Chapter 32: Absence

  Morning in Newleaf Village was far more subdued than it should've been. It should’ve sounded alive, with Dungeon Pokemon trading songs across the treetops, kids arguing over breakfast, merchants trying to sell their goods and the guards, understaffed as they were, trying to keep up with everything.

  As Ayra stepped outside of her family’s burrow, ears flicking irritably at the damp breeze that rolled in from the crater rim, the streets were mostly quiet instead. She didn’t need to ask why that was the case. After all, that depressive atmosphere already prevailed for a few days.

  Five days, to be exact. It had been five whole days since anyone had last seen Auri or Yuki.

  The first day hadn’t really mattered or struck anyone as unusual. Yuki had left before anyone else had woken up and notably before breakfast, even going so far as to take her satchel with herself. But that wasn't anything truly worrysome. Her sister vanished all the time, an explorer at heart who treated adventure like breathing. And Auri generally followed along with whatever Yuki was up to.

  It wasn't even surprising that Yuki didn't come back that evening.Auri had his own home after all, and she easily could've stayed over. Again, it may have happened rarely, but it wouldn't have been the first time, so no one was alarmed at their absence yet. Everyone was used to the two of them disappearing for stretches of time, doing their 'exploring' all around the village, however they managed to sneak out each time.

  All of that changed on the second day no one had seen the two. Ayra, along with her mother and father, had been the first to notice the irregularity. Lio, Mina and Neku noticed soon after. When both Auri and Yuki hadn't shown up for training later that day, it had been clear to everyone that something was wrong. The guards hat started their search instantly, but it had already been late and they weren't able to find out much.

  On the third day, the guards acted in full force. Uncle Kaen had ordered the first search patrols to head out and even mobilised the guards still in training to help in the investigation. The understaffed guards simply lacked the numbers to start a wide-spread investigation like that. because of that, even the village's gatherers and hunters, as well as some of the stronger combat-trained villagers where called in to help. Including both of her parents, of course.

  In the end the guards did manage to find out a few things. Seemingly the day before, Auri and Yuki had been running around 'stocking up', supposedly running errands for the gatherers. They bought up water, food, stable rope, and even Luminous Stones. Everything one might need for a longer expedition. At the time no one had thought much of it, but by now it painted quite the clear picture. Auri and Yuki had left for a Dungeon and hadn't yet returned.

  The guards didn't manage to find much else. Uncle Kaen was able to trace the two deep into the woods surrounding Newleaf Village, but lost their trace soon after due to an unfortunate downpour. They only knew that Auri and Yuki had left westward. With Newleaf Village sitting directly on the eastern crater wall, that was a gigantic area and a big number of Dungeons that could've been their destination. It was barely possible to exclude any of them.

  The fourth day the guards pretty much gave up on finding the two on their own. Instead they looked for Vian in the northern shrine of the village. The Mythical had been suspiciously hadns-off as well lately, but no one expected them to stick around the entire time. Unfortunately, no matter what they did, the guards couldn't locate the mythical Victini either, leaving them without any traces to follow.

  Uncle Kaen even tried to ask the mythical Shaymin Shae for help, but the guards couldn't find her either. The only Mythicals who regularly stayed in Newleaf Village had seemingly vanished into thin air, just like Auri and Yuki had.

  The guards hadn't given up of course, far from it! But without the support of a Mythical and the fresh rain washing away all traces, the search was doomed to end in failiure. The area they had to cover was simply to big for how understaffed they were.

  Today was the fifth day since her sister had disappeared and Ayra was running out of ways to distract herself from the growing knot of unease and worry in her chest.

  She followed the main path towards the village gate, where the guards had set up a small search post. Risa had been there earlier, maps spread across the ground and half the patrol arguing about which Dungeon to sweep next. The precisely planned dungeon schedule had been thrown overboard without a second thought. Every Dungeon the guards sweeped through at extreme speeds, trying to cover the most likely locations of Auri and Yuki based on their equipment as quickly as possible.

