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PMDU: Lyrelight - Andalusst Arrivals

Published: Jun 4, 2015

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“Bwother, dis city is huuuuge!”

Eury temporarily tore his eyes away from the map in his claws to first glance over at the amazed child on his shoulder, and then at the looming buildings around him. Here they were, in the great city of Andalusst. Or at least, partially great. Every here and there the Zangoose spotted a broken roof or shattered walls, but he knew the only reason the buildings were in such a condition was because of the giant ‘mon that had rampaged through the city only days before they had arrived. And from the looks of it, the city was in the middle of reconstruction.

In the end, the Zigzagoon was right. According to the map Eury was so graciously given by an Andalusst citizen, this was one of the biggest cities he had ever seen.

I can only hope my hunch is correct… Eury huffed softly, scanning the map over once more to make sure they were heading in the right direction. Logically if any Pokemon would want to look for something, they’d want to check here first. There’s not much of a choice .

To think that only a month ago the Zangoose had been living a solo life, in a small town, where he could live quietly without anyone bothering him. Now as he navigated through these city streets, Eury found himself alert and aware of everything around him. The streets were full of ‘mon - visitors and natives alike - and he had to admit to himself that such a crowd brought him a good amount of wariness.

And yet here he was, in a place he never thought he’d ever be. And it was all because of Orpheus ; a little boy searching for his sister.

One must wonder how long it’ll take to search through this whole city…

Suddenly Eury felt something poking his cheek, and with a shift of his eyes he caught Orpheus prodding him with a paw, a look of curiosity on his young face.

“Yes, Orph?” Eury questioned calmly. The nickname admittedly still felt rather awkward on his tongue. Never had he ever given another pokemon a nickname, but with Orpheus and his rather…intricate name, it made speech faster and easier.

“Where ah we goin’?” Orpheus questioned, blinking at the older ‘mon. “You whe’ talkin’ to a lotta people! Wha’ did dey say?”

“Ahh,” The Zangoose hummed. Now was a better time than ever to explain the situation to him. “This city runs three Guilds- ah, they’re…like special groups.” Eury’s eyebrow twitched as he tried to break down the information into words the younger boy could understand. This was something he found himself learning to do. “If we’re going to stay in this city for a period of time, we’ll need a place to stay. The Guilds – if we join one – will give us a room in their housing for free. And we’ll be able to do little-….errands-mm…they’ll ask us to do things and if we do them, we’ll get money to buy food and we'll be able to support ourselves.”

Eury deeply inhaled, finishing his attempt at an explanation. Yet another thing he had to get used to that he really didn’t want to; talking.

“Ooooh!” Orpheus grinned and his tail began wagging excitedly behind him, thumping onto Eury’s back. “Gu…ild. Guild! Guild, guild, which guild ah we gonna get~?”

“There’s one called the Explorers,” Eury continued on, not bothering to mention the other two guilds – the Hunters and Researchers – to the boy. After all, he wouldn’t want to have to explain irrelevant information. “They’re best at uh…going on adventures and finding food and helpful items. I think that’ll work best for u-”

“ADVENTURES?!” The Zigzagoon abruptly exclaimed, causing Eury’s ears to cringe away. Eury could see it; there were practically shining stars in Orpheus’s eyes, and he almost regretted using the word “adventure” as a substitute for dungeon explorations.

“Yeah…” Eury muttered, frowning at Orpheus. He wasn’t sure what kind of look he had on his face, but whatever it was, it delivered the right message seeing as Orph blinked and seemed to settle back down. “Not that we’ll go on one right away, but…eventually, maybe. First, we have to sign up and make a team.”

“Okay~!” Orpheus chirped. “When ah we gonna get dere?”

“Soon-…now, actually.”

There was no doubt that they had arrived. The large Explorers insignia – a sort of detailed compass-like design with a large “E” in the middle – was displayed for all to see at the very front of the building. Though honestly, if that hadn’t been there, one wouldn’t have realized this building was something important like a Guild Hall. Other than the Explorers Symbol, Eury had to admit that the building was relatively plain in appearance.

The Zangoose wasted no time in observing and went ahead to enter the building. Inside the air felt rather light, very unlike what Eury had expected from an official building. A few Pokémon seemed to be loitering about – in pairs, Eury couldn’t help but note – though luckily for him none of them paid any mind to him. He honestly wanted to get registration over with as soon as he could, that way they could get the key to their new home in the guild housing and he could finally relax. Or well, relax as much as one could with a child around.

“Oooh…” Orpheus climbed up onto Eury’s head, looking around with wide green eyes. A part of the taller ‘mon hoped the boy would stay distracted by the environment, that way he wouldn’t spark any unneeded conversation with anyone while Eury filled out the paperwork he knew he would have to do.

