Multiverse Number: W441-V7
Location: The Red Valley (Pokémon-Dominant Earth)
Time: Approx. 1300 Hours
A swirling rift opened just below the clouds, spitting out a tiny black and white mass through the treeline below, it was Daemon. He had fallen upon a layer of autumn leaves which thankfully absorbed most of the impact, though the force of the crash landing was still more than enough to render him nearly unconscious. As he laid among the leaf strewn across the grass of a dense, unfamiliar forest, he squinted upwards to the sunlit canopy above, birds disturbed from their slumber fleeing through the hole left within it by his entry. Although the landing left his ears ringing, he managed to make out the muffled words of some approaching figures.
“It landed somewhere over here!” exclaimed a husky voiced female.
“C’mon, are ya sure this is even worth all this walking?” Groaned the voice of an exasperated male.
"Positive,” replied the voice of a more stoic yet sophisticated sounding male. “Now quiet down, both of you, and stay on your guard.”
Daemon gathered what little energy he had left to crane his neck towards the voices, as three silhouettes emerged from the woods.
“By the grace of Arceus…“ the female voice began as one of the silhouettes rushed towards him. “Is this little guy the thing we saw fall from the sky?” the female asked in bewilderment, placing a hand behind Daemon's head to support him.
The stoic male responded, “Perhaps, all that matters right now is that we get him to the guildhall, the lad needs immediate medical attention.”
“Dude, are ya crazy?” the tired male cut in. “Ya just know the boss man’s gonna flip his lid if we bring in another stray.”
“Perhaps, but what other choice do we have,” the stoic male walked up next to Daemon, checking his pulse with his paw, “the lad’s beat up pretty bad, would you rather us leave him here in this state?”
The tired male weighed his options, before sighing in defeat, “Alright, alright, but the boss man ain't gonna be happy.”
The last thing Daemon saw before passing out completely were the three figures huddled around him with the female gently lifting him from the ground.
Daemon slowly awoke feeling a comforting warmth enveloping his body, struggling to open his eyes, he scanned his surroundings, noticing that he was now laying in a small bed covered by a light blue blanket in the corner of an unfamiliar room: the walls, floor and ceiling were made of brownish-orange bricks and stone, accented with wooden supports and rafters.
To the left, among five similar beds lie a wooden cabinet filled with jars, berries, bandages and other miscellaneous medical items. A humanoid no more than 3” ft tall, almost resembling rag-doll, stood on the opposite side of the room facing away from Daemon and grinding up flowers and berries in a mortar and pestle: They had light gray skin, a stubby, fluffy yellow tail, an odd extension at the top of their head that formed a curling ponytail, and yellow skin from the forearms down, with what appeared to be stitches attaching the arms to their body - A Banette, no doubt. The ghost doll lifted their head and turned to face Daemon, a smile on their face.
“Ah, there he is,” they chimed with a soft and gentle tone, floating over to Daemon’s bedside with the pale purple mixture.“ You gave Ms. Ininga quite a scare, worried she had found a kid who was just going to keel over on us. A pessimistic overthinker, as always.” The Banette chuckled, his purple eyes lit up, ”But don’t you worry, a few helpings of this medicine and some rest, and you’ll be right as rain,” picking up a spoonful of the ground up flowers and berries and shoving it into Daemon’s mouth.
The concoction was extremely bitter and grainy, the only saving grace being the sweet berries mixed in to dilute the repulsive taste.
Grabbing another spoonful, the Banette began to introduce themselves, “My name’s Milo by the way. I’m the guild’s medic, as you may have deduced.” Gesturing to the mortar and medical cabinet, before feeding Daemon another spoonful of the bitter paste. Between wincing at the medicine’s repulsive flavor, Daemon looked towards his arm, now bandaged up, giving Milo a confused and questioning glance, still completely out of it and unable to process any of the events that have transpired. Milo noticed his confusion and placed the mortar down.
“Ms. Ininga claims she found you after you had ‘fallen out of the sky through a strange portal’.” Milo started, sitting at the foot of the bed. “Now, I don’t know about all of this myself, but I know the girl’s not one to go and spin a fantastical yarn for no good reason.”
