A written story and ask blog. Follow the adventures of a new recruit joining Varlaja's Guild as he meets companions and friends, all while bugging him with asks along the way!
Asks are open!
Quinn sat alone on the outskirts of the party, arms propped behind him as he leaned back to look at the stars above. Oddly, they seemed especially bright and clear here. Hundreds upon thousands of the pinpricks of light shone above, the Eevee lost in wonder as he realized that each beacon of light marked another sun with its own planets much like his own.
"It's like another world here..." he whispered to himself, looking down from the sky to take in the party. It was winding down, Pokemon leaving or heading over to the tends to sleep for the night. He still wasn't sure what it was exactly, and as he watched the subtle glow of Pokemon moving about he realized he had forgot to grab one of those glowsticks for himself. Oh well.
Collapsing backwards into the grass, Quinn found sleep overcoming him. He considered moving over to the tents, maybe finding someone to stay with for the night. Yet he didn't move from his spot. Eyelids grew heavy until, cradled by the grass, the Eevee fell into a deep slumber.
That night he dreamed of adventures and new friends. He dreamed of joining the Guild he was heading towards, of meeting teammates and striking out on adventurous missions. He dreamed of giant monsters, of creeping darkness, and of terrors lurking in the dark. Yet by his side stood his companions, those he had yet to meet, and together they would face it all.
Quinn's eyes fluttered open as light broke over them, the Eevee raising a paw to shield his eyes from the warm glow of day as he pulled himself upright. He shook out his head as he oriented himself, slowly pulling his paw down and looking back at the field the party had taken place in.
It was empty. No sign of the party remained, not a single tent, string of light, or fire pit. Not even the log he had spoken to that Zorua at. In confusion Quinn walked over to the field, pacing about the area to look for any signs of the previous night's events. Yet, none remained.
Had he dreamed it all? It had seemed so real, so vivid. If that had been a dream... Troubled by this, Quinn turned to head back the way he remembered coming the previous night, back towards the road that eventually would lead to Sentinel's Watch. As he was walking though he felt something off, reaching up to his left ear and feeling around it.
His paw grasped something, a small ring that had been slid over his ear. Pulling it off, he found it to be a small, dimly glowing yellow glowstick. Its light was almost gone. Quinn stopped as he looked at it, paws curling around the ring. Someone must have put it on him while he slept, so he wouldn't be stepped on... That meant the part must have been real!
Quinn gave one last glance over his shoulder, back to the empty field. Had they just cleared out before he woke? Yet, there should still be signs of the fire, and that stump... Maybe it had been a different world, Quinn thought as he recalled his whispered words before he fell asleep. The idea seemed ridiculous, but... What other explanation could there be?
He stuffed the dying glowstick into a pouch on his belt before taking off running, skipping through the tall grass until he found the road again. Ahead he saw the caravan, Pokemon bustling around it as they prepared to depart. Tracking down his carriage, Quinn slid inside just before the door was closed, taking his place on the bench opposite a rather large Chesnaught. With a sigh the Eevee leaned back against the wood wall behind him, eyes closed in thought.
Eventually sleep would once more overtake Quinn as the boredom of caravan travel set in, but before he drifted off he couldn't help but wonder if he would ever again meet any of those Pokemon from the previous night...
Quinn has left the Stargazing Event! The flashback is now over!
“Ah... Ahah...” Quinn nervously chuckled, eyeing the food floating over the Mew’s paw. Psychic power, he had seen it before. Still, to see such a casual display of it...
“Right, can’t be a Ditto, would need to see a real Mew to transform into one. A Zoroark’s mirage? Hmm...”
Without asking Quinn lunged forward, reaching out to grab the marshmallow the white Pokemon was floating before it could be smashed between the other parts of the sandwich. Flicking it into his mouth, Quinn concentrated as he tasted and swallowed it to determine if it was real. “Not a mirage, and as far as I’m aware Zoroark aren’t psychic... That means...”
The Eevee’s eyes went wide and his mouth gaped. “Uh... Uh! S-sorry for stealing your food, Mr Mew! I... I’ll... I’ll get you another one!” He croaked out those words before taking off running. Quickly he spotted Pokemon eating those marshmallow sandwiches that the Mew had been assembling, Quinn’s eyes lighting up as he honed in on them.