  Still, the Umbral Abyss was huge, and even with Vian’s usual range of influence, which they lacked right now, there would've been places they simply couldn’t reach safely. They could only hope Auri and Yuki hadn't been dumb enough to aim for a Dungeon like that. Because otherwise, their would be no hope of the guards ever catching up to them. Their search was limited to Vian's and Shae's territories.

  Durro, the Donphan, stood guard as usual, massive, steady, and unflinching. But even he looked worried and tired. His usually polished armor plates were scuffed, and his eyes had that faint, restless look of someone who hadn’t slept properly in days. Not that she herself looked much better. Or anyone else actively searching for her sister, for that matter.

  Ayra hesitated before approaching, claws scuffing the dirt. "Anything new yet?" she finally asked, ruthlessly crushing the glimmer of hope before Durro would do so. Logically she knew, had they found something she would've already been informed.

  Durro knew that as well, but acquiesced with a sight. "Not yet, Ayra," he replied, voice quiet but rough. "But it's only a question of time until we find them. The guards resources may be limited, but we won't stop until we checked every single Dungeon we can or until the two of them are back safely."

  "That’s what you said yesterday," she muttered, wings flicking again.

  He sighed again, a deep tired sound. "And I’ll keep repeating it until you stop asking."

  She looked away, down toward the misty treeline. It felt wrong not to hear her sisters voice echoing off the stone walls. The village felt smaller without her. Smaller and colder.

  "Anything for me to deliver to the others then?" she asked, mainly to keep herself occupied. Anything to keep her from thinking too much about the situation.

  Because of that she'd sort of become the personal messenger of the guards. They had gratefully accepted her help. Since then she was the one responsible to deliver messages between the village gate, the guards headquarters, the other guards whenever she saw them, and notes from the other village Pokemon helping in the search.

  Durro shook his head. "Not right now, no. But be on your way. I'm sure there are more then enough messages for you to transport between the others already."

  Ayra nodded crisply and started to walk towards the guards headquarters. These last few days it had been mostly abandoned. With patrols everywhere in Vian's territory, Newleaf Village had become noticeably emptier with over 80 Pokemon actively searching for Auri and Yuki. Even Uncle kaen himself had taken to the field again, something that rarely happened these days.

  She wouldn't find any guards in the headquarters, she knew that. But it was still the location were other village Pokemon went if they had other problems so it had to be checked regularily, so that at least someone could carry the message of a new problem arising in Newleaf Village back to the guards, should that become necessary. Afterwards she would continue to the northern shrine and Shae's home, in the hopes that one of them might've come back by now. The Mythicals were still their best shot at finding Auri and Yuki.

  The exhaustion of everyone was apparent every time she met them, however rarely that was. She had seen Vira dragging herself in after dawn, soaked and shivering, mud up to her chest from scouting through the river valleys. Or Risa standing at the map table between her Dungeon sweeps, feathers slick with rain and bruises from her more violent encounters with Dungeon Pokemon all over, muttering about too many leads and not enough eyes. Durro had been manning the gate alone for days on end because there was no one left to relieve him. 80 Pokemon, a fifth of the villages population, was out and about, searching all day without end. Even the four Elders had joined the search, with them being some of the most likely candidates to find anything.

  Ayra had tried to help directly exactly once, sneaking past the already half-asleep Durro at dawn to comb through the eastern forest where the trail of Auri and Yuki had vanished. She hadn’t gotten far before Risa intercepted her. The Hawlucha’s tone wasn’t unkind, but it left no room for argument. 'If you wander off and get lost, that just makes three Pokemon we have to find, It would only split our atention further and make finding Auri and Yuki even harder,' she'd said. Ayra, acknowledging the logic behind her argument, hadn't tried again.

  As expected, Ayra found no one at the guards headquarters when she finally reached the building. She also didn't manage to find Vian or Shae. Both were still absent from their usual places. By late afternoon, Ayra stopped by the market square, where a temporary notice board had been put up to make her job easier. There were a few notes there and Ayra quickly grabbed them before reading their contents.