Milo’s two cents on the situation was interrupted by a husky voice clearing their throat, as he turned to see a bipedal fox-like creature about 5’ ft tall leaning in the doorway: they had a slender figure, a coal colored coat, a fiery red plume of fur that ran past their back, amber eyes, and distinctive red marks on the corners of their muzzle - a female Zoroark. Behind her was a slightly taller weasel-like creature with an eye catching white and pink coat, a long neck, thick fur around their legs, giving them a stubby appearance, sleek but muscular arms that each ended in long whip-like fur draped over their paws, pink eyes which held an air of blunt, calculated ire, two thin mustache-like whiskers on the sides of their face and a large X-shaped scar across their chest - a Mienshao, and a battle hardened one at that.
“So, this is what you went through all the trouble of dragging here, Addie?” The Mienshao spat with a stern look as he walked up to Daemon’s bedside, paws folding behind his back. “I trust that he will be prepared to depart soon.”
“Guildmaster Nox, please,” Milo raised his hands and stepped in front of the Mienshao towering over him, “I understand the need to keep Wanderlust safe from unwanted visitors, but the boy’s wounded, he needs time to recover.”
“Besides, Myron,” Addie spoke up, “even if he was healthy enough to leave, he fell out of the sky unconscious for Arceus’ sake, we have no idea where he came from or where his home even is.”
Myron’s eyes darted to meet Addie’s gaze, then back to Daemon. With a chuff, he met Daemon’s gaze with intense judgment in his stare, almost as if he were looking into the very essence of his soul, before walking back to the infirmary door.
“If he’s going to be here for a while… ” Myron stopped and proclaimed, "Have him meet with Rayne in the morning. When he has recovered enough, make him useful and put him to work, I won’t allow freeloaders in my hall.” casting a glare towards the bed-ridden hybrid before leaving. The infirmary fell deathly silent after this exchange, Milo and Addie just looking at one another.
Addie finally broke the silence and walked towards Daemon. “Sorry about that, Myron’s just, shall we say…” she paused, “old fashioned.”
Daemon just looked to the window at the setting sun, a blank expression on his face. “It’s okay,” his voice was weak and raspy, “people like him don’t phase me anymore.”
Milo glanced down for a second, a concerned look behind his eyes, “Well, just try and get some rest, it would seem Guildmaster Nox has big plans for you tomorrow.” closing the blinds on the window and gesturing for Addie to leave.
Walking to the infirmary door, Addie turned to Daemon with a smirk, “Good luck tomorrow, and don’t stress too much about it, Myron just likes sizing people up, seeing their worth, you’ll do fine.”
“Hold on, I have a question for you.” Daemon stopped her, struggling to sit up. “Thank you for helping me and all, but, did you see an Absol with a chipped horn out there as well?”
Addie stopped in the doorway with a puzzled look. “No, we didn't. Guessing they're important to you?”
Daemon nodded. “Yeah, my mother, I got separated from her after… the incident.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Addie responded, crossing her arms. “I can't promise anything, but we’ll do our best to help find her.” gave him a reassuring smile.
“Thank you.” Daemon solemnly replied before returning his gaze back to the window.
Addie waved goodnight to the two as Milo closed the door behind her. With a sigh, he floated back to his desk to prepare supplies for tomorrow. Not another word was spoken that night, all parties left to mull around their own thoughts, Daemon’s especially were numerous: What were those ships that invaded Fort Garreg? What could those robots have wanted with him? Where did that explosion transport him? Is Abigail okay? Will he ever find a way back? The need for answers felt like it was slowly killing him. Not to mention the compounded stress of this ‘Guildmaster’. Why was he so hostile to outsiders? Does he see something in Daemon that he’s not letting on? Daemon reminded himself to take this one step at a time, hoping tomorrow would shed some light as to his location, then he would go from there. With this reassurance in his mind, he drifted to sleep, praying for a glimmer of hope to reveal itself.
Daemon awoke to the sound of indistinct chatter coming from the other room, he yawned and looked towards the window, the blinds now wide open.
Sunrise, approximately… 0800 hours. He thought to himself.
Milo had soon noticed Daemon was awake and went over to greet him.
“Good morning, sleepyhead, how are you feeling?” Milo inquired with a smile, cocking his head to the side, “Did the medicine help any? Think you can walk?”