“Sorry!” he yelled out behind him upon swiping one of the things right out of the paws of a Pokemon about to bite into it. Bounding off, he quickly returned to where the Mew was sitting and held the treat out in his paws as he bowed his head down.
“Please accept this as an apology for taking your food!”
“Well, I’m glad to sea that you seem to be doing a bit better now, at least. I saw you earlier though, around when I arrived. Looked like you were about to snap then.”
Quinn rubbed his paws together. The night was starting to get cold, and the two were sitting too far from the fire for it to help warm them. “It’s beyond me what you have inside you specifically, but I get the feeling that it’s something dark. Something that seemed to drain you, and force you to do... Well, simply, bad things. Maybe you hurt people, maybe you even killed, maybe you were used to steal, I could go on.”
The Eevee looked down to the Zorua, smiling at them. “I was the same, you know. I didn’t have anything dark inside me, I just simply... Didn’t know better. All my life, it was all I knew. Hurting others was natural, killing was a tool, theft was my livelihood, and... The less said about how I treated our prisoners, the better.” Quinn’s smile faltered at that, memories he had long tried to forget attempting to float up. Quickly he repressed them, pushing them down into the depths once more.
"I can see though, you’re different. You don’t look like a bad guy to me, and from what I saw you even seem afraid of the possibility that your dark side may come out. You don’t want it to hurt people, and you don’t want others to see you that way. So... Look. What I’m trying to get at here is that the future isn’t set in stone. I’ve moved on from my past myself and no longer let Quinn the Pirate define me. I know that if you try, you can do the same. You don’t want your dark side to define you? Then don’t let it. Fight against it, and just maybe you can rid yourself of the darkness. But hey, what do I know?”
Quinn slid off the stump, standing up and placing a paw on his waist as he looked down to the Zorua. “Heh... Sorry about babbling on. As I said I don’t know what you’ve got inside you exactly, but from how you reacted to others and those dark wisps that almost overtook you I figure it’s gotta be some powerful magic. Who would I be to just ignore someone in your situation?”
Hey, guys? I know there’s not many of you out there following this blog, but... I really feel like I need to plead with you. Asks, likes, reblogs, signal boosts... I could really use all of them. Since I made this blog I’ve gotten a single ask, which I asked for, and not a single reblog or signal boost. I know not much has really happened on this blog yet, I got side tracked from writing the next plot post but even as part of this event... I mean, the last time I did an event on Ask-Shrike I actually got a ton of asks and had fun! But this time, only that one I asked for and none of the others I also asked other people for...
So, please, pretty much anything would be appreciated. I want to keep working on this, even if not as an ask blog as a pure fanfic, but the entire point of posting it here and not on fanfiction.net is for community involvement. Yet it’s hard to really have that involvement if no one wants to play along...
Quinn stood by the fire, looking around at what the other Pokemon were doing. Bags of some sort of food sat around: long brown crackers that Pokemon would take and snap in two, slabs of chocolate that they set on one of the cracker halves, and then puffy white sugary things that they… Stuck on small spears and roasted over the fire? Bizarre.
“Guess I’ll try?” Quinn grabbed one of those pointed sticks and jammed a ‘Marshmallow’ on its end. This seemed oddly familiar to him, and he couldn’t help but jab the stick forward a few times as he slid into a sideways pose to limit exposure to enemy combatants. Jabbing his stick at the fire, the Eevee let out a slight giggle at the absurdity of it before his ears twitched and he noticed some Pokemon looking at him. With a cough he stopped, holding the marshmallow in the fire like the others.
Wait, no, not in the fire! Distraught, Quinn pulled his stick out only to find that the sugary thing had melted into black char. He grumbled, glancing about awkwardly before side stepping over to the strange cat-like Hoppip that seemed to be guarding the marshmallows. When they weren’t looking he swiped a paw down and grabbed another, quickly sliding back to where he was and swiftly spearing the new marshmallow on the stick.