  There was nothing truly new or interesting in the mix. Mostly scouting routes, updated patrol times, warnings to ignore certain Dungeons for now for one reason or another, and Dungeon reports.

  While leaving again, Ayra couldn't help but overhear some of the things the remaining Pokemon in the village talked about. There were many whispers of how Auri and Yuki were still missing, but even more Pokemon were worried what the absence of all Mythicals that normally protected Newleaf Village and the surrounding territory would mean for them. Meanwhile, the adults did their best fo force smiles while telling the kids that there was nothing to worry about. Still, it was obvious how even their voices trembled with unease. But she had other things to focus on.

  By evening, when Ayra reached the village gate again, it wasn’t just Durro she found there. No, uncle Kaen was there too, his mane dim in the lantern glow, and beside him stood Risa and Myra, wings half-spread and feathers ruffled. They were deep in argument, voices sharp and overlapping.

  "No one’s searched beyond Vian's territory yet!" Myra said, feathers flaring as she faced Kaen. "We haven't even checked out Shae's territory either! Or even just the hills! And with how late we noticed their absence, they could’ve easily crossed past Vian’s territory before anyone even started searching for them. By now, I wouldn't even bet on them still being in Shae's territory if they had a specific destination in mind."

  Uncle Kaen’s jaw tensed. "If they actually did that, they’re now in land we have no jurisdiction over. These territories are dangerous, Myra! Barely any Mythicals bother with clearing out Dungeons! Do you understand in how much danger you would put yourself!?"

  "I’ve flown worse Captain!" she shot back instantly while glaring at uncle Kaen.

  Durro shifted beside the gatepost, his heavy frame blocking most of the light. "That was before our Mythicals vanished," he rumbled quietly. "If you enrage just one of the other Mythicals in the crater, even if acidentally, you're done for. The entirety of Newlive Village might be put into danger then. With no one to fight them off, the other Mythicals won't hesitate to take over Vian's and Shae's territory the moment thex notice that it was left undefended. The Elders are not strong enough to hold their ground against them, even should Gorun finally manage to break through and become an Ancient."

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Risa crossed her arms, leaning against the wooden frame. "He’s right. Leaving Vian's and Shae's territories was always dangerous. Now that will only be much worse. Do you truly want to risk that?"

  Myra’s eyes flicked toward her, sharp. "And what’s your grand plan then!? Sit here while Yuki and Auri rot out there!?"

  Risa didn’t flinch. "My plan is to keep the rest of Newleaf Village alive. You know what happens when we start chasing ghosts, Myra. You've been the one who lost the most that day."

  That last line landed hard. Even uncle Kaen looked away. Ayra had no idea what they were talking about but it sounded like Risa had just broken an unspoken taboo.

  Myra’s feathers shivered and her expression turned ugly, but she stood her ground. "That may be the case. And I regret everything that happened that day. But that will not stop me from saving one of our own!"

  Kaen’s expression softened, but only slightly. "Myra… you’ve made it clear you never trusted Auri."

  "I still don’t!" she interrupted sharply. "He’s a stranger and he clearly hides things. He can rot out there for all I care. But Yuki? She’s one of ours! If there’s even a chance she’s still breathing, I’ll take it! As should all of you!"

  The room went silent. Even the fire in the brazier seemed to dim. Durro lowered his head. "And if you don’t come back? That's a very real possibility if you try this madness."

  "Then promise me you do not try to find me and risk even more lives," she said almost gently.

  Risa hissed through her beak. "You can’t keep gambling lives on what-ifs Myra! I cannot believe that I have to tell that to you of all Pokemon!"

  Kaen raised a paw, finally cutting through the argument. "Enough." His voice, quiet but commanding, brought all three to stillness. "You’re all right, and all wrong. We can’t ignore the missing, but we can’t tear the guard apart chasing them either. Without the Mythicals around our position in the crater has allready become way to precarious."

  He turned to Myra, the firelight glinting off his eyes. "If you go, it’s not under my order. I can’t risk another name on the list of Pokemon I've unwillingly send to the dead."

  "Good," Myra said flatly. "That means you at least don't try to order me to stay. I'll leave tomorrow morning with the first light."

  For a moment, nobody moved. Then Myra stepped back and began her preparations.

  Kaen said nothing. He simply stared at the open gate, the fading daylight, and the sky beyond, knowing he couldn’t stop her, and hating it. "May the wind guide you back," he murmured.

  Myra paused, nodded once, and then continued walking away to prepare everything she needed. The silence she left behind was heavier than before.

  Ayra watched the others quietly. Risa was the first to move, turning back toward the guardhouse. "One day she’ll push too far just like her parents before her," she muttered, but there was no venom in her tone. Only worry.

  Durro gave a low hum of agreement. "Still… if anyone stands a chance of finding them, it’s either her, the Elders, or the Mythicals. And seeing how the Elders still haven't found them and how there's no Mythical around for us to ask for help, she's the best chance we have."

  "Please be successful Myra," Ayra wispered to herself before stepping towards the guards, pretending she'd just arrived and never overheard their conversation at all.

  Velia sat on the still quite filled market square, tracing circles in the dirt with a stick. It was not like the market square ever truly emptied out before midnight, but Pokemon that were anxious for new information or wanted to gossip... the market square was the perfect place for them. Across from her, Karo toyed with a loose strand of grass, his stinger tapping idly against the ground.

  "Auri and Yuki still haven’t come back," she said at last, keeping her tone light, but loud enough for everyone in the area to here. "Soon it's going to be six days. And they haven't even left a note."

  Karo shrugged, but his eyes flicked towards the other village Pokemon that were blatantly listening in. He quickly surpressed his grin. "I guess they just left. Auri always looked like he wanted to, didn't he? It's not like he held a speck of loyality to Newleaf Village or its people anyway."

  Velia leaned back against the trunk, pretending to think it over. "Maybe. But leaving without saying anything? Not even to Ayra or Lio? That’s... strange, don’t you think?"

  Velia knew exactly how this game was played. Whispers and rumors only spread if you sounded like you didn’t mean for them to. If others just happened to overhear a private talk with her best friend, what could she do about that? They'd of course agreed beforehand what they were going to tell each other.

  Karo just shrugged. "I dunno. Auri never said much about himself, did he? All because he supposedly lost his memories, not that we've ever had an actual proof for that. And he's an outsider and didn't belong here anyways. Would it really be surprising if he cared about anyone here."

  Velia tilted her head, her eyes half-lidded. "And Yuki went with him, just like that. No warning, no goodbyen nothing. Doesn’t that bother anyone?"

  "It's quite clear, isn't it? Auri has clearly manipulated Yuki into joining him. The Yuki we know would've never done something like that. She loves to explore new things and Auri just abused that for his own gain. He probably doesn't even care about her."

  That line hung in the air like a spark. Velia didn’t add to it, not like she had to. The trick wasn’t to tell people what to believe. It was to make them wonder what they hadn’t noticed themselves, to suntly lead them to the conclusions you wanted them to reach. But it was time for the final touch.

  "The Mythicals vanish," she murmured, seemingly to herself, "and then Auri and Yuki disappear on the same day. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was planned."

  Karo laughed softly. "You think they knew something? Or, even worse, did something?"

  Velia’s ears flicked back. "I didn’t say that."

  "True. It's probably just unfounded speculation anyways," Karu said, finishing their carefully planned conversation.

  She stood, brushing dust from her fur. Around them, others were whispering now, repeating fragments, misremembering details, reshaping the conversation into something larger. By the time she and Karo left the market square behind, she could already hear her own words echoed behind them, changed and twisted into new shapes.

  "They say Auri was seen near the forest that night-"

  "Yuki too-"

  "Maybe that’s why the guards are so quiet-"

  "They were classmates of Auri, they'd now best-"

  Velia didn’t correct any of it. She just walked beside Karo, her head held high, pretending not to listen as the echoes grew louder.

  Karo grinned. "See? Told you people wanted to talk if we just gave them something interesting enough!"

  "They always do," Velia replied. "But we still had to wait for something suspicious enough. Auri made that easy enough for us. The challange was keeping Yuki mostly out of it."

  In Velia's eyes, what she did wasn't even all that malicious. Yes, she'd wanted to get back at Auri for humiliating Karo and her. But everything she did was for another reason.

  Velia knew she acted out of fear. Out of fear of what Karo had overheard from Auri's and Yuki's conversation with Miu. If Auri truly was a human and that human was likely to bring destruction to entire continents? Well, she wanted him gone from Newleaf Village as fast and as far as possible. And she would do everything to see that done.

  The main problem was to keep Yuki out of it all. She was innocent, simply wrapped up in that exciting adventure that Auri undoubtedly was to her. And while Yuki surely was slightly naive for trusting him even after what she'd been told by Miu, it was not something she deserved to pay for. So Velia would safe her as well. Both for her own sake, Yuki's sake, and Karo's sake as well.

  She'd now taken her first step towards that eventual goal. And she knew many more would follow soon, for now that the rumors had started flowing, many more opportunities would arise for her to shift public perception against Auri. Especially with him not around to defend himself.

  On the morning of the sixth day since Auri and Yuki had gone missing, Ayra heard a group of guard trainees whispering as they prepared to head out again to continue searching.

  "Risa said every single Dungeon in the forest was sweeped by now. We'll have to expand the search parameter to include the hills in Vian's territory."

  "If they got that far, then they clearly didn’t just get lost. They must've ran off."

  "Yuki wouldn’t do that."

  "Maybe not her. But Auri... who really knows him?"

  "Yeah, who knows what kind of ideas he planted in Yuki's head?"

  Each word was like a drop of ink in water, spreading slow but steady. Ayra wanted to shout that they were wrong, that Auri wasn’t the kind of Pokemon to leave anyone behind. But how could she, when even the guards didn’t know where they’d gone or why? When the little evidence they had painted the same picture?

  She started listening more closely, trailing behind conversations as she ran her errands. For some reason, rumors had started to escalate seemingly overnight. Auri’s quiet nature suddenly became 'secretive,' his reluctance to talk about his past became 'suspicious' and the fact that he lost his memories 'unrealistic'. Even Yuki’s boldness, once something admired by most younger Pokemon in the village, was now 'strange', 'reckless', or 'clearly influenced.' Suddenly everyone was practically reminded of the timing with how everything had seemingly started to go wrong the moment Auri appeared, and how the Mythicals hadn’t been seen since he and Yuki vanished.

  By evening, the air in the square had changed again. Adults kept their words short, children grouped off in smaller circles. The silence was no longer worried, instead it was filled with suspicion again. And Ayra felt it everywhere she went. The way conversations stopped when she approached. The way others looked at her, not with unkindness, but with pity, as if she'd fallen for some grand scheme of Auri's that she just couldn't see.

  She bit her tongue and said nothing, but her chest burned with quiet anger. Because she knew her sister. She knew Auri as well, if to a far lesser extent. And whatever had led them to decide to just silently sneak away, it most certainly wasn't betrayal!

  The guards tried to keep the peace, even voicing out multiple times that there was no true proof to any of the rumors swirling around, with some being outright false. Not that it showed much of an effect, even when uncle Kaen himself denied the rumors.

  Meanwhile Risa continued to organise her Dungeon sweeps, by now in the hills already, with visible exhaustion and many wounds across her body. Multiple times Juno had already pleaded with her to rest for even just half a day, but Risa had refused every single time.

  Not much later, Vira led her own expedition back into the village, mud on her fur and tremors of exhaustion in her voice. "No trails, no signs. Nothing," she muttered. "We won't find them. Only Myra and the Elders still stand a chance."

  By the time the sun had fully vanished, Newleaf Village had fallen into an uneasy hush. Lanterns flickered in windows, throwing long shadows across the empty paths. The forest’s usual chorus of voices seemed muted tonight, as though the world itself was holding its breath.

  Ayra sat at the edge of the training grounds, absently kicking a small rock around. She’d been out since dawn, helping wherever she could, but she just couldn’t sit still. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw flashes of red and yellow, the way her sister used to laugh when sparks from Auri’s tail brushed her feathers. The two of them were a wonderful team. And now both of them had vanished just like that.

  Her gaze wandered toward the sky, searching for the faint glow of Myra’s return, but the sky remained still and gray. Somewhere up there Myra was flying alone through hostile air and even that thought, strange as it was, gave Ayra a little hope. If Myra of all Pokémon refused to give up, maybe it meant they still had a chance. The rest of the village didn’t seem to share that faith.

  Ayra had seen how the rumors had continued to evolve over the day, the way conversations stopped when someone mentioned Auri’s name, the glances exchanged between adults when they thought no one was listening. Some Pokemon had already started to claim that Auri had taken Yuki away on purpose. Others said the Mythicals had vanished because of him! That sounded incredibly redicolous, but somehow Pokemon still believed it.

  Ayra didn’t believe a word of it. Not for a second. But disbelief didn’t make the silence any easier. "Where are you two…?" she murmured softly. The air answered only with the low sigh of the wind.

  Behind her, the guardhouse door creaked open, and Durro’s heavy steps crossed the path. He stopped beside her, his usual stoic expression softened by exhaustion.

  "You should rest, Ayra," he said gently. "Tomorrow will be another long day."

  "I can’t," she admitted. "I simply worry too much for them."

  Durro’s gaze followed hers into the darkness. "Your sister is incredibly strong Ayra. You know that. Auri is probably even more powerful and the two of them are a well-coordinated team. There are many things that are stronger than them, yes, but there are few things they cannot at least run away from. And they can come back at any point as well, they know where home is. You should put a bit more trust in them."

  He turned back towards the village gate, leaving her alone again.

  Ayra drew her knees closer and wrapped her tail around herself for warmth. She thought of Auri’s quiet eyes, of Yuki’s restless energy, of how neither of them ever quite fit the rhythm of the village, but somehow made it better just by being there.

  Ayra hated how powerless she felt. Sure, she may be the strongest of the kids, but she'd squandered every chance to grow even stronger. She'd been content with how thinngs were, content to let the others catch up first out of a missguided feeling of fairness and a lack of will to do what was necessary to get stronger. She loved to challange herself against others of similar strength, but hated the unpredictability of Dungeons or the feeling of crushing weaker Pokemon with her strength. That just wasn't her.

  However if she'd been stronger, if she'd been willing to do what was necessary to get better than anyone else, if she had kept that spark that saw her shoot ahead of everyone else in terms of power, the guards might've allowed her to actually help searching. She might've had the strength to protect Yuki instead of feeling helpless right now. Especially with the difference in strength between Yuki and her shrinking with every passing months, even though she was older. Auri had already overtaken her even!

  No, she wouldn't continue like that, she couldn't continue like that! As the night deepened, Ayra whispered a silent promise into the wind. She would grow stronger again, no matter how long it took. Strong enough to protect everyone she cared about, strong enough to make sure no one would stand in her way. Because if Yuki and Auri had taught her anything, it was that light always finds its way through darkness.

  And tonight, she swore she’d keep that light burning. She'd found her spark to grow stronger again, and this time she would hold onto it!

  Raboot (Ayra) - Level 23

  Ability: Blaze

  Battle Nature: Naughty

  Stats:

  TE Pool (Health/AP): 109

  Attack: 72

  Ranged Attack: 51

  Defense: 78

  Speed: 69

  Total: 379 (Strength Level: Teenager)

  Moves:

  Close Combat Moves: [Tackle], [Quick Attack], [Double Kick], [Headbutt], [Counter], [Swords Dance]

  Ranged Combat Moves: [Ember], [Flame Charge], [Swift], [Sand Attack], [Mud Shot]

  Utility Moves: [Growl], [Agility], [Taunt], [Endure], [Sunny Day]