Daemon wasn’t quite sure, he felt as if he had been sleeping on a bed of rusty nails all night, every muscle in his body still ached, but he was determined to climb out of bed and find out. Planting both feet on the floor, the stone felt ice cold beneath his footpads. His ankles began shaking as his bandaged leg nearly buckled, causing him to stumble sideways into the end table. Milo gasped and rushed over to Daemon, helping him remain upright as he got his bearings. Slowly, but surely, he began his slow trek across the infirmary floor and towards the door leading out into a stairwell. The floor, walls and ceiling, much like the infirmary, were made of that very same rustic stone and wood, Several portraits lined the right wall of the room depicting a diverse array of Pokémon, their names. labeled at the bottom of the frames. One of these portraits was of Myron, so it was assumed the figures in the paintings next to him were of previous guild masters. Parallel to the infirmary was another door, a gold plate upon it labeled ‘Archives’. To the right lie a set of wooden stairs, of which the voices that had woken Daemon up were emanating from. A sign on the wall stated it was the ‘Guild Member’s Lobby’.
Through a doorway on his left, he noticed a gray feline with long curved ears, white paws, a thin tail coiled up and grasping an ink quill, turquoise eyes were barely open, glazed over from boredom while their thick rimmed glasses were drooping off of their face - The striking image of a seemingly overworked Glameow, who appeared to be lost in a book.
Daemon slowly hobbled over to the wooden desk they were stationed at, noticing a nameplate on their desk with the name ‘Rayne Howeduc” emblazoned upon it. Rayne himself was not in fact reading as Daemon had originally assumed, but rather fast asleep and using the pages as a pillow.
“Um, excuse me, sir.” Daemon tapped the book in an attempt to wake him up and jumped back when the feline immediately jolted awake.
Rayne, in a groggy state, looked slowly around his desk at the numerous stacks of paper piled on top of it, wiping the spittle from his muzzle,
“Whoa, man, I was, like, totally out last night.” The feline stared up at the ceiling, looking completely spaced out until Daemon waved his hand in front of his face. “Oh, mornin’, little dude. Decided not to take a spiritual journey beyond, I see.” Rayne rested his head against his paw, “The boss man’s already filled me in with the detes. So you can chill, ya’know?”
“Huh? Detes? Spiritual journey? And why are you calling me ‘little dude’? I’m taller than you!” Daemon exclaimed, completely dumbfounded at the majority of Rayne’s lingo going in one ear and out the other.
Rayne put his paws up, “Details, little dude, ‘sides, Addie calls you little don’t she? So why can’t I?” A playful smile crept across his face as he said this, almost as if he knew it would get a rise out of Daemon. “Anywho, like I was sayin’, boss man’s got work for ya and I’m supposed to show ya around the guild or whatever?” He shrugged, climbing out of his chair and walking into the stairwell.
Rayne stopped and gestured around, “I’ll show ya around the upper floor first: behind us is the main entryway which also doubles as the office of yours truly, To the right, as ya know, we got the Guild Infirmary run by Milo. To the left are the stairs leading down to the lobby on the second floor.” Rayne stretched his paw out to point, “ and way farther down the hall here we got the guild library. So what do you want to check first?”
Daemon just shrugged, he assumed he would be following Rayne, he was the tour guide here after all. “Uh, I guess We can check out the library?”
“Ah, a book worm ain’tcha?” Rayne gave Daemon’s unwounded arm a teasing nudge as he walked towards the door. “This way.”
Passing through the doorway to the archives, the smell of old musty books hit the senses hard. Rows upon rows of old wooden bookshelves lined the walls, filled end-to-end with tomes and journals on a diverse range of subjects from the guild’s history, to astrology, to different kinds of berries and what soil they prefer - a reader’s paradise. A large circular table stands in the center of the library, books and papers strewn about its surface. Among the table sat a canine-like Pokémon with icy blue fur, droopy ears and tail that ended in a diamond shape, a large crystal atop their forehead, a black collar with a red and white pendant and bright blue eyes that were shining like diamonds - A Glaceon, her face stuck in a book about zodiac signs.
“Heya, Rayne.” The Glaceon chimed, peeking out from behind her book before trotting over to the two, her attention set on Daemon. ”So, you must be the one Addie rescued, huh? The name’s Freya, Freya Howell, I’m in charge of Wanderlust’s Archives.” She lifted her paw to shake Daemon’s hand.
“Uh, nice to meet you. My name’s Daemon.” He began, gingerly shaking the Glaceon’s awaiting paw.
Almost immediately, Freya began spouting off questions, much to Daemon’s confusion. “It’s been a while since we’ve had a new face in the guild. Is it true you fell through a portal? Are you from another world? What’s your world like? Are there other Pokemon like us? How did you-”
Rayne spoke up, interrupting the excited Glaceon’s interrogation. “Sorry, Frey, but those questions are gonna have to wait till later. Got a tour that needs doing.”
Freya glanced at Rayne. “ Oh, you’re right, my bad.” She giggled, looking down sheepishly. “When you’re done with the tour, do you think that you could send him back here? I have a ton of questions I wish to ask him.”
“Sure, sure...” Rayne responded nonchalantly as he walked on. “So this is the library, if you’ve ever wanted to know anything about everything, this is the place to go. As ya saw, over there is Freya, she keeps the paperwork and writing in the guild archived and organized.” He began gesturing to the front of the library, with Freya in the back who was proudly highlighting the area. “Here’s where we keep books related to guild life and such: Etiquette for when you’re on a mission, how to prepare supplies, fighting techniques, etcetera.” He pointed to the right and left corners of the library. “These shelves are relegated to general knowledge: bartering, herbology, biology, geography, ya’know.”
Daemon approached one of the corner shelves and pulled out a large leather-bound book titled ‘The Red Valley: A Geographic History’. Placing it on the table and skimming through the pages, he saw several maps, each showcasing the landscape and how it has changed over the years.
Flipping through the entire book, he found no mention of any cities or regions from his home world, not even a single mention of the humans that permeated it. He looked around the shelves again for any updated writings, but found nothing.
Daemon turned to Freya with a nervous expression. “Excuse me, but what region exactly is this ‘Red Valley’ in?”
Freya replied, “I’m sorry, what do you mean by ‘region’?” exchanging a similarly puzzled look at the hybrid’s question.
“The nine established regions? Johto, Kanto, Sinnoh, Hoen? You know, human civilizations? Ring any bells?” Daemon asked as he backed away from the book, his voice growing increasingly louder and more frantic. “I have to still be on Earth, I have to be. Where the hell did I wind up!”
Freya glanced at Rayne with a worried expression, unsure of how to respond and waiting for him to defuse the situation.
Rayne walked over to Daemon to console him, glancing back at Freya with a nervous chuckle. “Okay then, maybe that fall did more damage to the little dude than Milo could fix. I think we should wrap this tour up.”
Quickly guiding Daemon out of the library, he led him to the stairs leading to the member’s lobby. “Yo, little dude, what was that all about? Ya good?” Rayne asked, patting Daemon’s shoulder, who at this point was staring blankly into space, his hands fidgeting as he muttered to himself.
Unable to get a coherent response out of him, Rayne just sighed, “C’mon, let's get ya situated, maybe some peace and quiet will do ya good.” leading him downstairs and past the lobby where Addie and her fellow guild members all looked in their direction, some with curiosity, others with concern.
“Hey, what gives? Is everything okay? What was all that yelling upstairs?” Addie asked Rayne as he led Daemon to a doorway on the left side of the room. Rayne instructed Daemon to go through and wait for him, turning around to speak with her.
Once he had left, Rayne finally spoke. “I ain’t entirely sure, Add. We started out in the library and the little dude just started going nuts after he saw a map of the continent. Asked about regions and spoutin’ all these names I ain’t never heard before. Strangest of all was something about ‘human civilizations’, like what even is a human?”
“Who knows.” Addie shrugged. “What we do know now is that the kid is clearly not from here.” Addie paced the floor in silent contemplation.
“But, can you be sure he’s not dangerous? We don’t even know what that freak’s capable of. You may have brought a complete psychopath into our halls for all we know!” a female from the group snapped, causing an equal eruption of concerned voices.
A familiar stoic voice rose up, breaking through the cacophony as a small fox emerged from the group. “Alright, keep your heads on, all of you!” he began as he stamped his paw down. “If this lad proves to be any trouble for the guild, I, at this very moment, am willing to accept full responsibility for his actions.” He looked around at his now silent guildmates, a fire burning in his gaze. “Any objections?”