This time, he made sure not to put it IN the fire! He held the sugary treat above the flames, humming to himself as he turned it gently to let all sides roast evenly. Perfect! He pulled the stick back and held the marshmallow over his prepared cracker and chocolate, gently pushing it off as he repeatedly yelped and shook his paw out from the heat. Only when the marshmallow plopped down on the chocolate did he think to use the second half of the cracker to push it off…
“Mmm…” Quinn eyed his treat as he gently set the second cracker down atop the marshmallow, watching white goo squeeze out. Taking it in his paws, he held the thing up to his mouth and slowly took a bite.
Instantly the world around Quinn vanished. The plain fell away to a black void, the Eevee’s eyes going wide as he let the taste of his treat soak in. White began to fill the void as rainbows seemed to arch over head, a shining glimmer of light raining down as winged angels descended from the heavens above singing a wonderous chorus. A tear came to Quinn’s eye that he couldn’t wipe away, a reminder of the divine nature of this glorious treat. Quinn slowly went in for a second bite, eager to once more get a taste…
Only for a cacophony to tear through Quinn’s reverie, returning him to the real world just in time for a knee to slam into the Eevee’s face, its attached paw using the marshmallow sandwich as a stepping stone. It was forced out of Quinn’s grip, the Eevee recovering from the knee just in time to watch his treat fall to the ground. Crackers, marshmallow, and chocolate tumbled apart, dirt covering them before they rolled to a stop.
Quinn stood in shock, fingers twitching as if to grasp the empty air where his treat once was. “A-ah…” he muttered. Then he tenses up, paws clenching into fists as his lips twisted into a snarl. “You… Dirty…”
In one motion Quinn lunged down and grabbed the stick he had used to roast the marhsmallow, while spinning around to locate the black-furred Pokemon that had robbed him of his treat. They weren’t hard to find: Eon and her Umbreon companion were chasing that malevolant-looking red-ringed Umbreon around the place. Him! It must have been that Umbreon who did this!
“Get back here you coward!” Quinn roared as he leaped through the air, falling into a flat-out run as he landed again that even on two legs was more than a match for any Pokemon who preferred running on all four. He held his little spear stick at the ready, just about to leap again and thrust it at his target when he saw a surprise that sent him stumbling.
The Umbreon he was targeting carried… A large egg? It seemed to be flashing and glowing, and upon realizing this the Umbreon stopped. Stopped to… Eat it. He shoved the egg in his mouth and swallowed it down whole. At the sight Quinn fell face-first into the dirt, several meters short of his target. “What the hell!” he yelled as he leaped back to his feet, grabbing the stick again and holding it out towards the Umbreon. “I mean, eating an egg whole? Raw? Why would you do that! There’s a perfectly good fire over there you could have cooked it over! …Also you owe me one of those marshmallow sandwiches.”
@askeon / @askillusionfox
(For clarification, births in Varlaja are mostly live births except for avians who do lay eggs like in the real world so Quinn doesn’t really know about Pokemon eggs or what they are :P)
Quinn stood by the fire, looking around at what the other Pokemon were doing. Bags of some sort of food sat around: long brown crackers that Pokemon would take and snap in two, slabs of chocolate that they set on one of the cracker halves, and then puffy white sugary things that they... Stuck on small spears and roasted over the fire? Bizarre.
“Guess I’ll try?” Quinn grabbed one of those pointed sticks and jammed a ‘Marshmallow’ on its end. This seemed oddly familiar to him, and he couldn’t help but jab the stick forward a few times as he slid into a sideways pose to limit exposure to enemy combatants. Jabbing his stick at the fire, the Eevee let out a slight giggle at the absurdity of it before his ears twitched and he noticed some Pokemon looking at him. With a cough he stopped, holding the marshmallow in the fire like the others.
Wait, no, not in the fire! Distraught, Quinn pulled his stick out only to find that the sugary thing had melted into black char. He grumbled, glancing about awkwardly before side stepping over to the strange cat-like Hoppip that seemed to be guarding the marshmallows. When they weren’t looking he swiped a paw down and grabbed another, quickly sliding back to where he was and swiftly spearing the new marshmallow on the stick.
