"Right, so if I'm reading this map correction, which I probably am not, we should head left at the next crossroad." I stated with my claw poking at the indication on the map, then a hoof from over my shoulder turning the map around
"Right, and you were holding it upside down," Yui giggled from over my back, having decided to use me to rest her hooves for a bit. I certainly didn't mind carrying her, she was light and it's free hugs so a win-win. What I didn't like was how I've been reading Equestria on the wrong angle this whole time
"You neglected to tell this an hour ago, why...?" My brow furrowed at her smile that looked like the cat that swallowed the Canary
"Because it's cute watching you do this sort of stuff," I immediately turned my gaze back to the road, even as her muzzle nuzzled my cheek. "It is! You look like a foal discovering the world for the first time, I honestly feel kinda jealous you get that experience at your age... huh."
Keeping my eyes closed for a moment I folded the map. "I can never if those comments of yours are an insult or compliment, your tone of voice lacks change between sarcasm and amusement." No response, guess I was -- Then Yui bounced off my back. "Yah! Warning, Yui, warning when you use my body as a trampoline!"
"There's something over here, come on!" She was ignoring me in favor of her giddy curiosity that put a cat to shame. If she wasn't so enrapturing when she was like this I'd have grown to be bitter at it, but I followed too, logic overwritten with the discovery Yui made. "Hurry your butt, it's just through these trees!"
"You say 'these trees'..." My arms waved to the whole of the forest. "There. Are. Many Trees!" She dived through a bush and I sighed and followed her trail to an opening in said forest
I came to stop beside her as we faced a large pond with water unlike any I've seen. We approached the bank and stared down at the sparkling liquid, and found it to be a perfect mirror, we couldn't see the bottom but our faces were perfectly refracted off the still water, I bent down and scooped up some in my paw to drink, and like eighty percent of Earth, it was water, fresh too.
"It's a pond, a mirror-like pond, but a pond no less, Yui." But that didn't diminish her attitude, humming at the discovery while jotting something in her journal, a new page with a rough drawing already manifesting of the pond. "What are you...?"
"This is part of my journey, remember? I want to discover the lost history of Equestria, find treasures and things no other pony has laid eyes on, this happens to pique that sense of mine so it must be unique." Yui didn't sound upset by my lack of belief, but I wasn't going to question her skill, its what made her so endearing to me
The moment, much like the rippling water, was ruined.
"Hold on," She stood up again. "I need a stick to test something," I tried to call her back but she was gone by the time something in my own reflection distorted. Oh, fantastic...
*Splash!*
"-I LIIIIVE!!" Someone tackled me the second the water spat them back, the two of us rolling away from the water's edge
The two of us pushed off the other, and I came to view... my eyes shot open with my somewhat ajar mouth. It was another human, but, they were still 'human', how is that fair Trinity? He had snow-white hair, some of the curly, messy locks concealing his left eye, leaving the sharpened orange iris to stare back, dumbfounded by my appearance too, but this energy I was receiving was warning me on every level to not take my gaze off this guy, especially since he withdrew a black longsword with a chilling, white glow, cracks of the same energy dotting the blade.
I took a once-over on his appearance, a reddish-purple scarf with black lines like scales across the whole length. A sleeveless, black jacket with gold trim for the lack of sleeves and the zipper. Under that was a grey striped T-Shirt. His belt housed the scabbard and a few pouches, a pair of charcoal cargo pants, and some armor plating for his thighs, knees, and shins, matching some steel-toe boots, boiled leather. This guy was equipped for a fight.
"Who the hell... a Lucario?" His gaze hardened like his creepy smile. "No idea how I'm here, but... could be fun to relieve a little stress," He swung his sword around to emphasize some kind of superiority, this guy seems full of himself, good, I have an advantage of concentration at least. Then he lowered his guard, waving a hand out, "Oh, by the way, this isn't anything against you or your race just that the prospect of fighting a damn Pokemon is just too good to pass up, you know how it is... probably... maybe -- I don't know, I just drowned, again, and today's been a wash..." He rambled on-and-on
Is he for real? "Yui, might want to sit this one out,"
"Oh believe me, last thing I'm planning on doing his becoming a kabab." That's fair. "Also, hah, never doubt a Treasure Hunter's sense!" Again, very fair
The strain between us grew, and without a word my aura stretched and condensed between my paw, the polearm grazing the dirt while the boy lost his smile, and his aura flared considerably, just how intense can one person make there's? I believe the saying, 'blink you might miss it' comes to mind as we crossed staff and blade, both sliding to where the other once stood. Turning back around I struck down with my staff, his blade diverting it.
Spinning from that point I lunged again so he blocked, and his body vanished into the darkness, and I felt his boot connect to my back a moment later. Flipping back around I enhanced my aura sense and ducked under his cross-slice, then two over-arm slants of his sword. His body miraculously ricocheted off the air itself, slicing horizontally across my metal spike that left my chest grazed, then back and forth twice more in rapid succession, luckily I blocked them all.
Retaliating I fired a single Aura Sphere into the ground, blindsiding him as I spun through the air, my staff clanking against his risen sword as his feet dug into the ground, with a grunt he shoved me back, a strange ripple in the air erupting from his palm, he missed as I dived over his form, channeling a bronze light into my left palm as it embedded itself in his back, tossing the boy across the grass while his blade sunk through the ground to whip him back around.
His left index and middle fingers bent against his thumb, and from seemingly nowhere a sonic bomb rippled the water and shook the trees as I was thrown up against a trunk, another blast of compressed sound rung in my ears as I raised my arms for Protect, holding my ground that tore apart under the constant flicks of just his fingers. What is this guy?
Grinding my teeth together I let my aura dip into a soft pink, and my hearing was swallowed by the melody of my heartbeat, it was a strain to use Protect and Calm Mind, but the more I soothed my spirit, the stronger and far less strained I became, four times... five...
*Shiiing-Shiiing*
I blinked, my translucent shield shattered under the force of an upward strike, followed by multiple downward, horizontal slants of his sword that leveled several trees in his wake. Had I have moved any slower I may have been just like the logs. He tapped the sword to his neck, chuckling as I balled up my fists. "I'm aware of what 'Calm Mind' does, Poke-Mutt," He just lightly rested his sword on a tree stump, cracking his own knuckles. "I've had a Lucario in my team before."
With no time to use Sword Dance I raised my fists in time for his assault. First was a right and left hook respectively. He bent on his left and swung with the right leg as I flipped back onto my paws and dived back, ducking under his fists as mine connected with his stomach twice, pressing my back to the ground I booted him high into the air, launching after him before he could recover. His right hand bent backward and his fingers created another sonic blast to intercept my jump, his foot colliding with my crossed arms as he flipped off them, grabbing my right arm as He leveled himself above me, fingers bent again while his feet pressed to my back.
Oh no...
The air sang a deafening tune as my face was driven into the ground in a heartbeat, his feet pressed to my back while his arm held mine from moving. The tension in the air clouded us both, and I could hear him panting himself, now I could chuckle, much to the jolt of his surprise against my spine. "Counter." My left fist was still free and lined with a moonlit silver.
The resulting concussion of his own power caused a strange, white light to crackle across his clothing, much to his irate expression as he cracked his neck. "Alright... now that was fun," He waved with his hand as I spat the dirt from my mouth, adjusting my scarf.
I doubt I could, this wasn't like fighting monsters, he was thinking of his own accord, and had some strange ability that masked his aura from my own, not to mention his punches were like steel too. Wherever he came from I was at the disadvantage here. Grunting, I rubbed the water droplets onto my body as the bruises and gash patched themselves.
I and the teen stared at one another, unable to say a word as we merely observed the other. Every rational thought I had was... irrational now, the very idea of another person, let alone a human, being here without so much as a tail nor snout had me simultaneously perplexed and irritated that I somehow get stuck with this form, though I am not complaining, merely stating that the situation we've been placed in seemed to favor the new individual.
We pointed. "Just who the hell are you?" "Just who the hell are you?"
The boy blinked, head swishing around, then his eyes dawned a familiar sense of realization. "Ah, right, Lucario can do the whole, 'zippy-zap telepathy-thing'," His lips pressed to a fine line. "Mmm, this doesn't explain the weird quadruple hiding behind that tree?" How did he -- My body shuffled to conceal the peaking eyes of the massively curious mare behind me, that made the boy's brow raise. "Smart, because I don't do 'surprises', and that one was eyeing me something shocking..."
"Leave her out of this," I held a nervous grin, but there was something about his aura that rubbed me in a way no other to date has. This... distortion surrounding his blue flame, a dark, faint shimmer of purple in a black smog, it was unlike anything I've seen... corruption? Demonic even? Whatever it was, I could feel it stare back at my own, and from how we examined one another, the boy looked to be housing deep thoughts of uncertainty himself
His eyes soon rolled, and he slapped his dark sword back into the scabbard, frown remaining present as he examined the mirror-like pool next to us. "So I fell into a pond and ended up someplace else? Straaaange... think it can get me back?" Was he... talking to me or himself? I didn't say anything as he blew a raspberry. "Fan *BEEP*ing tasti -- Did this world just *BEEP*ing censor me? I-It did it again!?" He was now boiling with immediate rage, and I held back a snort, but his ear twitched under his hair. "Oi, Poke-Mutt, don't mock the man capable of grinding your snout into the ground." He snorted. "Already made that example no more than two minutes ago."
Oh, a wiseass, fantastic, as though Taka wasn't enough in my life. "Real mature, aren't you, white--" My throat froze at the tip of a sword, my paw immediately flexing as a spark of bronze tickled my claws. But that look in his eyes, it made me tremble where so many monsters have failed before, just... what is he? Not human, that was certain
"I *BEEP*ing dare you to finish that nickname, go on, I'll count the last gargled breaths you take." He challenged me, then my heart plummeted at the tapping of hooves. His exasperated look froze my blood. "Oh here we go..."
"If you don't want to be kicked right back through that lake, back off, now..." That level of fierceness in Yui's eyes was, for lack of a better word, hot. Kinda wish it didn't come around when a blade was dancing between our throats as the look in the boy's eyes swayed lazily, and again, he twisted his head away with a grunt
"Yeah? I know the pony... bat... thing, just talked, so what?" He was taking this rather mellowly, and he hadn't heard of Equestria given his reaction, so was he apart of an entirely different world? Well, he certainly wasn't from my Earth, I don't think that sword's street-legal. "And that's my problem how?" He glanced back at us. "Don't look at me like I'm the crazy one, you're a human-turned-Lucario, and... she, I think, happens to be sentient and with a soul that would make even Blondie jealous," He slowly smirked, lowering his blade from us. "I like you, you bite back unlike most I meet."
I and Yui sighed with relief, and once more the sword was sheathed, his arms folded while he sat down with his legs crossed. "So... where the Hell am I? And if you tell me I'm stuck in the Pokemon world I'll take my chances feeding myself to a Beowolf or... dare I say it, endure the obnoxious ramblings of Ruby," He visibly shook at that, paling. "Ugh, on second thought, death by Grimm would be more investing."
Hold on... Grimm? As in, Remnant Grimm? Ruby... with a Rose!?
My eyes widened. "He's... from the RWBY universe?" He blinked at me, unable to understand Poke-speech, but Yui did share the same look
"What's 'RWBY', isn't it with a 'U'?" I shook my head, then pointed to our mystery swordsman who continued to tap his finger to his bicep impatiently
"Right, sorry," I spoke to them both through aura-telepathy. "He's not from my Earth, he's from a world that's actually a... well, let's call it a book, in my world, but he was never apart of it." His smirk returned almost pleased by that
"A world without me, which means no annoying 'family issues', sounds like paradise." He snorted a laugh, sitting back with his arms holding him up. "Yeah, the name 'RWBY' is my... ugh, little sister's team... I'm part of Team MAZE, which I'm guessing doesn't exist?" I nodded, and he rolled his eyes. "Figures, welp, if that isn't Multiverse Theory I don't know what is, then again, Echo, you're from the Nightmare Realm, right?" Again he paused to speak to... another person in his head? And I thought I had issues. He blinked. "Right, yeah, this is common for me so I'm not all that fussed."
He tapped a hand to his chest. "I'm not overly keen on explaining everything, that, and I don't care, so let me make this simple for you. Echo is a being that resides in my body, you've probably used that 'Aura' of yours and sensed some distortion?" I nodded vigorously, and he put his hand up. "Chill, yeah, that's a common sign of what she is, a Nightmare, I'm her Host," He put his hand out. "Zorah, pleasure and all that."
Yui raised a brow. "You don't have a surname?" That was a good question
"If you're related to Ruby and Yang wouldn't you either have Xiao Long or Rose as your--" His fingers clamped my muzzle shut, and he shot a glare my way again
"Don't... ever, say that," He let go slowly, eyes cold, almost devoid of empathy. "I abandoned that God-forsaken name long ago, it's just Zorah." There was a large, bubbling sea of hatred festered to life again, and... grief? I... I felt my ears fold back as Yui looked to me and put her hoof on my lap comfortingly
"Oh... I, sorry," He seemed to understand what I was implying. I didn't need to say it, but he chuffed bitterly
"...that's a microcosm, but yeah," Soon after the tension broke under his hands clapping with sarcasm. "Now! You are...?" He twisted his hand slowly as we both shook our heads, again, manners are slipping
"Name's Zen," I patted Yui on the head as she smiled under her hood, breaking from her daydream
"Yui, and I appreciate the compliment earlier, even if you were trying to harm my partner." That subtle, venomous tone caused a proper laugh to flow from Zorah's throat
"Haha, pony, you and my best friend would get along like a house on fire!" He tapped the pommel of his black sword, thinking with a whimsical expression. "Not a bad place, teeming with magic too, and you're the first real challenge I've gotten in a while, goes to show, never mess with a Lucario with more than four abilities at his disposal."
I grinned with a beat of pride. "I certainly wouldn't say fighting a person with an unbreakable sword and nearly impenetrable aura wouldn't be fun, that's certain." He looked to take that with quite a boost to his morale. My guess, he's the kind to boast about his talents, and from what I had a taste of, he had the skill to back it all up, a scary combination given how sharp he is alongside an unknown partner called 'Echo'
*Zwoosh-Thud!*
Someone else just flew from the lake's reflective surface, and Zorah's expression lit up without turning instantly like us to inspect it. "Haha, wondered when you'd show up! I didn't exactly resurface, did I -- Aaaand the hugging." The new arrival tackled Zorah as I and Yui looked from each other to the friend of Zorah's
Sporting combat equipment like a Hunter from Monster Hunter, I think it looked like the Kirin armor with subtle adjustments to the shirt and shorts. The girl hugging Zorah tightly was a Wolf Faunus by the appearance of both fluffy, bluish-white ears and a small tail. The girl had a peachy complexion and was about two or three inches shorter than him. Her messy bluish-white hair reached her shoulders, with the bangs down the sides of her face and resting between or above her pale blue eyes.
"As you can tell I'm not dead, and you know better than anyone else that drowning doesn't work for me," Finally blinking the girl pushed herself off of him, pouting angrily as she waved her hands in expressions akin to sign language, a faint tint of pink on her cheeks. Zorah scratched the back of his head, and was... nervous? "You know as well as I do that the trees have it in for me. Have you climbed trees for months in the frigid snow before? I doubt that considerably."
Her expressions sharpened, then stopped as she turned to us, myself and Yui on the fence about this new arrival, what surprised me was how her expression lit up with stars in her eyes, mouth ajar while Zorah tried to hide a sly smile mouthing, 'Have Fun' to me. The second after and the blue and white mass slammed into me with a hug to rival my sister's, the girl humming happily as I was swung side to side gently.
I blinked, then smiled. "Well, it's been a while since I've gotten a hug like this, I am perfectly fine with the events unfolding." My response caused her to freeze then her smile grew as she nuzzled my cheek, making me stifle a laugh. "Hehehe, compared to Zorah's welcoming arrival this is much better."
"So it would seem..." Was... is Yui getting jealous? I craned my head to view her, and there was a faint trace of ire in her expression, but it came out as more of a cute pout under her hood that I would gush over if not for the girl still hugging me. To avoid any unnecessary backlash I tapped the girl's shoulder, and she looked to where I was pointing, the antisocial treasure hunter blinked. "Wait, what are you -- Gah!!"
Zorah answered with a facepalm while I and Yui were hugged by the cute Wolf Faunus. "Meet Azure, my partner who loves the Pokemon Lucario, how lucky for you," He grumbled, but within his distorted soul I sensed a faint glimmer of amusement at the sight, and the same could be said for Azure here, only hers was like a raging fire. "Azure, I know you're on Cloud Nine but for all that is wrong with Remnant, let the human-turned-Lucario and Bat-Pony-Girl, go."
To emphasize, he pried the girl from us, and I chuckled at the sight of Yui's tomato-red face, as I only felt really happy for the hug received, this girl radiates with kindness, a perfect contrast to tall, dark, and broody beside her. He raised his hands slowly, eyes flattened without care for the silent complaints of Azure. "Azure, there is no number that can quantify the number of [BEEP]s I do not give," He paused as she leaned closer. "'Because', the longer we stay in another world the more likely we are to rip apart time and space, or cause some other universal collapse, who knows, take your pick -- And yes, this world censors things; Why? I really don't know and I hate it."
Now that I observed their auras together, I couldn't refrain from smiling, and from Yui's head against my arm I'd say she realizes it too, even if the two partners before us haven't. Amongst the swirling torrent of emotions, I could pick up on a faint, warm feeling that bounced between them. From Zorah's smug yet amused smile, and Azure's swishing tail and challenging grin, it was obvious they were close, even if they haven't realized how much so.
Zorah was the first to stand up, pulling Azure up with a hand. "Now then, we should head back, knowing Myst she's gonna be going on some warpath to find us, and Eros... eh, I doubt it, probably acting damage control for Myst." Azure looked to agree with a deadpan nod, Zorah waved to me once, while Azure held up a note to me, and I smiled, nodding. "Nice chat and all, and sorry about the whole... trying to stab you thing."
"Thank you, I'm sorry if Zorah is... temperamental," That was one way to put it. Of course, this message was between us, and judging by the look on the white-haired boy's face, he was clearly aware of that but decided to cross his arms and wait. "He's been through alot in his life, but despite that, he's a kindhearted person, even if his outward appearance makes him out to be a devil."
"A rather specific word?" Her ears flattened a hurt smile on her face. Zorah raised a brow at me, frown deepening as Yui anxiously kept her eyes between the three of us. To be called a 'Devil', either he used to be a horrible person, which I doubt, or just like me years ago, he wasn't seen as 'normal', that his way of thinking and acting was a subject of ridicule, yeah, that looked to be the case
"People call him that, he loves it... but... I just want him to be happy, he of all people I know deserves it," This inkling of sorrow was overshadowed by a rise of pride and that familiar kindness that encompassed her soul. "I know we've only just met, and we may not see each other again, but I--" I held my paw up
"I understand, I... have parts to my past I've struggled to let go of, if not for Yui I'd have died long before now," My eyes lingered on the mare trying to examine Zorah's sword, himself holding the scabbard high above her reach as he grinned much to the treasure hunter's dismay. "She's everything to me, and I think the same could be said for you to Zorah," My reply made her eyes widen with a faint flicker of embarrassment. "I appreciate you telling me, maybe someday you can tell him yourself."
"I hope, someday, I will tell him with my voice." Her eyes were unwavered like a certain treasure hunter, guess the four of us are similar in a few ways. That was when Zorah grabbed Azure's hand and tugged her toward the lake's edge, giving us a final wave
"'Till the next time around!" Azure bowed with him, then Zorah pulled the girl close and dived back into the lake with a radiant splash, their bodies vanishing without a figure or shadow to be seen. I think I'm gonna perform some serious water quality tests before I start gathering water from now on
The two of us just lingered on our own reflections, I didn't know what to think or feel about the encounter; Shocked that there's many more worlds and variants between them? Happy I got to meet two new individuals with interesting backgrounds? Sorry for whatever transpired for Zorah? Whatever feeling I wanted to work on, what matters most is that for a different as we may be, it was good to know that we're not alone in terms of adversity. All of us were trying to achieve our goals, be it to become a Huntsman or to stop all of reality from falling apart. What? It can vary?
Yui then nudged my side. "Come on, let's get back on the road," She trotted over to retrieve our bags. "Won't make it to Smokey Mountain dilly-dallying."
Finally, my eyes left the pool of water. "Says the one who wanted to investigate in the first place," My mirth caused her to trip herself up, tugging her hood closer
"I'm a Treasure Hunter... that's sorta my thing..." She murmured shyly, even as I hugged her softly
"It's why you're awesome, remember?" I added, seeing her eye elude mine slightly
"You know it," Her muzzle turned my way to nuzzle off mine with a sweet smile
[Zorah's POV]
Feels good not to be on magical ground anymore, just the amount I get pumped into my veins on a daily basis is enough. And the saturation and colors in that world, blah! Don't know how that idiot can stand living for a day in that world, and a talking... bat... pony thing? There is no one alive that can explain that to me.
"Zorah!" Ooooh... great it's Red. She came jogging up to myself and Azure, the rest of the class watching from afar as I tried desperately to forget whatever just happened in that lake, though Azure looked ready to burst with the information of multiversal existences beyond Remnant. "You guys have been gone for nearly an hour, where--"
I slapped my hand over her lips, hushing her with venom in my voice. "Red, if I could so much as contemplate the very extent to what I witnessed, where I've been, and who nearly gave me a thrashing I might very well be convinced I'm high," I smiled sarcastically with wide eyes. "So! If you don't mind I'm going to go and drown myself in something else that isn't a lake! Good day!"
I didn't look back, merely rolling my eyes at the cold, hard stare behind the Professor's helmet as I grumbled, ruffling my hair. Then Echo decided to chime in at the worst of times, knowing fully well I hated that emotion, aura sensing Pokemon with a fiery passion. "Should we--" Not. A. Word. "About what?" Exactly...
My life is a joke of which I must play.
To Be Continued...