A cold, pious voice replied. “None I see, then I suppose we will hold you to that, Cedric.” as Myron pushed past towards the fox. “After all, you did volunteer to rescue the poor boy, only fair to make him your responsibility.” He smirked at the fox.
The vulpine simply ignored him as he walked towards the door, unphased by his guildmaster’s mockery. “Rayne,” he stopped briefly and looked back at the feline. “Allow the lad to bunk with me and Lyra for the time being. I’ll handle things from here, keep a close eye on him and update you as soon as possible if anything goes awry.”
Rayne simply nodded in hesitant agreement. “A-alright then, Ced, g’luck to ya.”
Daemon was pacing back and forth in the hallway, six doors flanking him and one at the very end of the hall. The pitter patter of footsteps could be heard as he saw a fox approach him. He had fiery orange fur with burgundy accenting his paws, mane and tail. vibrant green eyes with a prideful fire burning behind them, a white dress collar around his neck adorned with a green bowtie. and strangest of all, a tiny white fairy with beady black eyes resembling a flower, nestled within his mane - A Vulpix and his Flabebe companion respectively.
“There you are. The name is Cedric Romani, but you can just call me Cedric.” He began with a bow, the Flabebe atop his head mimicking his gesture. “And this is my partner, Chaut.” Cedric pointed to the fairy, chuckling as she hid back away in his mane. “And your name is?”
Daemon took a deep breath, and replied, “Daemon, Daemon Voltaire.” Attempting to perform a similar bow, stumbling due to his wounded leg.
Cedric gave a hearty laugh as he helped him regain his footing. “Easy there, no need to hurt yourself over formal courtesies.”
Daemon dusted himself off and continued. “So, uh, where’s Rayne, he was supposed to meet me in here.” He looked over Cedric at the now closed door leading to the lobby.
“Ah, he just wanted to show you to the sleeping quarters, but don’t fret, I talked to him, agreed that you’d be bunking with me for your foreseeable duration. Follow me.” Cedric responded, walking towards the last door on the right.
Much to Daemon’s surprise, the room was pretty much barren compared to the others. It was sparsely furnished, save for a vanity mirror, two wooden chests, and two piles of fresh hay laid out on opposite corners of the room.
“And here it is, home sweet home.” Cedric announced as he walked over to the mirror. “What do you think?”
Daemon couldn’t help but address the proverbial elephant in the room. “What’s with the hay piles?” He asked as he pointed over to the left corner.
“Why, that’s where we sleep.” Cedric replied before noticing how flabbergasted Daemon looked. “I take it you’re not familiar with how guilds operate.”
Cedric walked over to him and placed a paw over his shoulder. “Don’t you worry about a single thing, we’ll be right here to teach you everything we know. Stick with me and you’ll have the ins and outs of guild life down pat in no time, just leave it to good old-”
“Cedric!” A shrill feminine voice yelled out from the hallway, cutting Cedric’s reassuring speech short. “I swear to god, you did not just seriously volunteer to bunk that freak with us!”
A short bipedal sheep stormed through the door with gritted teeth. She had a thick white wool around her head and neck, blunted horns on the sides of her head. Her face and body was covered in short light pink fur and she had a long tail striped with black and pink fur that tapered off, a beautiful shining blue orb at its tip - A Flaffy, and one who was glaring directly at Daemon with contempt in her baby blue eyes.
“Relax, Lyra.” Cedric attempted to reassure the angry sheep as she clenched her fists, electricity sparking from her horns.
“Relax? Relax!? You're telling me to relax!? You don't know this… thing, none of us do!” The electric sheep spat her venomous words towards Daemon, staring daggers into him. “I’m watching you, kitty cat. If you make one wrong move, I won't hesitate to fry you.”
Daemon just sat against the back wall, avoiding her gaze. “I'm not going to lay a hand on anyone here, it wouldn't make sense. So please, just ease up.”
“Excuse me?” Lyra turned to Cedric. “Cedric, do you seriously believe this guy?”
Before Cedric could get a word in, Daemon stood up to meet Lyra’s gaze. “Think logically for a second. A wounded individual falls from the sky into a world they've never seen before, found and patched up by people they've never met in their lives. What reasonable possibility would they have to harm the very people who helped them, when their saviors could've just as easily ignored them? If you don't like me, fine, but from where I'm standing, I owe your guild a debt, and I think it would be smart for me to pay them back and respect the ones who saved me, despite your ire.” Both Lyra and Cedric were taken aback by Daemon’s sudden bluntness.
Her mouth agape, Lyra began to stutter, her intimidating facade shattered to pieces. “W-well, I-I mean-. W-we still-.” Daemon cocked his head with an unamused expression, awaiting the sheep's response.
Lyra eventually gathered most of her composure. “Fine, but I’ve got my eye on you.” Pointing a finger in Daemon’s face before marching over to one of the wooden chests and pulling out a satchel and travel cloak. “Come on, Cedric. We got a job to do.”
“Alright, love, just need a minute. I'll catch up.” Cedric called out to Lyra, who was already leaving the room.
Cedric couldn't help but shoot an impressed glance as he turned to Daemon. “Well now, where did that come from?”
Daemon sighed, sitting back down and running a hand through his mane. “I've already had a similar altercation with your guildmaster, not taking it from anyone else.”
Cedric smiled and shook his head. “Just promise you'll keep that tongue on a leash around Myron. He'd skin both our hides.” He chuckled before heading through the door to meet up with Lyra.
The quiet still of the room gave Daemon a moment to clear his mind and think about his recent revelation.
A different world completely separate from my own, I can hardly believe it. He thought to himself. That means if the explosion that teleported sent me to another dimension, surely there must be a way back. I won’t be able to figure this out on my own though, this ‘Wanderlust’ may be my only hope.
Almost like clockwork, Daemon could hear the voices of Rayne, Milo and Myron approach down the hallway. It sounded as though Milo was pleading with Myron about something.
“Guildmaster Nox, you heard what Mr. Howeduc said. We cannot force a mission onto the boy in his current state.” Milo begged. “He may be healing physically, but his mental state sounds like it is nowhere near acceptable levels. At least let me evaluate him first, please.”
“I’m just sayin’, maybe we should give the little dude another day, at most.” Rayne added. “I ain’t too sure about sendin’ him off into the wild with his brain all ‘out there’, ya’know?”
“I made it perfectly clear last night that if he is to stay here, he is to earn his keep, no if’s and’s or but’s.” Myron replied, his shadow seen beneath the door. Daemon took notice of this and rushed to open the door. Coming face to face with Myron, they both glared at one another, a moment of tense silence building between the two.
Daemon was first to break the silence. “So, you want me on a mission? Earn my keep? Fine, let me prove myself, but I refuse to be pushed around or belittled, especially not by you.”
Milo gasped and covered his mouth in shock and Rayne’s eyes widened, neither of them expecting such rash words from him.
Myron briefly sneered at his vitriol before letting out a soft chuckle. “Hm, finally. I was beginning to think they had rescued a complete soft-body. You know, you might just have more of a backbone than I initially gave you credit for.”
This took Daemon by surprise. What the-. At first he seemed to have only resentment for me, and now all of a sudden he sounds… impressed? Maybe that Zoroark was right, maybe he really is just sizing me up. He thought.
Daemon replied, “I, umm… Thank you, Myron… sir.”
Myron smirked as he continued down the hallway. “Head to the lobby and meet with Addie, she’ll be your team leader for this mission.”
Daemon nodded, leaving for the lobby and past Rayne and Milo, both still in shock over the exchange before them.
“Whoa, hold on, wait up.” Milo called out as he ran to meet Daemon’s pace. “Are you sure you’ll be alright for this mission?”
Daemon glanced at Milo as he walked. “Your boss has a job for me to do, and I intend to complete it, stress be damned.”
Milo stopped tailing him, noting that Daemon's mind was apparently made up, and that there was no changing it at this moment.
Entering the lobby, Daemon noticed Addie reading a contract by a large wooden notice board in the top right corner of the room, a satchel slung over her shoulder.
“There you are. All set?” She asked, not taking her eyes off of the contract.
“Yyeah, I think. Got a question though.” Daemon started. “Myron said you're the ‘team leader’. What does that mean exactly?”
Addie responded, breaking her focus from reading. “Oh right, you probably aren't well versed in how guilds operate, huh? Basically, when we accept a contract - beit delving into a dungeon or even just simple, boring home repairs around town, guild members are separated into teams ranging from two individuals to the entire guild depending on if the job requires it. Each team is assigned a designated leader, a role relegated to the teammate with the most experience. A leader's job is to, well… lead - To assist the less experienced on the team and keep the entire expedition running, essentially.”
“I… see.” Daemon said, trying his best to retain Addie’s information. “Is there any specifics I should know about the mission?”
“We’ll be going over the mission briefing soon. Our third and final teammate should be here in just a second.” Addie replied.
Daemon looked around, but only he and Addie remained in the lobby, in fact the entire guild hall was practically dead silent aside from the faint whistle of wind flowing through the stone structure.
Several minutes of waiting had passed with no one in sight as Addie let out an irritated groan. “Ugh. For Arceus’ sake, not again.” She began marching up the stairs with Daemon in tow. muttering under her breath.
Exiting the guildhall, Daemon stood in awe as he glimpsed his first full view of this new world. Wanderlust had been situated atop a tall mountain overlooking a small village to the west. The main portion of the town consisted of a couple dozen houses and what appeared to be business, based on the colorful signs outside of them. Much like the guildhall, every building was constructed from stone and wood, tiles of various colors lining the rooftops. South of the town, down a cobbled road, lay several cheaper looking houses with shoddy thatched roofing - slums from the look of it. All of this nestled in the valley of two large stoney mountains to the west and north and a sheer, grassy cliffside leading to a dense red forest to the south. The entire scene was almost picturesque, not modern by any stretch of the imagination, but not quite medieval either.
“Daemon, come on. We'll have time for sightseeing later.” Addie yelled out, who was already halfway down a small dirt path skirting the left side of the guildhall.
Running over to meet her, Daemon was greeted by a cylindrical metal structure built along the edge of the guild’ grounds, a large telescope sticking out of the top pointed towards the northern horizon - an observatory. Addie was inside making her way up the stairs that spiraled along the diameter of the interior up to the platform above.
“Kazmine!” Addie called out. “Are you ready yet? We’re all ready to get going.”
Daemon peeked from behind the second floor railing. Methodically scattered along the floor, tables and multiple cork boards were drawings of constellations alongside enough handwriting to fill an entire bookshelf. The strong smell of burning incense wafted through the air, emanating from a smoldering container in the center of the room. Next to it sat a quadruped with sleek black fur, almond shaped tail and ears, and round yellow eyes, a blue silk scarf around their neck and silver reading glasses resting on the bridge of their muzzle. Their flank, tail, ears and forehead all bear bioluminescent rings across the fur, bathing the room with their dim blue glow - An Umbreon, one seemingly caught up in some sort of meditation ritual. Kazmine hushed Addie, shaking her paw downwards as she carefully reached into a box of needles.
“Please keep it down, Adalia.” Kazmine whispered. “Now I'm sorry, but I can't leave Juno unattended, he's still recovering from last week's mission.”
Daemon quietly tiptoed to Addie’s side to notice a smaller canine laying behind the Umbreon. They were splayed out on their stomach, donning a thick gray coat, stubby paws, fangs that protruded from their jowls, and orange eyes stuck in a listless daze - A Poochyena, one currently in the middle of receiving acupuncture, with needles stuck in various pressure points.
“Has he still not recovered?” Addie asked in a more subdued tone. “Can't you put this on hold? We've got a schedule to keep with a client.”
Kazmine sighed as she placed a needle back in the box. “Alright, I’ll see if Freya can finish things up here.” She glanced down at her patient. “Juno, are you going to be okay while I'm gone?”
The Poochyena looked up with his eyes barely open. “Juno fine, Kazmine go with Adalia.” He replied. his speech was broken and slurred, sounding like he was nearly unconscious.
Kazmine smiled and gave him a pat on the head before making her way downstairs. “Okay, now we can go.” She told Addie as she passed.
Daemon gave Addie a glance. “Adalia?” He whispered to her, confused.
Addie just sighed. “That’s my real name. But everyone calls me Addie instead… except these two.” She crossed her arms and followed Kazmine downstairs.