This time, he made sure not to put it IN the fire! He held the sugary treat above the flames, humming to himself as he turned it gently to let all sides roast evenly. Perfect! He pulled the stick back and held the marshmallow over his prepared cracker and chocolate, gently pushing it off as he repeatedly yelped and shook his paw out from the heat. Only when the marshmallow plopped down on the chocolate did he think to use the second half of the cracker to push it off...
“Mmm...” Quinn eyed his treat as he gently set the second cracker down atop the marshmallow, watching white goo squeeze out. Taking it in his paws, he held the thing up to his mouth and slowly took a bite.
Instantly the world around Quinn vanished. The plain fell away to a black void, the Eevee’s eyes going wide as he let the taste of his treat soak in. White began to fill the void as rainbows seemed to arch over head, a shining glimmer of light raining down as winged angels descended from the heavens above singing a wonderous chorus. A tear came to Quinn’s eye that he couldn’t wipe away, a reminder of the divine nature of this glorious treat. Quinn slowly went in for a second bite, eager to once more get a taste...
Only for a cacophony to tear through Quinn’s reverie, returning him to the real world just in time for a knee to slam into the Eevee’s face, its attached paw using the marshmallow sandwich as a stepping stone. It was forced out of Quinn’s grip, the Eevee recovering from the knee just in time to watch his treat fall to the ground. Crackers, marshmallow, and chocolate tumbled apart, dirt covering them before they rolled to a stop.
Quinn stood in shock, fingers twitching as if to grasp the empty air where his treat once was. “A-ah...” he muttered. Then he tenses up, paws clenching into fists as his lips twisted into a snarl. “You... Dirty...”
In one motion Quinn lunged down and grabbed the stick he had used to roast the marhsmallow, while spinning around to locate the black-furred Pokemon that had robbed him of his treat. They weren’t hard to find: Eon and her Umbreon companion were chasing that malevolant-looking red-ringed Umbreon around the place. Him! It must have been that Umbreon who did this!
“Get back here you coward!” Quinn roared as he leaped through the air, falling into a flat-out run as he landed again that even on two legs was more than a match for any Pokemon who preferred running on all four. He held his little spear stick at the ready, just about to leap again and thrust it at his target when he saw a surprise that sent him stumbling.
The Umbreon he was targeting carried... A large egg? It seemed to be flashing and glowing, and upon realizing this the Umbreon stopped. Stopped to... Eat it. He shoved the egg in his mouth and swallowed it down whole. At the sight Quinn fell face-first into the dirt, several meters short of his target. “What the hell!” he yelled as he leaped back to his feet, grabbing the stick again and holding it out towards the Umbreon. “I mean, eating an egg whole? Raw? Why would you do that! There’s a perfectly good fire over there you could have cooked it over! ...Also you owe me one of those marshmallow sandwiches.”
@askeon / @askillusionfox
(For clarification, births in Varlaja are mostly live births except for avians who do lay eggs like in the real world so Quinn doesn’t really know about Pokemon eggs or what they are :P)
“Eon, huh?” Quinn grinned, flashing his teeth and holding an arm behind his waist as he gave a bow before the foreign Pokemon. “It suits you; from what I have overhead, I gather that you are an evolved Eevee? My, I must wonder if all such Pokemon would share your beauty.”
Fully straightening, Quinn’s nose visibly twitched as he glanced over to the Umbreon who had been standing by Eon. The corners of his lips dipped into a frown at the sight, quickly recovering to a smile. “I would love to spend some time with you, but I see that my company may be unwanted. I do plan to stay the night at any rate; I don’t need to be leaving until sunrise.”
Quinn: Well you're quite the peculiar Eevee, hmm... To be honest, I've seen quite a lot of things but never an Eevee quite like you. What are you thinking of evolving into? Undecided myself, not even sure I want to take that step anytime soon...
“Hmm? Bad consequences?” Quinn scratched his head, glancing around. Something did feel off about this Eevee, but he couldn’t place it. “Afraid I don’t follow, what could be bad about evolving? I can understand not wanting to do it for personal reasons, but... Well, I guess that’s probably what it is huh? Personal. Sorry if it’s something you don’t like to talk about.”
“Dude! What the hell!” Quinn tosses the beehive to the ground as quickly as it was thrown to him, turning tail and running as fast as he could. “’Scuse me, coming through!” he yelled out to those in his path, pushing his way past Pokemon and not stopping until he could no longer hear the sounds of any bees. Kneeling over and grasping his knees, Quinn panted as he caught his breath. “What was that thing? Freakin’ nutjob...”
Quinn: Hmm, those are quite the interesting eyes you got there, Espeon. They related to your psychic powers? Ah, don't mean to dig... So what drew you and your friend to this place? Lots of people to meet, it seems.
Shadow: “No soul-stealing, so don’t worry!! We came here to try and make some friends, since we both don’t have many. By the way, my name is Shadow, and my best friend here is Alex! Nice to meet you~!!”
“A demon? That’s... Well I haven’t heard that one before.” Quinn was quite surprised by that revelation, blinking in confusion as he tried to sort this out. “As far as I knew, demons were just myths and folklore, stories that parents tell their kids to get them to behave. You’re saying you’re actually one for... Real? You don’t seem anything like the ones from the stories, though...”
The Eevee reached up to rub the back of his head, the tips of his ears and tail twitching in indecision. He wasn’t sure whether he should be on guard around this Espeon or if he should trust what they say; after all, wasn’t that just what a demon who meant harm WOULD say?
“Ah, well, my name’s Quinn at any rate. I was passing by when I saw the lights from this place and decided to check it out. Geeze, so many lights. It’s... Kind of pretty though, huh? Romantic, too...” The Eevee chuckled and shook his head, glancing to the Espeon and Flygon friends. “Sorry, don’t mean anything by that.”
Enigma: You're missing something there, buddy. You'll get trampled in the dark for sure without a glow stick. I suggest sticking to a light source or something til you get one.
“A... Glow stick?” Quinn blinks, glancing around. Come to think of it, everyone was wearing one or several of those glowing ring things. Kind of reminded Quinn of an Umbreon’s rings, but in several different colors. “Heh, thanks for the tip. I’ll look for one, but these eyes of mine...” He raises a paw up to the side of his head, motioning towards his large golden eyes. “I can see well in the dark, learning to sail by the moonlight will help with that. I suppose not everyone can say the same.”
Quinn was about to turn and leave to hunt down one of those rings when he paused. Umbreon... Wait. Turning back to the Pokemon who had approached him, the Eevee looked upwards at the large creature. “Geeze, you’re huge...” he muttered to himself, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. “I must admit I’d be hard-pressed to tell normally, but from that glowing I’m guessing you’re an Umbreon, a peculiar one. Have no need for these glow things yourself, huh? What’s it... Like, though. You know, being an Umbreon?"
The trip from Port Bonavita was going well. Quinn couldn't lie, he had feared that the convoy would come under attack from ferals. He hadn't the most money to spend and had to cheap out, ending up in a convoy with fewer guards than the norm. The carriage he rode in wasn't exactly comfortable either, the Eevee grumbling as he slid off the seat and rubbed his backside as he felt the carriage slow to a stop.
He heard some bustle outside, glancing up towards one of the windows that was just tall enough for him to not be able to see out of. Just as he did, the rear door to the carriage was unbolted and dropped to the ground. A Simisage dressed in a uniform that attempted to look professional but was terribly ratty stepped up to the door, holding on to the frame above his head. Quinn recognized them as one of the convoy's conductors.
"Sorry for the unscheduled stop, folks. Some of the Tauros are getting tired, afraid we need to rest for the night a little early," the Simisage said. "There's a small town nearby if you wish to seek lodging for the night, some of the guards will be leading an escort to it shortly. If you do wander off, be back before sunrise! Remember, no refunds!"
The other passengers grumbled at the announcement, Quinn catching harsh whispers about being late due to the delay. He himself wasn't on any sort of strict schedule, so to Quinn at least the stop hardly affected him. He found himself wandering out of the carriage with some of the other passengers, definitely not desiring another night of sleep on its hard benches if he could avoid that.
One of the guards the conductor had mentioned stood nearby, a Toxicroak riding atop a Rapidash with a sheathed sword hanging off the mount's side. The Toxicroak's appearance hardly matched with that of the conductors, without any sort of similar outfit. A mercenary, Quinn assumed, hired for this job and not part of the company the convoy belonged to. The Eevee wavered around the outskirts of the group forming around the guard, but something in the distance had distracted him.
Night was just starting to fall, and against the darkness a light in the distance was evident. Quinn found himself walking towards that light, leaving the guard and his group, indeed the entire convoy behind as he hopped off the path and began striding through an open field. The grass was just long enough to come up to his waist so walking through it was quite the task.
What the Eevee came across surprised him. The tall grass gave way to a well-tended field, and in that field he found numerous tents set up. Glowing lights hung from strings that ran from tent to tent, and wrapped around the trunks of some nearby trees. Of course all this was secondary: the true discovery was the masses of Pokemon miling about the place.
"Oh? Now what's this I stumbled on...?" Quinn remarked to himself as he walked among the tents, glancing about this way and that. "Might as well meet some people, huh..."
Quinn has arrived at the Stargazing Festival! He has no idea where he is nor does he have a glow stick/ring, so feel free to fill him in!
Aaaaaugh fuck it I’m sending Quinn to this festival, even if I’m... Late... ;w; Wonder if anyone’s still sending out asks for it, mmm... I’ll have the post up tomorrow with him arriving, but, feel free to send asks in now!
Quinn doesn’t have any idea where he is, nor does he have a glow stick. He just sort of wandered in!
So I got really busy and distracted last night between work and, uh... Amazon. I meant to ask then but, could I maybe get some asks for Quinn? And signal boosts would be appreciated too! I need to finish going through and following blogs as well, Tumblr blocked me from following yesterday as I was following too much lol.
Have you ever heard of the Guild? Its Wardens are said to be great heroes: of valor, strength, and wisdom. They readily journey the land to seek that which has been lost, combat the forces of evil, and uncover the mysteries of our past. Explorers. Mercenaries. Researchers. Together, these three branches form the Guild, shining a beacon across the lands of Varlaja from their fortress headquarters of Sentinel's Watch.
So you see? That's what I want to be. A true Warden of the Guild, both in title and in spirit. I want to be that hero, I want to carry that light, I want my deeds of good to outshine all that I have done wrong in the past. But it's best not to dwell on the past, right? The past is no longer who you are: you are who you make yourself in the present moment, and in your future. So, me? I may not be one yet, but I know that I am a Warden at heart.
My name is Quinn. For 18 years of my life I was a criminal. I stole, I killed, I committed atrocities I am still trying to put out of my mind. But now, that is no longer me. The Quinn that used to be is no more. A month ago I set out for Sentinel's Watch, with one goal in mind: I will move beyond what my life had made me and make proud the parents I never had the chance to know.
So I ask, will you join me? Join me on this adventure into the unknown, walking the path of redemption and heroism. I do not know where it will take me, I do not know who I will meet, what challenges I will face. All I do know is that my back is to my past and the unknown future lies before me. But first... I have to wake up.
"Hey, you awake?"
Quinn's eyes fluttered open at the voice, slowly raising his head as he pressed a paw against it. His head was pounding; resting it against the hard wood bench he had been riding on apparently hadn't been a good idea after all. "Ugh... I am now..." he spoke, flexing his jaws. "Would've brought a pillow if I had known this was what my coin would get me..."
"That's what you get for travel on the cheap," the voice from before said. As he raised his head, Quinn recognized it as the Chesnaught who sat on the bench opposite Quinn's. The large, bulky Pokemon was taking up most of the limited space in the carriage, and as the moving vehicle rolled over a bump in the road Quinn could tell that its balance was off from uneven weight distribution. Shaken and slid about on the bench, Quinn quickly grabbed onto a wooden post behind him before he went flying out the window.
"All I could afford. What about you, big guy? Seems you should have picked something larger yourself." Quinn could barely remember the Chesnaught getting on at their previous stop; they hadn't talked back then, only for Quinn to fall asleep until now. He glanced around the small vehicle, noting the Pokemon crammed against the walls to either side of the Chesnaught.
The large Pokemon gave a shrug, their hands easily touching the carriage's roof. "Never said I was rich. Asides, sometimes I like seeing what little folk experience, Eevee."
Quinn brushed his brown fur down and reached up with both paws to adjust his bandanna and goggles. They sat atop his head, the red cloth wrapped around his scalp and forcing his ears to lay low while the large round goggles sat on the bandanna over his forehead. Idly Quinn pulled the goggles up and off his head, reaching into a pouch on his belt and removing a cloth he used to wipe the lenses down with; dirt had accumulated on them from the road through the carriage's open windows.
"Call me Quinn," the Eevee ultimately replied as he finished cleaning the goggles, putting the cloth away and restoring the eyewear atop his head. He gestured with his right paw in the air, a pair of gold bangles clinking against each other at the motion. "You heading to Sentinel's Watch as well?"
The Chesnaught nodded with a smile across his face. "Yep, that be right. It is my home, after all." He cocked his head, looking above Quinn and out the window the Eevee was sitting under. "Should be getting close now."
"Wait, you live there? So you're with the Guild?" The tips of Quinn's ears twitched and his tail flicked about, slapping against the wall.
"Yep, again. What about you, little guy?" The Chesnaught sat up straight, or at least tried to. When his head bumped against the roof, he was forced to lean back down again.
Quinn paused, pursing his lips as he considered how to answer. Ultimately, he replied with, "It's my first time coming to the place, though hopefully not the last."
"Oh, I get what you mean. You're a new recruit, aintcha?" A few of the other riders in the caravan looked over at that, Quinn sighing as he found himself the center of attention, stared at by a half dozen strangers.
"Y-yes, I, uh... Well... Yes, that's it. I hope to join the Guild." Having found that oddly hard to say, Quinn nodded in satisfaction at his simple declaration. He'd have to get used to considering himself part of it soon enough, after all.
"That's the stuff! We got a newbie here, fellas! Not that I'll pry into why you join, no sir..." The Chesnaught slapped a thick arm against his leg, shaking the carriage in the process. They were positively beaming at Quinn, the Eevee finding himself pressing his back against the wooden carriage wall as the hulking beast leaned in close to him, their head stretching across the open center of the carriage.
"Aw, it's always good to see new faces around these parts. Why, I remember when I was but a Chespin and joining the Guild meself. Was in much the same position as you, now! There I was, setting out on my adventure, searching the world for a meaning to life... Maybe that's the same for you? Nay, probably not, but as I said I won't pry. We all have our own story to tell, but it must be written first."
Quinn gave the stranger an inquisitive look. It was a bit unnerving to be practically fawned over like this, but the big guy seemed to mean well. Before the Eevee could respond with anything though the Chesnaught glanced upwards and grinned. "Lookie there, the beginning of your story is coming into view."
Sliding off the bench to his feet, Quinn turned about and crawled back up in reverse, grabbing at the side of the carriage to pull himself up enough to see out the window. Expansive farmland scrolled by alongside the dirt road the convoy was traveling, but as the caravan turned around a bend something new came into view.
A great wall of gray stone encircled a fortress--no, a city. In ages past Sentinel's Watch was said to have been a fortress to protect against raiders who came by sea, but now it was so much more. Those great walls enclosed and protected the city, and rising up at its heart were the five tall towers of the fortress' keep. The points of some roofs could be seen sticking up over the walls, though Quinn knew that most of the city was hidden behind them. Still, Sentinel's Watch was an imposing sight, only growing larger as the convoy approached.
Unfortunately, the road was curving again and bringing the fortress out of view as the carriage headed directly for it. The Eevee frowned and tilted his head, before something lit inside his mind and he reached up to pull his goggles down over his eyes. Narrowing his gaze behind the glass lenses, Quinn reached his paws through the open window and felt around before grabbing on to some exposed wood ribbing on the carriage's exterior. Sticking his head out next, Quinn grinned as he climbed through the window while clinging to those wooden ribs.
"Hey, that's a wee bit dangerous!" The Chesnaught yelled in concern, Quinn looking back over his shoulder as he stood on the windowsill, finding the large Pokemon having leaned across the carriage.
"Don't worry! I've done far worse before!" The Eevee laughed as he slid his feet down, finding a small crack in the wood to wedge them into. Now holding on to the outside of the carriage, Quinn made sure he was holding on tight with one paw before letting go with the other. The Eevee swung outwards away from the carriage on a pivot, bringing him to face the fortress they were approaching.
The convoy was heading towards a large gate sat in the middle of the curved outer wall. Quinn smiled as he glanced around, looking at how the farmland pressed right up against that wall. Dirt paths wove through the fields, all connecting together at the grand entrance to Sentinel's Watch. High in the air above that gate a portcullis was raised, and doors that looked as if they'd require a team of Machamp to move were swung open to welcome the convoy and other visitors.
That convoy was just about there now. It stretched far in front of and behind the carriage Quinn was hanging out from. He could just make out the first carriages and carts passing through the gate, armored Pokemon mobilizing along the path and even high above atop the wall. The guards were hard to make out individually from this distance, but they appeared to be of all sorts of different sizes, shapes, and species.
"Hey, what's your name?" Quinn asked, glancing over through the window he had crawled out of to the Chesnaught still inside. A wild smile was spread across the Eevee's face and behind those goggles protecting his eyes from the wind Quinn's golden eyes were sparkling.
"Heh... It be Duncan. You're one wildcard, you know that?" The Chesnaught chuckled, relaxing some but keeping his guard up, ready to lunge out and grab Quinn were he to slip.
"Wildcard, huh? Yeah... I think that fits. Thank you, Duncan! I hope we meet again!" With a broad grin, Quinn pressed his free paw against his forehead in a salute.
"Meet again? But wait... Hey!" Duncan yelled out, but it was too late. Quinn swung back towards the carriage, grabbing on to it and climbing up with the speed of someone who was well experienced climbing moving vehicles. The Chesnaught tried to grab the Eevee's bushy tail as it passed, but it was yanked up just a moment too soon as Quinn crawled onto the carriage's roof. "You crazy bastard! You're gonna go far!" Duncan roared in laughter, already hearing the pounding footsteps of Quinn running along the carriage's roof.
There were about ten carriages ahead of the one Quinn had started on. After getting his balance atop the moving roof, the Eevee dropped to all four feet and began to sprint. He smiled as he heard Duncan shout after him, but he couldn't reply. Instead, he jumped. From the roof of the carriage Quinn jumped down to the backs of the Tauros pulling it, vaulting from there up to the next carriage's roof. He heard angry shouts from behind him, but he ignored those too.
Quinn kept running and leaping between carriages. Not all were pulled by Tauros, he found that a few actually seemed to be electrically-powered. Pausing atop one of the carriages near the front, Quinn stood up again just as it pulled underneath the city gate. He spotted some guards giving him weird looks, saluting at them as he flashed a grin. "Riding is too slow, dontcha know?"
There it was, now coming into view as the gate and wall slid behind Quinn. The city of Sentinel's Watch, not just the walls that surrounded it anymore. Right beyond the gate was a large plaza surrounded by a park, keeping the immediate area clear of buildings. To either side, left or right, he could see rows of streets and buildings farther off. Ahead too he could make some out, past the parks and fountains. The road they were on cut through them all, heading straight to the second, inner set of walls that surrounded the fortress' keep.
That was his stop, Quinn knew. Crouching down to run again, he propelled himself forward, leaping to the next carriage and from there to the very first. Diving off it to the side, the Eevee rolled through the grass for a moment before righting himself and bracing with a paw. Standing up to his legs, Quinn quickly brushed his fur down and glanced about at the few Pokemon that had taken notice of his entrance.
"Geeze, you all act like you've never seen someone run and jump before." Quinn rose a paw and shrugged dismissively as he began to walk, slowing down now to take in the sights. Pokemon rushed about to and fro, some playing in the park, others relaxing, and yet more seeming to move with a purpose much like Quinn. Roads from both the left and right half of the city crossed through this central park, and there was no shortage of Pokemon traveling them.
"I'm here..." Quinn muttered under his breath, stopping still as he looked up with his gaze scanning from the base of the keep to the top of its towers. "A new chapter, no, a whole new story... Where will it take me now?"
