Tyrrier Reven Hollow

[Phoenixsong]

"Couldn't've decided it was none of our business before we left. Cool," Blue huffed. "You've all spent, what, a year messin' around in some entire other universe instead of your own, and now you go 'what if it's not our business'? It bothered you enough to come out here and have a whole meeting about it, didn't it?"

He muttered something under his breath that sounded like 'can't believe I'm actually encouraging this', then sighed. "I didn't come here to get in trouble with a lord, like holy shit no. If there's no reason to harass the guy, I'll be first in line to fuck off and leave him alone. But I also didn't agree to stay on Forlas just to sit on a fence all day. Maybe I'm still missing some context, but if what Leaf told me about other people stealing or messing with relics really is that big a deal, why drop this one? Apparently you've already poked at a bunch of other ones."

He pointed a paw at Ralsen. "Look, where is it? The manor. Sneaking in before didn't work, but you wouldn't've come back if there wasn't something else you thought you could try. We go, we see what's what, we get enough information to actually decide whether we have to go all vigilante on this guy or something else, and whatever that thing is, we do it. I don't get why this is difficult."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura peered at Ralsen, remembering her last conversation with him. That bizarre, unsettling revelation that he didn't even always know why he did things. That some greater power was guiding his actions, puppeting him towards a goal. How much agency did he have? When could he choose to exercise it?

There was something she was missing...

 

[Chibi Pika]

'Besides, we don't actually trust him, right?'

Well, no, obviously Jade didn't, except...

'I've known him for a while and I'm pretty sure he actually believes that the relic is in the manor,' Jade replied. 'Besides, if he wanted to mislead us, why even bother calling us up here in the first place?' All he would've had to do was just say nothing and the Wayfarers probably would have been too busy with the Covenant and the Red Star to bother returning to Reven Hollow.

So then why...

Jade squinted at Ralsen. "Why did you call us up here?"

Ralsen met her gaze. "I made a deal with Laura to exchange mutually beneficial information," he said simply. "I wanted to fulfill my end of the deal."

"Yeah, but you could've just written what you'd learned in your letter, right?" Jade pressed. "Why meet us in person? Why here? Were you hoping we'd try to steal the relic?" That was his whole thing, right? Say just enough to get everyone else to do his dirty work for him?

Ralsen closed his eyes with an inscrutable smile. "That's an interesting idea. It undeniably would have been fortunate if you'd decided to go that route. But the simpler answer is that I wanted to say it in person because I'm going to steal the relic."

What.

"The lord and his nobles are away from the manor, so I had to make it back to Reven Hollow as soon as possible, or else risk losing the opportunity," Ralsen added helpfully, as if he were discussing the weather.

Jade blinked at him, momentarily speechless. "...What?"

Vesta let out a rumbling sigh. "There was no need to tell them that, either."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura pushed herself out of her seat.

"You can't—!" she blurted, then swallowed her panic. No point addressing him. Had to warn the party, efficiently. "He can't help it, it's a compulsion, it's up to us to stop him, and if we don't, he's gonna use the relic!"

Malachai swivelled his head, working out what had her so panicked. She couldn't wait for him to clock it.

"He needs the relic to punch a wormhole back to his home world – but the Red Star—!"

Malachai's eyes snapped wide. "Seize him!" he barked, with all the authority he could muster.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Vesta sat up abruptly in her seat in response to Malachai's shout. "Now you've done it," she grumbled.

And without wasting a second, the Charizard spewed out a thick Smokescreen from her jaws, enveloping the table and everyone seated around it.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Malachai's throat erupted in a chittering, clicking growl.

"He's gone!" he declared, in fury. "Chase him down!"

Laura coughed and spluttered and held her breath as she tried to dart on all fours towards the nearest exit. She could pay her tab later.

 

[Phoenixsong]

This was only ever gonna end in chasing after this guy again, wasn't it.

The details of what Jade and Laura had figured out went over Leaf's head, but it didn't matter, there wasn't time for it to matter. She bolted out the door and onto the street, scanning the sky for any sign of a retreating charizard.

Blue didn't move immediately, still struggling to process the information grenade that'd just gone off in his face while the others scrambled through the smoke. (At least it didn't bother him as much anymore.) "'S off the fence, I guess," he muttered. And into something stupid. But he hurried out of the tavern after the others anyway.

 

[Tetra]

Told you! Koa resisted the petty impulse. He'd been expecting some ploy, given how Ralsen had been doing this all along. At least now the truth was out and he didn't have to keep playing nice and professional.

Lightning was already burning beneath his pelt before the smoke filled the room, and he took off after the scheming grovyle.

---

Anubis needed no command from Alpha to know what to do. Even as smoke poured out, he was diving into shadow.

He emerged outside the tavern, only to see Alpha streaking out of the tavern in a burst of speed that would have made Echo proud.

'Malachai can you hear him?'

Alphas irritated voice came through Anubis' thoughts to the others.

A lone Charizard and a Grovyle couldn't be that fast or escape that easily, surely? Drawing a deep breath, Anubis scented the air and scanned the skies; Alpha doing the same some yards away.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade barely had time to react before a cloud of smoke enveloped the table and the meeting dissolved into chaos, chairs being shoved back abruptly and footsteps racing for the exit. She dropped to all fours and bolted after the others, bumping into chairs and bar patrons as she went.

"Sorry!" she called out uselessly.

Cool, clean air washed over Jade once she'd cleared the threshold, and she threw a glace in all directions before spotting the telltale orange glint of a tail flame on a winged silhouette right before it plunged into the fog encircling the citadel.

Jade's ears flicked behind her as a rush of wings rapidly approached. “What is happening?" Virga demanded, landing alongside her.

“He made a break for it," Jade said breathlessly. "He's going to steal the relic."

Virga blinked at her. “And why is this any of our concern?”

“I don’t know, just keep an eye on them from the air!” Jade replied before taking off running again, in the direction of the manor.

Her mind was racing, brain still trying to process what Laura had said, some part of her wishing they could just leave this up to the local margrave and keep out of it. He wanted to use the relic to go home? That's what all of this was about? What made him so sure it could even do that? Why was he so desperate to get home? She suddenly found herself wishing she'd asked Laura more about him rather than just writing him off as the same person she'd known back home (wasn't he?) and pretending he wasn't here.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura panted for breath in the clean, cold air of the Reven Hollow street. Where the fuck had he gone? Didn't matter. It was fine, fine. If she couldn't chase down Ralsen, she'd just have to race him to the castle.

"Everyone to the castle!" she shouted in her mind over the network as she set off on all fours for extra speed. "He's being driven by a higher power to get home, and if he uses that relic to do it, he could blow the Red Star right open!"

The familiar presence of Betel's mind whirred into place as the network switched to a combat footing.

That is a possible risk, it is true. But then... why would Ralsen invite you all here only to take his leave in this way?

Malachai's mental voice cut in, full of strange feeling.

"He cannot help himself. It is up to us to mitigate the risk by stopping him. That is what he summoned us here for."

Laura felt the bat's shadow pass over her, and she picked up her pace, charging down the freezing cobblestones of the town towards the stronghold that protected it. Then something lit up the ground, lighting her way. Radiance? Or...

Oh? Laura is evolving!