The Zangoose kept a distant mind as he approached the front desk and asked about registration, in which he was given the proper forms to fill out. Whoever this front desk ‘mon before him was, or however they were speaking to him, he paid no mind to them. He had no interest in small talk, nor in befriending anyone. Yes, all he had to do was focus and fill out these forms and go. Any other words that reached his ears were just unimportant buzzing to him.

By the time he finished, he let his surroundings reach him once more and released a small breath of relief. After sliding the papers to the desk woman she smiled brightly and thanked him, sliding a housing key and a room number back. With that Eury turned, very much ready to leave. Only then, however, did he realize Orpheus was speaking to him.

“-and that’s why it’s such a cool name!!” The little boy, who now padded alongside him, finished giddily. Eury stared at the boy for a moment, presently lost at what the Zigzagoon had been going on about. From the sound of it, perhaps he had just been rambling.

“Right…” Eury acknowledged, his gaze moving to the side. It was then that the man found his golden gaze meeting another pair of eyes.

Upon catching sight of the owner, Eury felt the fur on the back of his neck stand on end. There, leaning against the nearby wall, was a lone Servine wearing a broad brim brown hat. She was inclining her snout towards his direction and gave a small nod, as if in greeting. Eury looked around, hoping that perhaps she was referring to someone else.

…when did everyone else leave?

"Hey... new, are you?"

Eury’s ear twitched and he grudgingly looked back over at her. From her body language – whatever body language a snake could possess - it seemed she was being cautious, yet her tone had a welcoming edge to it. "Hmm, stupid question. 'Course you are, I saw you sign in. Admittedly I'm not great with this meet and greet stuff, so how about exchanging names to start things off? You first."

Stupid indeed then.

Eury was just about to excuse himself, not in the mood for socializing with serpents, until he noticed Orpheus bounce up and down in place by his feet.

“Oh! Oh! Oh! Heya green lady! I’m Orpheus! And dis is my big bwother, Euwy!” the Zigzagoon piped up proudly, taking a few bounces forward to be a bit closer to her. Meanwhile, Eury found himself regretting not keeping the child on his shoulder, but he knew it was too late. Upon receiving a response, the female Servine visibly relaxed and folded her arms across her chest.

“Ahh, that's great. Yeah, when you said your name just then, it had that... that "zing". It means you're serious about this, yeah? As for me, my name's Teresa. I'm what you'd call a Guild Assistant, which makes me your Serperior."

Teresa stared at them with a blank face – most likely to let her pun sink in – and then proceeded to giggle quietly. Eury, however, stared back with unamused, half-lidded eyes. Orpheus on the other hand tipped his head to one side, the joke completely going over his head. Nonetheless, Eury was about ready to scoop the Zigzagoon up into his arms and walk away, but of course Teresa continued speaking.

“You know, you don't have to be so polite. I don't really care about rank and file, but I do care about honesty. If I tell a joke and it sucks, feel free to roll your eyes."

Polite.

Eury mocked the word in his mind. Though it was no surprise by now that his usual blank face had a tendency to process as different emotions depending on the ‘mon seeing it, for this Servine to take it as politeness in this case was...irksome.

Seeing her begin to extend one of her thin, green vines, Eury felt himself tense and he lowered his head in caution, closely observing the woman. However, on closer inspection, it seemed she was expecting a handshake despite keeping her arms folded.

"So what brings you here, anyway? You from out of town, or...?"

“That’s none of your concern.” Eury stated, boring his gaze into hers in hopes of making her back down and leave them be. Perhaps it could’ve worked; he knew it had worked in the past with others. However, Orpheus was not aware of Eury’s mood and waved his paws in the air in an attempt to reach the extended vine. Teresa seemed to notice this and lowered the vine for the small ‘mon to grasp between both paws. With a satisfied, toothy smile, Orpheus proceeded to make exaggerated up-and-down movements, to simulate shaking.

With another nod, the Servine withdrew her vine. “"Cool, cool... well, whatever the case, you've got a name in mind for your group, right? I didn't get a chance to check your papers, but I do want to get more familiar with our rookie members when I have the time. I'm kinda new to this whole assistant thing, honestly."

Well that explains a lot…

Sighing softly, Eury decided to give up on trying to find an exit. Thinking about it, perhaps this assistant had further reasons for speaking and questioning them than to just “get more familiar” with them. For all he knew, she could be assessing them and preparing a report for the leaders.

Whatever the case was, the Zangoose crossed his arms and tried to let himself relax in place. As the adult, he really should’ve been the one speaking, but even he knew he wasn’t exactly…good at hiding his distaste. Though he prided in being able to conceal his emotions, distrust was one he could not hide, nor did he feel a need to.

