outside your clan than making more enemies, right?"

She felt like she was arguing in circles, just repeating herself in the hopes it would slip through a crack in the houndoom's mental wall. But realistically, it was probably a waste of breath, trying to convince Pyrrin. Regardless of whether or not they succeeded, he wasn't the one making the call. Nor was he the one they needed to speak to about all the other reasons the party had to seek the aid of the Escarpa.

"You already know we wish to meet your chieftain anyway," she said, drawing herself up to her full, tiny height. "Tell her I'm willing to prove myself in battle if I must. That's important to you, isn't it?" Yeah, there were probably others, but she wasn't going to speak for them. Especially when she had her own reasons for wanting this meeting.