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glottia-arts · 4 years ago

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Annoying new allies

Whoops, I guess a few days turned into over a week, sorry bout that. Least I worked up the nerve to post this here @emizel

Word Count: 4,482

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Why was he here? One minute, he was relaxing on the plains, the next, he wound up in some misty forest! This was Tauros crap.

Kesten wasn’t pleased with this new location, never one for the woods. He stuck out like a sore thumb, the only exception being near trees in Johto.

He missed that place.

The other residents of this woodland picked up on his foul mood, avoiding any form of contact and staying out of his sights. Good, they knew not to disturb him. A lot of the inhabitants here as he recalled were fairy type, it would be suicidal if they provoked him further.

In his irritation, he slashed glowing mushrooms, watching some fall to the ground, dead, while the remaining lit up. That made tracking his way through the forest easier, it was darker than a Dark Void in here.

Given he could see the path now, he carefully navigated along the tree roots. He was angry, but he didn’t want to mess up the natural habitat of the Pokémon that lived here.

Sometime along his trek, he felt something tap his helmet. Peeking around, nothing appeared out of the ordinary. This continued on until he reached the entrance to the forest, his ire worse than before. To make it worse, the last time he scanned behind himself, he swore he heard giggling.

If he didn’t want to wreck the environment, he would have rushed in and used an attack.

Grumbling and deciding to be the better Pokémon, he left the annoying dark mushroom infested forest.

To his surprise, the exit led him to a town, Stow-on-Side if he recalled. This confused him more as he was in the wild area with his Pawniard group prior, how did he wind up in the jungle near here?

Another thump against his head interrupted his train of thought, twisting to face the offender. Standing several feet away from him was a female Indeedee, tossing a berry up and down. She was hiding a giggle behind her hand.

The Bisharp narrowed his eyes at the annoying creature, taking note that much like himself, she differed from her species norm. Odd to see another like that.

The blades on his arm extended, ready to take her down. Seeing this, she smiled more and threw her berry at him, clearly underestimating him. Joy changed to shock as he cut right through the berry and charged straight for her. Unfortunately for her, she was slower than him. Unable to run away, he struck her with Night Slash, watching unamused as she flew back to the entrance of the forest and turned to leave.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing!?”

Kesten essentially snarled at being addressed, angling his head to catch a human helping the Indeedee up.

“You can’t just be striking another Pokémon becau-” The woman paused as she took in his features. Cautiously, she pulled out another Pokéball.

Kesten knew where this typically went and was ready to bat away the offending object. To his surprise, she tossed out a Pokémon, a Quagsire to be specific. Did she really think she could beat him with that?

Not wanting to give her the first chance, he moved in to strike.

“Use Yawn!”

Crap! The attack struck him, but he to hit the Quagsire, sending them tumbling near their owner.

He began succumbing to sleep and realizing it was futile in fighting this, he turned tail and tried to escape.

“Hilda, no!”

The last thing Kesten remembered was getting struck by an attack and crashing to the ground, fading to black.

__________

His head was swimming and vision blurry when he woke up. It took him a while to register the blobs that hovered over him, going into defensive mode until he got a better glimpse at one of them. When his eyesight cleared up, he recognized the particular blob to be his trainer, causing him to relax considerably.

The other character near still had him stiff, not entirely trusting them. It was the trainer from before.

He took notice to his trainer smiling in relief, sighing along with it. “Ya know Kesten, I’m glad you’re ok, but do you have to be like this whenever you’re on your own? Can’t take you anywhere sometimes…”

She chuckled after that, offering him her hand. In stubborn pride and respect for his trainer, he did not accept her hand, choosing to stand up on his own. The woman shrugged but stood, struggling to straighten herself out.

On instinct, he wanted to help but knew he’d have to wait until he was clean to do that.

The mystery woman rose as well, causing Kesten to shift into a defensive position once more. She held up her hands.

“Easy there, I’m no threat.”

“Sorry about that man, anyone who’s in a mile radius of me is a threat in his book.” Drawing near the other trainer, his own gestured towards her. “Kesten, this is one of my friends. You don’t really need to worry about her, I’ve known her for a while and she’s pretty cool.”

His trainer reached out to the woman and lightly pat her shoulder. “Besides, she did bring you and Scrap back after all. A couple of my other friends have been looking for you both, just she was the lucky one to find ya.”

Kesten glanced between both trainers before taking in the taller female; His trainer had mentioned a friend that matched this woman’s appearance in an earlier conversation. Perhaps she was all right, even if she had sent another Pokémon after him. Not to mention the annoying she-devil he dealt with beforehand.

After a moment, he eased into his normal attentive stance.

Removing her hand from the other female’s shoulder, his trainer crossed her arms. “Now that that’s settled…” She narrowed her dark eyes at him. “You need to apologize for hurting her Pokémon!”

“He kind of doesn’t.”

“I know, but they still got hurt!”

“It’s fine-”

His trainer whined in response, not entirely believing her friend.

Kesten sighed and approached the other trainer, catching both women’s attention. Glancing between them both he rolled his eyes slightly then tilted his head into a bow to the other girl. She definitely wasn’t expecting that, shaking her hands in front of her face.

“It’s fine, seriously! If anything, I should sort of apologize for Hilda’s behavior. She’s playful in her own way, so I understand how that might annoy others. Then of course, for her attacking you when you tried to run away.”

Kesten narrowed his eyes at the girl as he straightened out, turning to face away and huff in response.

"Mmm… me thinks he's gonna be sore about that for a while."

Just then, the Pokémon they were talking about decided to pop out of her ball with a flourish, catching the Bisharp’s attention.

His trainer went stiff, ready to intervene if he tried anything. Her and her darn peaceful ways.

The Indeedee smiled like everything was fine in the world, ticking him off even more. She even had the gall to approach him and make a heart shape with her hands. He heard the monstrosities trainer ‘Aww’ in the background, ignoring it to simply glare at the Pokémon.

“I think she’s trying to apologize to him.”

“I mean that’s cool, but like… I don’t think Kesten wants her near him right now.”

Yes! His trainer knows him so well.

“I get that, but I don’t think Hilda will leave him alone until he accepts.”

Confounded annoying Indeedee.

His trainer didn’t look comfortable with the current scenario but accepted that there was nothing she could do in that situation.

The other trainer pat his own on the shoulder. “I’m sure they’ll make up and possibly tolerate each other!”

Leaning in close, she whispered something. His own trainer blinked in confusion before the worried expression returned. She eyed both himself and the Indeedee, who was still working on getting his attention, before nodding.

“Alright…”

“Just for good measure.” Throwing out two Poké Balls, the other trainer released a Quagsire and a Corviknight, both appearing near himself and the Indeedee. “There, some watchful eyes!”

His trainer nodded once more before tapping a ball of her own, releasing her Chandelure. She lightly pet the top of Chandelure’s dome, smiling as the Pokémon made a happy sound.

“Do ya mind watching Kesten for a bit sweetie?”

Glancing between himself and their trainer, they nodded before floating over to him.

With that, both trainers walked off in a different direction, at least before his trainer paused. She tapped the front of her left foot on the ground twice, muttering something before continuing to follow the other trainer. Kesten kept his trained eye on her shadow, watching as it split in two, the severed part swiftly crossing the ground to mend with his own shadow. Extra reassurance he supposed, but he felt more of an urge to follow after his trainer as her last line of defense now lied with him.

He knows Chandelure noticed this as she delicately bumped his arm with her own, whispering. “She’ll be fine Kesten, she has Alduin on hand.”

That didn’t make him feel any better, in fact, he should absolutely follow her now-

“You’re a lot tenser now that you’re awake.”

Turning his sight to the unfamiliar voice, he noticed it was the large armored bird that addressed him.

“I’m the perfect amount of tense.”

The Corviknight gave him such a ‘really?’ look, he was about to argue with the darn thing had Chandelure not butt in.

“Sorry about him, he’s just a worrywart about our trainer.”

Nodding, the Corviknight chuckled. “That’s understandable, we all worry about our trainers, no?”

“Of course!” Chandelure moved in close, loud whispering to the bird. “Just Kesten can go overboard at times.”

“I do not!”

The Chandelure laughed and floated up, evading his grasp. Kesten grumbled and stomped his foot, frustrated the Chandelure would just outright say that to a stranger. It was one thing for Scrap to do it, but her as well? He needed a break.

He felt two things make contact with his body; Glancing down revealed that the Indeedee had taken his hand to hold it, while the Quagsire leaned against him. Irritated, he withdrew his hand with a snarl and stepped away, watching the Quagsire slink to the ground. The water and ground Pokémon appeared unbothered with their new position while the Indeedee pouted.

“Kesten, don’t be rude to these new Pokémon, they are allies after all.” His companion had snuck up behind his head it seemed.

“The Corviknight is all right, these two are not Epic Fire.”

“Come on, I was just playing with you earlier!”

“Don’t care, you annoyed the shi-”

Clang. The back of his head was hit and he flinched. “Kesten, family-friendly with guests.”

Grumbling, he corrected himself. “You annoyed the hell out of me by chucking berries at me, you’re not very high on my list of those I want to interact with.”

“Hah, like anyone would want to interact with you at all!”

His green eyes glowed as he glared at the female. “What was that?”

“You heard me, metalhead!”

Both Pokémon got in an attack position, bracing themselves for the other’s next move. Hilda’s was more in defense as she noticed Kesten’s stance grow hostile. Lashing out to strike her, Kesten fell to the ground, a three-clawed hand extending from the shadows grabbing and tripping him. On the other side, Corviknight had moved in front of Hilda to block her special attack she was charging. Both Pokémon’s attention was drawn to Kesten’s body hitting the ground, startled by the retreating clawed hand.

Holding himself up by his arms, Kesten shook his head, attempting to remove the dirt that he practically ate from his face being introduced to the ground.

“Kesten… it is not wise to argue with other Pokémon, even more so since these ones belong to a comrade of our trainer. Behave yourself or I will make you behave, understand.”

That wasn’t a question, it was a demand. Normally, Kesten would argue with whoever demanded something of him, but he liked sleep. Messing with this Pokémon ensured he would miss out on it, so he went along with this. Not because he realized he’d lose in a battle or that he was afraid, it was purely because he wanted to.

That’s what he told himself at least.

Picking himself off the ground, he dusted the excess dirt off his being, catching the two Pokémon across from him gawking at his shadow.

“Do you two need something?”

“You have a Pokémon in your shadow.”

He didn’t reply, just narrowed his eyes.

Epic Fire snuck up behind him again, exasperation painting her features.

“Really Kesten? You’re supposed to be careful, not start fights. Heck, you even got Darkrai involved that time.”

“Shut it Fire…”

Both the nuisance and armored bird cautiously approached them, still curious about the Pokémon that lay hidden.

“You said it was a Darkrai in there?”

Kesten’s companion grew tense before her metallic arms and face fell, realizing her mistake on mentioning them.

“Yes.”

“There’s no need to feel down about it Epic Fire, it’s not like they were subtle in their action or volume.”

Hilda leaned down and began poking the shadow, trying to get some sort of reaction out of it. Kesten left her alone knowing Darkrai wouldn’t rise to it unless she really tried something.

“Hilda, don’t you think that’s rude?”

“Maybe, but I’m curious now!”

“I am as well, but you don’t see me pecking the ground like a young spring Rookidee.”

“Live a little Nevarmor!”

Sighing, the bird shook their head. “That’s a unique name for a Pokémon. It is a type of Pokémon, or is it a name? I’ve never heard of them.”

“Darkrai is a Pokémon from Sinnoh, so makes sense you’d never hear of em Nevarmor.”

All occupants glanced at the Quagsire laying on the ground, surprised that they finally had a word to say.

“You’re aware of the Pokémon, Larry Boy?”

Rolling so they faced skyward, the Quagsire continued. “Only a little, I’ve heard whispers among the Trevenant vines. They’re a fierce mythical Pokémon that lives in seclusion typically, so it’s strange to know one is out of their region and with a group.”

“Ooo, sounds cool.” Hilda went back to poking Kesten’s shadow.

Nevarmor side-eyed the spooky duo. “I have to agree with Larry Boy, it is strange. I guess that explains why they remain in the shadows.”

“Darkrai would certainly cause a ruckus, so yes they’re not out and about as the rest of us.”

Kesten’s glad Epic Fire didn’t mention several of the reasons Darkrai remains hidden.

Hilda was becoming frustrated with the shadow, smacking the ground. “Rude to not introduce yourself though!”

In an instant, the same ominous appendage that was out prior appeared, startling the Indeedee and caused her to fall on her butt.

“Charmed.”

Nevarmor drew close and extended a wing to the hand, not entirely expecting the grip and ‘handshake’.

“Likewise, chap.”

Releasing the birds feathers, the hand retreated back into darkness, Hilda whining as it did so.

“Polite one they are.”

Sitting up, Hilda smacked the ground again. “I didn’t even get a proper hello out!”

“Next time, don’t be scared.”

“I wasn’t scared!”

Kesten rolled his eyes in response.

“Mmm… it’s still odd, but I guess anything’s possible with different people and dimensions.”

“What do you mean by that Larry?”

“Different dimensions and all ya know?”

“I’m afraid I don’t…”

“Nor do I.”

“You two really are clueless about everything, aren’t you?”

“Kesten.”

The Bisharp shrugged, unbothered by his rude comment.

Sighing, Epic Fire chose to ignore him for now. “Larry Boy is referring to the existence of people and Pokémon from different dimensions. In each one, some things might remain the same, but others might be altered.”

Nevarmor held up a wing. “So wait… you’re saying different dimensions… exist?”

“Sure do! I’m unsure if we’re in our dimension, your dimension, or some other dimension right now though.”

The birds wing slowly fell, looking as if they were having an existential crisis.

“I don’t believe it!”

“Of course you wouldn’t, I doubt you even-” Thwacked once more, Kesten piped down, glaring at the floating chandelier Pokémon.

Hilda glared at Bisharp, huffing and ready to throw an attack at him, stopping short at feeling a poke on her tail. Bothered by the feeling, she turned her sights on the offender, spotting an odd little Pawniard.

At her gaze, the little one's green eyes blinked at her in confusion. “Oh, it was a part of a Pokémon.”

“Scrap, what are you doing here?”

Maneuvering around Hilda with a sequence of twirls, the Pawniard spun into a salute, facing the wrong way. Noticing their error, Scrap twisted to face the correct path, salute still in place.

“Boss lady healed me up and sent me over! She knew I was worried about you, boss.”

Kesten didn’t know if he could handle this right now, there were too many variables that could easily set him off. Scrap, lovely child that they were, could still manage to irk him from time to time.

Much to his charge in, Hilda picked up the small Pawniard, cooing at them.

“Aw, how cute!”

Scrap’s green eyes held their earlier look of confusion, doing nothing to stop the unfamiliar Pokémon.

“Put them down!”

“No way, they’re adorable.” Pulling Scrap into a hug, she stuck her tongue out at Kesten. “Way cuter than you.”

Epic Fire swore she could see steam escape from Kesten in his anger, looking to his shadow with an exasperated look. This will only go so well.

“This is not a matter if they’re cute or not, I want you to put. Them. Down. Now!”

With every word, the Bisharp grew angrier, approaching the Indeedee menacingly. Everyone else got the memo to keep away from the angered Pokémon but her. Hilda stood there, glaring at Kesten as she readied up her own attack.

Time seemed to slow as Kesten charged at Hilda, blades extended and ready to clash with a devastating special attack. In a flash, both Pokémon were flung across the field and into the adjoining lake, shocking the Epic Fire and Nevarmor.

In place of where both Pokémon were standing prior were a pair of ghostly arms and a still saluting Scrap. One hand slunk back into the shadow while the other gently pat the Pawniard’s head. The hand hesitated for a moment before grabbing Scrap’s arm and lowered it so they no longer saluted. Satisfied with no movement to put the appendage back up, the final darkened arm disappeared and the moving shadow drifted to hide under Epic Fire.

It didn’t take long for both flung Pokémon’s heads to pop up from the water, cursing out the nightmare Pokémon for all they were worth. Kesten and Epic Fire knew this did little on affecting the Pokémon, but it was cathartic for the Bisharp.

In Hilda’s anger, she splashed water at Kesten, yelling at him that this was his fault. That was the wrong thing to say.

Kesten began to yell back and the riled up Pokémon’s argument began, much to Epic Fire and Nevarmor’s disappointment. At least they weren’t flinging attacks at each other.

Epic Fire was happy to leave them be, but the rippling of the water caught her undivided attention.

“Kesten! I suggest you get out of there!”

No acknowledgment, he was deep in the argument with Hilda.

“KESTEN! THIS ISN’T THE TIME FOR THAT!”

Nevarmor caught on as the waves grew larger. “Hilda, you need to halt your petty argument and vacate the water!”

No response from her either.

Much to their horror, two Gyarados’s surfaced from the water behind them, bellowing out rage filled cries. Even with their looming presence, Hilda and Kesten failed to notice the danger they were in.

“KESTEN YOU MORON!” Epic Fire made her way to the waterfront, hesitant to go out there. “FOR THE LOVE OF ARCEUS, THERE ARE TWO GYARADOS BEHIND YOU!”

On cue, one of the Gyarados lashed out at the pair, maw wide open. Somehow before it made contact, Kesten used Metal Claw to bat the intimidating Pokémon away. How he managed to achieve that feat while in a heated conversation with the Indeedee, no one will ever know.

Hilda finally took notice of the movement, her aggressive comments dying in her throat seeing the one Gyarados collapse beneath the waves, while the other’s eyes glowed in fury.

What happened next, she would take to her grave; Screaming, she latched onto Kesten, still cursing him out while also cursing their luck with the monstrous serpent.

The Bisharp struggled to support both himself and the extra weight, unable to do much as the other Gyarados readied a Hyper Beam. As much as he didn’t care if he hit Hilda in the crossfire of aiming for the Gyarados, he couldn’t afford to hit her instead of the other Pokémon. It would be lights out for both of them if he did.

Just before the Gyarados could unleash their attack, a crackling black ball hit them, instantly putting them to sleep. Unfortunately, this did not stop the attack. As they began to sink into the water, the Hyper Bream fired, shooting across the lake and into the sky as their head fell back, submerging beneath the lake. The Hyper Beam sent shock waves through the lake, enormous waves overtaking Kesten and Hilda as they struggled to stay above water. Even after the powerful attack faded, the waves were relentless in their assault.

Kesten heard a metallic flapping overhead, noticing Nevarmor hover down to meet them. Seeing another large wave come for them, the Bisharp did the unthinkable; he helped Hilda. Prying her off, he tossed the Indeedee into the Corviknight’s waiting claws just in time as the wave took him under.

Now Kesten could swim, but being a heavy metallic Pokémon did not help his case. Fighting against the current did little to nothing and if he waited for the water to settle, he would surely drown.

A brush of a body set him on edge and he almost struck the foreign thing but hesitated at seeing it was the other trainers Quagsire. Reluctantly, he accepted the offered help and was swum out to calmer waters and emerged from the lake, coughing up water.

Hilda and Nevarmor were already on the bank waiting for them, their worried faces easing with their surface. Epic Fire forgot all about the water and rushed over to him, bombarding him with insults and questions he didn’t have the energy or patience to process.

Distant rushed footsteps could be heard coming closer, it was either their trainers or travelers. Kesten hoped for the latter.

On dry land once more, Kesten composed himself as best as he could, pretending he had not needed help and that everything was normal.

Hearing labored breathing, he peered over to see both trainers there, worried as the other Pokémon.

The other Pokémon’s trainer recovered first, approaching the lot. “Are you guys all right? We heard the commotion and saw a beam of light, so we rushed over as fast as we could.”

His own trainer nodded, still short of breath. Kesten felt a pang of guilt at this but did not show it, deciding he’d have to make it up to her later. He didn’t question as he spotted the shadow form of Darkrai rush over to her own, concealing themselves there.

The group of Pokémon glanced between each other, uncertain of how to answer the woman. Kesten merely crossed his arms and shrugged, indifference written through his posture. Several chorus’s of sounds were made along with a few nods, still uneasy over the past few minutes.

“Well… that’s good. You all appear to be fine yet I don’t know.”

Slowly trudging over, his own trainer looked over the group, examining Hilda, Larry Boy, and himself carefully. Closing her eyes, she pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath, releasing the held air and grip of herself after a bit.

Reopening her eyes, she looked him dead in the eye. “Can’t take you anywhere, Kesten.”

Kesten held his head down in shame, having been caught regardless.

“Course I could say the same for anyone at any point, but at least everyone’s ok.” Taking in the area, she saw where the hyper beam struck. “Can’t say the same for the ground though. Probably a Hyper Beam or something, so definitely good that you guys are ok.”

“A what!?” The other female glanced around the area, finally locating the damaged earth and scratched the side of her head. “Oh boy, yeah, that would do it, wouldn’t it?”

His trainer’s attention now went to the lake, examining it with a critical eye. “... I think we should probably go somewhere else, don’t need anything else attacking.”

“Right.”

Pulling their Pokéballs out, they began returning the Pokémon but stopped when it came to Hilda and Kesten. Hilda had bound up to Kesten, bright red dusting her face as she held her hands together, all attention on the disgruntled Bisharp.

“Aww… that’s cute.”

His own trainer snickered at her friend’s remark, but he tried to ignore everyone right now and wished to be returned to his ball. He was uncomfortable with this kind of attention.

Hida took a step forward and Kesten took two steps back, not wanting to be close to her. He would have just let her drown if he knew this would happen.

He could still hear his trainer try to hide her amusement along with Hilda’s trainer making cute comments. Arceus take him now.

Arms wrapped around his waist as best they could, making him tense. Glancing at the shorter creature, he saw the Indeedee had a large grin on her face, still red for Arceus knows whatever reason.

“Thank you for saving me… I guess you’re not all that bad.” She tried to pull him closer and lower himself, but he wasn’t having it, especially noticing her expression shift into a kissy face.

In a flustered state, he pressed a hand to her face and shoved her away, the other hand covering his face as he stormed over to his trainer.

Thankfully, she took mercy on him and recalled him into his ball, finally letting her amusement show when he was gone.

With his disappearance, he had no clue of Hilda’s dejected face or how she stomped her foot in anger at him. Even with her own trainer calming her down, she was still upset.

Kesten hoped he wouldn’t have to deal with the Indeedee again but their trainers were friends, so he had a feeling he’d be seeing that pest for a long while.

#Kesten #Hildegard von Bartles #Scrap #original character #glottia writes

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glottia-arts · 5 years ago

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Sweet smells lead to sweet memories

What do you mean I can write for other fandoms?

This writing piece is just something based on this drawing that @emizel did, so it's a little short. Probably should have asked more about what Hilda was like, both alive and dead, but I guess I'll die in a volley of arrows.

Word Count: 2,526 _____

“W-we’ll be back! Lord Zarok’s wishes will be met!”

Turning tail with their leader slumped over their shoulders, the team of Boiler Guards fled from the battlefield created by their superior and would be hero of Gallowmere.

Said hero sighed in relief as he slumped to the ground, exhausted from the battle that had just taken place. Practically every one of Dan’s energy vials had been depleted from that attack. Taking out his last flask, it was clear how close he was to losing this fight. The remaining vial looked to be filled about twenty percent. Removing the cork, he toasted to his own self victory before downing the odd healing substance.

The commander of the Boiler Guard troops, Kesten, certainly was a wild card. At first, the metal menace faked him out with his standard rifle, before moving close. The attacks alternating between hitting the skeleton with said weapon or roundhouse kicking him where his gut used to be. Once Daniel began to use his crossbow and regular bow to keep the guard at a distance, he grew surprised.

Kesten tossed aside his rifle in favor of his newly displayed weapons, two knives. Chef knives at that. Daniel wasn’t one to judge, he used his arm as a weapon from time to time. Heck, he even received Chicken legs from the witch of the Enchanted Earth. So blades utilized for the culinary arts weren’t too odd of a thing.

Daniel’s long distance weapons were rendered useless once those came out. The Boiler Guard batted aside the projectiles and even sliced through a few of them. Kesten made short work of his health, it was practically laughable. Daniel almost didn’t have time to ingest one of his health vials, but with the interference of his companion, Hildegard, he seized his chance of recovering.

The mage’s distraction had worked, a little too well. Kesten’s sights turned on her and he rushed at the undead as quickly as he had Daniel. The skeleton attempted to follow, but the metal guard reached her first. It confused him that he did not strike her down as he feared, but had instead flung a knife towards her feet. Thrown off balance, the woman would have tumbled to the ground if not for the Boiler Guard grasping her arm with his free hand, hoisting her off the ground.

Kesten was a tall piece of work, even without the signature Boiler Guard hat adding to his stature, but as he raised Hilda with ease, it became glaringly so. As he lifted her, he still leaned down, a sense of foreboding rippling through Hilda’s body. She could feel the chill of his stare pierce through her, even before a set of burning green eyes flashed behind his visor.

“I believe this is a fight between Sir Fortesque and I, I do not tolerate interference. Especially by traitors.” The last word held venom and not wasting further time with the intrusion, Kesten tossed Hildegard a few feet away, ignoring her complaints.

Snapping his fingers, he pointed to the woman. “Don’t injure her, but make certain she doesn’t interfere again.”

“Yessir!” his lackeys saluted, focus shifting from their boss to the mage. Guns directed at her, they made sure she would remain complacent.

Discarded blade back in hand, Kesten charged towards Daniel, picking up where they had left off.

He started intense as prior, but something became apparent. He was slowing down. Daniel noted this after pulling out his magical sword, trying to apply its broadness for a more defensive advantage. Landing a blow to the guard with the weapon tipped Daniel off. Kesten had a weakness to magical items.

With this new revelation, Daniel did his best to use the newly acquired sword to combat against the metal man.

There was nevertheless a struggle to fight against Kesten, but in no time he was flat on his back, black and green steam emitting from his body.

His lackeys abandoned their duty the second they heard metal collide with earth. Scrambling to their leader, they examined the extent of his injuries. In the end, they concluded it was best to evacuate.

Daniel had been thankful for them choosing to pull out, gods knew if they came after him now, he might not make it to his next destination.

Hoping his friend was fine, he peeked in her direction. She showed to be in good condition, but she was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest, deep in thought.

Shakily he rose to his feet, walking over to her.

“Hilda!”

No response.

Hovering over her, he tilted his head in confusion. “Hildy?”

Blinking, she looked up to the knight “Oh Dan… you’re ok. That’s good… that’s good.”

Frowning, he jabbed his sword into the ground, leaning against it. “Yes, but are you ok?”

It took her a bit to process his words. “Oh yes, yes just fine.”

“You sure?” A short delay before she nodded and turned her head to stare back at the ground. Lowering her knees slightly, she placed an elbow on one as her palm rested against her cheek. “Just.. thinking about something.”

Sitting down near her, he tiredly leaned against the glowing blade. “Like what?”

“... it’s just that.. I can tell Zarok’s done something to the guards. Or at least him. It was quick, but I saw there was that green glow the villagers had present in their eyes. Course, that could be Zarok’s magic flowing through the odd thing.”

Her eyebrows soon raised, now troubled. “Strangely enough, the scent coming from him smells oddly familiar to me…”

It smelled like.. A much better and different era…

__________

Castle Peregrin, the Kingdom of Gallowmere’s finest jewel. A castle that was acclaimed for good laughs, pleasant hospitality and a cut above the rest staff.

The Kingdom appealed to several people all across the realm. Many claim they traveled to Gallowmere for the gorgeous scenery, some appeared for the untold hopes of grandeur, and others? Well… some wished to live a quieter life.

Those who settled in the province had their reasons. With all the appealing things there was to offer, many interesting characters joined the populace of the vast kingdom. These folk often lived in hiding, though some were found and recruited to work secretly in or near the castle.

The ordinary staff had no clue where or why these new recruits entered their ranks in attending the King, but they tried not to ask questions. If they were there, they evidently belonged. Many of them established names for themselves, both good and bad.

“Hildegard!”

Speaking of..

“Hildegard von Bartles! Where are you!?”

The young woman in question was at her post, yes, but was she doing her duties? Not really.. She was alarmed at hearing the head of staff yelling for her, but as she continued swallowing her newly gained treats, she found she didn’t fully care.

“Hildegard there you are!” The head honcho came into her sight of view, marching right up to her. They were about to yell at her for her lack of progress, but paused as they noticed the treats entering her mouth. “ARE YOU EATING ON THE JOB HILDEGARD!?”

The blond shifted aside, continuing her consumption. A muffled ‘maybe’ escaping her lips.

Sighing, the head of faculty rubbed their temples. “You cannot be eating while on duty! I don’t care how delightful those pastries are, you have a duty first and foremost! King Peregrin is getting ready to host a banquet in honor of Sir Daniel Fortesque and his platoon’s promotion. You need to be on the ball!” They punctuated every word in their last sentence by smacking their hands together, hoping it emphasized how important this was.

Finishing her current treat, Hilda pouted “But these are so good…” she trailed off at the menacing glare shot her way. “Ok, ok! I’ll get back to it… promise!” She smiled as she set the basket down on an adjacent stand.

Staring at the girl for a few moments, her boss nodded their head once before spinning and making their way back down the corridor. Murmurs echoing something or another about the young blond.

Once they were out of sight, Hildegard exhaled and studied at her tools she was supposed to be using today with an uninterested expression. She was out of it today and working just seemed tiring. The little gifts she had found outside her doorstep this morning was the sole thing she had enjoyed about the day. Maybe if she ate another one, it would motivate her to continue working? That sounded like a solid plan.

Reaching for the basket as she smirked, the girl noticed after a moment only air met her grasp. Confused, she twisted her head to see the basket had disappeared.

Stunned, Hildegard patted the table, not understanding what she saw. It was here just a minute ago. Tapping the wooden surface several more times, she glanced around the top and near the floors, wondering where she put the thing. She was going mad trying to solve this mystery. About to lift the darn stand off from the floor and throw it, a tap to her shoulder almost made her scream aloud.

“Excuse me, are you looking for something?”

Stiffly, she turned her head to catch that someone had been behind her. What scared her more was that this individual towered over her. They were even taller than Sir Daniel. Eyes gliding higher to determine who it was precisely eased her nerves. She wasn’t all that familiar with the man, but she recognized him as the chef that often came on the request of the King. Hilda couldn’t quite recall his name, as the first time he introduced himself, she was… intoxicated.

Doing her best to offer a charming smile, Hilda patted her dress nervously as she spun to face him, waving her hands in front of her face. “Oh hello! Sorry, I.. Seemed to have misplaced something! Clumsy me!”

He raised a brow at this. “Oh? Well, that’s interesting.. I seemed to have found something. Is it perhaps yours?” holding a handle with just his pointer finger, the man lifted the basket filled with her pastries into sight.

Eyes widening, Hildegard jumped up and down in excitement. “Oh yes, yes! That is indeed it, now if you would just-”

As she reached for the basket, he raised it higher into the air. Blinking in confusion, she questioned this action. Had today been a different day, she might put up with this. But today wasn’t a different day and thus she wasn’t in the mood for games right now. Her tone was still friendly, but held a little more of an edge to it. “Haha yes yes, uh if you would, please hand over my basket.”

Glancing between the girl and the basket, the chef seemed to think about this. “... no.”

“Excuse me, what?”

“I said. No.” Flabbergasted, the woman pouted. Normally, she might have let this go. But those pastries, ones that are only as flavorful as ones she’s eaten from town festivals, are worth fighting for. She doesn’t care even if she had to fight the king himself, she would get those back even if it killed her!

Much to his surprise, Hilda jumped for the basket, fingertips grazing the underside as he hoisted it higher just in time. Smirking at her antics, he chuckled. “Well.. seems someone really wants this back.”

“Of course I want it back, that has breads and sweets in there given to me!”

“Hmm.. well my answer is still no-”

Getting a little fed up, Hildegard jumped for the basket again, provoking him to lift it higher above his head. Wholly focused on the task at hand, she didn’t even acknowledge how bad this could look to outsiders. She was essentially pressed against some man, fruitlessly reaching for baked goods.

“Give. It. Back!”

He seemed to mull it over, tapping his foot on the ground as he did so. After a moment, his free hand moved into view, displaying a portion of sweet bread. “Kind of rude to have all these baked goods and not share, don’t you think?”

Seeing the delicacy, Hildegard attempted to snatch it, but failed to do so as with the basket. At this point, she was glaring at him so hard she wouldn’t be surprised if he caught on fire. Her stare did little to nothing on affecting him.

“Don’t you dare!”

Smirking the man kept his eyes on the roll. “Well, I didn’t hear a please at throughout this, so… no.” The pastry never quite made it to his mouth as someone else interrupted their little moment.

“Pardon me, Orell, sir! I was wonder-” both the castle staff members spun their heads to the new voice, noticing a man from Sir Daniel’s group, Canny Tim. At both of their glances and observing their position, he anxiously chuckled. “Am I… interrupting sir?”

Chuckling, the man now known as Orell shook his head. “Of course not Tim. Just teasing one of the other staff members. Wanted to see where my assistants extra baked goods were running off to.”

Lowering his hands, he handed the basket back to Hildegard before rubbing the back of his head. “Sorry about that, I find it fun to tease at times. In truth, I get my fill of those pastries for the celebration periods, so your treats weren’t in any real danger.”

Hildegard never got the chance to reply as before she could utter a word, he stuffed the piece of bread he held into her mouth.

“Stay safe kid.” He ruffled her hair before making his way towards Canny Tim. Waving over his shoulder at her, both men departed from her sights.

Blushing, she chewed the pastry angrily. She might need to eat the remaining pastries to help her feel better… and pay Mr. Orell a visit in the kitchen later for a little payback.

__________

Recalling that moment ages ago was random but not unwelcome. She was certain if blood could rush to her cheeks it would happen. Wanting to smack her face for the second hand embarrassment, she wishes she could chastise her alive self for the awkward moment. Canny Tim never mentioned it, but did she ever feel self-conscious around him remembering that particular interaction with Orell.

Hilda now wondered why the scent of the Boiler Guard commander brought back such an old memory…

Tilting her head towards Daniel, her tone grew even more puzzled. “Dan… did that Boiler Guard remind you of anything?” Or anyone?

Pondering her question the skeleton shook his skull, a quiet “Nuh-uh” leaving him.

“Ah ok.. Guess I’m randomly recalling the good old days!”

Glancing to the sky, stars were noticeable among the sea of darkness.

“I think we should set up camp here. I’m sure you need the rest after fighting that mad contraption!”

Dan couldn’t agree more, the battle had left him exhausted. Hopefully, they wouldn’t encounter the Boiler Guard or his goons for some time. He could only pray that their paths never crossed again. But he’s never been so lucky, has he?

#MediEvil #Boiler Guard #Kesten #Hildegard von Bartles #original character #Sir Daniel Fortesque #glottia writes

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