Not only that, but he couldn’t seem to recall what he exactly wrote down for a team name. He knew it was the last thing he filled out before turning in the paperwork, and yet…

“Lyreliiiight!!” Orpheus declared, pride practically rolling off of him in waves. This certainly caught Eury’s attention, and he tried to think back to when he was filling out those papers. Had he written that? Yes…now that he thought about it, Orpheus did catch him muttering about team names and provided his own input.

So that’s what he was going on about earlier.

“You see!” The young Zigzagoon continued, very obviously trying to contain his excitement within that small furry body. “The ly-ah is a petty instwament and is supah dupah ubah special to my Papa’s family! So ’s super special to our family! Thas wha’ Mama said!”

Well, at least the man got to hear about the information he had missed earlier, which was a rather interesting tidbit to say the least. As for Teresa, a smile crept over her features, though whether it was because she found the name inspiring or amusing was up for debate.

"There's that "zing" again. Feels good to know we've got Pokémon like you joining our Guild. I guess Cassidy wasn't exaggerating when he said the standouts just keep pouring in. Just don't get cocky - confidence is good, but overconfidence in a dungeon is a quick way to get yourself in trouble, along with everyone else in your party." She tapped the side of her snout then afterwards clicked her fingers. "Oh right, this is very important - why did you want to become an Explorer, hm? Just curious..."

Now this was a question he could answer, at least.

“We’ll be staying in Andalusst for a while, so we need a place to stay and a way to earn money to support ourselves.” Eury replied with ease. “Dungeon exploration will be pretty beneficial too, for reasons. The more food the better, mm.”

"...Because ultimately, the people come first, yeah? There's lots of food in the dungeons, and materials for clothing and medicine! When we go out and find that stuff, it means everyone here gets to have dinner. I mean, you know that, obviously, but just don't forget!"

Teresa’s words came out more rapidly and urgently than before, catching Eury off guard. Did she just try to put words into his own mouth…?

Not really. He answered her question mentally, suppressing the desire to send her a displeased glare.

“Yeah, yeah!!” Once again, Orpheus had different thoughts, whole-heartedly agreeing with the Servine. “Eating is good! Everyone should have yummy food! And stuff to help with the, um, ouchies and snifflies! E-even if it tastes bleh…” The Zigzagoon stuck his tongue out in distaste, as if he could taste the medicine already.

Teresa swayed her leaf-adorned tail from side to side and tapped her foot, momentarily distracted by her thoughts it seemed. The grin plastered on her face made Eury question whether it was towards the child’s innocence or towards whatever thoughts were going through her mind. Eventually she snapped back to reality, lifting her snout into the air and clearing her throat.

"N-not to sound standoffish, but what exactly do you do, anyway? What skills or talents do you have to offer the Guild? Everyone's good at something, I think."

“Fighting techniques. I was specially trained,” Eury answered, a lighter tone to his voice. “I’m relatively fast-acting.”

“Yeah, big bwother is weally stwong! Weally, Weally!” Orpheus added, looking up at Eury in admiration. Realizing he too needed to answer, his ears perked up and he was back to bouncing up and down. “Oh! I can sing! I can sing real good! Mama taught me!”

Honestly, if it weren’t for Orpheus being the mood-breaker in this situation, Eury knew this conversation (although it was an unwanted one) would be a lot more tense and awkward. He had to be grateful for the Zigzagoon for that at least. But of course Teresa had to pull him back into their talk by clicking her fingers and pursing her lips even before Orph finished his last sentence. Perhaps she had heard that nonexistent “zing” again.

"I can just feel it, you do what you do and do it with everything you've got. 'Cause in this guild, when a giver gives, then the giver gets... gotten... gets give-- eh, well you get what you give, or something. Whatever, it's written down on that big plaque in the hall. Just do your best and come see me if you need any help."

The Zangoose was more than sure that his shoulders completely relaxed the moment Teresa turned to leave, though not before she gave one last wave to which Orpheus returned with much energy. Eury didn’t waste another minute to watch her and squeezed their new housing key in his paw before leaning down and offering his arm to Orpheus, who habitually climbed it.

“Time to go see our new room.” Eury explained, holding up the shiny silver key. Orpheus’s mouth formed an “o” at the sight of the object and then he nodded eagerly, smiling that bright childish smile of his.

“Les go, bwother!”

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As you can see, this is basically the "written test" for the written app, although this includes a beginning part that I didn't add into the written test. I excluded it from the app itself since, for an app, it seemed a bit excessive and I thought it'd be better to upload it separately since it introduced story/character elements and was a good transition between the intro comic and Lyrelight's life in Andalusst (since there was quite a jump there). And this way it can serve as a story part and not just an skippable section on the App? Yeah.

Written App: