"Rou!!!" I called out, hoping he could hear me. "Rou-"
"Stop!" Sam said in a hushed tone into my ear as he covered my mouth. "There's probably more ferals in these dungeons than others, so we can't afford to lead them to us!"
"Why would there be more ferals in these dungeons?" I questioned.
"Because no one takes this path, that means no one scares them off..." Sam replied, looking around. "We have to be quiet."
This made sense, but we still needed to find Rou. "Maybe because he was behind us, he might pop in after us?"
We waited for a few minutes, but still he was nowhere to be seen.
"Maybe he's somewhere else on the floor?" Sam eventually suggested.
"I guess that could be the case?" I said, recalling how Sam had explained the dungeons to me. "You said before that you need to stay close or we'd get split up, right?"
"Right." Sam confirmed. "So maybe he got put somewhere else when he came in!"
We searched the entire floor. It actually didn't take long for us to find the stairs, but since we were looking for Rou, we didn't go up yet. Eventually when we had seen the entire floor a couple times, we decided to rest for another minute.
"He's still not here." I said, somewhat exhausted from looking around and sneaking around sleeping ferals. I had learned that as long as we didn't get to close or loud, it was pretty easy to avoid waking them up.
"Do... do you think he already went to the next floor? Or got through the dungeon?" Sam offered.
"Maybe? I mean, he must have, unless he never entered the dungeon?"
"Either way, we'd have to search each floor and complete the dungeon to find out."
"Yeah... I guess we'll just move on and keep an eye out for him." I decided.
We moved onto the next floor and searched again. Nothing. Then the next one. Nothing. This was getting kind of tedious...
Most of the dungeon was pretty uneventful, we fought a few ferals, but we were able to avoid attention for the most part. However, there was one thing that was nagging me, as we trekked through hallways lined with dirt, rocks and shrubbery.
"Hey Sam?" I asked, "Have you noticed that each floor seems to have more ferals than the last?"
"I have noticed that. It might be because pokémon hardly ever make it this far... or maybe this dungeon has an Alpha?"
Well at least half of that answer made sense."Alpha?"
"Some dungeons have an Alpha... They're kinda like the king of the dungeon- they take the best territory of the dungeon for themselves. That's normally the deepest part. The other Ferals, naturally, want to live as close to the alpha as they can."
"Oh so it's like a boss?" I inquired further, as we climbed yet another flight of stairs.
"Yeah, I suppose so-"
Sam was cut short by a loud grunting noise, it sounded like a pig, but bigger and scarier. looking around I noticed we were had entered a large open room, there was a single corridor on the far side of the room, presumably leading to the next stairs. At first, I saw no one, but a after the initial shock, I realized too late that the sound had come from behind us.
I turned just in time to see a spherical pig-monkey-thing, toss us both across the room with a single blow. YOWCH that hurt!
"Sam!" I painfuly dragged myself to my feet as I called out, only to see that he landed several feet away. It wouldn't be long before the pig-monkey got to him.
Well, I wasnt going to let anything happen to him. runnining as fast as my 4 legs could carry me, I charged for all it was worth. I lunged, throwing my full body weight towerds our attacker, like a little fluffy rocket.
... It didn't do a thing!
Well, at least not what I wanted it to. I had made it even angrier as I bounced off harmlessly, hurting myself in the process. The Pokémon had shifted his weight to receive my attack, and that means that he was expecting it. Am I that predictable? Lying on the ground I heard an enraged squeal, and looked up just in time to see a mitted hand grab me by the face, swing me around, and throw me against the wall.
My vision was beginning to blur, I probably had a concussion or something. I think Sam whispered something about double edge and fighting types, but either he was too frightened to find his voice or I was in no position to hear him... Probably both. That's also probably why he hadn't done anything yet.
One more hit like that and I might not be able to get back up... in this dungeon or otherwise. I staggered, barely able to stand as I heard bestial Pokémon getting closer. Was this really how my journey would end? Getting pummeled by a savage monkey? Now towering over me, the pig-monkey raised its giant fists to finish the job. I closed my eyes...
We were interrupted by a powerful gust of wind, I was barely able to avoid being swept off of my feet, with the state I was in. The beast however was not so lucky, he lost his footing and was blown halfway across the room.
I looked up from my debilitated state to find Rou hovering above me, staring down the enemy.
"Rou!" I squealed. "You're here!"
"Of course I am!" He said, not taking his eyes off of our raging opponent "I was about to head up the stairs when I heard that feral screeching, I wasn't just going to leave you.
"Come on, let's get out of here!"
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"Where have you guys been?" He asked once we were no longer inside the dungeon. It's been like, quite a while."
"We've been looking for you!" I said, finally catching my breath. "How'd you get ahead of us in the dungeon?
"I wasn't trying to, I just thought that you guys might not find me as easily if I just waited. What if you had missed me?"
"That's... fair." I said, thinking it over. "How about this, we stick together, and if we get separated, we wait for each other at the stairs to the next floor?"
"Wait, is that if we get separated in a Mystery Dungeon, or before entering one?" Sam awkwardly asked. "Because sometimes when you enter at a different time as someone else, it puts you in a different version of the dungeon."
"Well then if you've been waiting for a long time, try to finish the dungeon." I replied. "If we get kicked out we can try to find another way around the dungeon."
"Alright." Rou said.
"Okay! Awesome!" Sam agreed.
——————————-
We kept following the map, taking us farther up into the mountains until the sun began to dip into the ocean at our backs. The sky was getting darker, and it was starting to get kinda chilly.
"Do you guys wanna set up camp?" Sam asked, trying not to start an argument with Rou.
"Sure!" I said. "It's getting kinda cold already."
"I guess." Said Rou.
We set up our camp and roll out our sleeping bags. Sam started preparing our dinner while I pull Rou aside.
"I didn't get a chance to talk to you earlier..." I started. "Rou, what's going on?"
"What do you mean?"
"Between you and Sam. Why are you so frustrated at him?"
Rou puffed up his feathers a bit. "I don't see why you're asking me, he's the one with the problem!" He stated.
"I spoke with Sam earlier." I assured. "However, it takes two to fight and honestly it's getting tiresome watching you two argue all the time. You two are my only friends in this world, and I don't like seeing you both at each other's throats all the time. Even if one of you don't have a throat."
"It's just, he is such a baby! It gets on my nerves." Rou confessed.
"Why does he get on your nerves?"
"Because he's a fire-type! Not only that, but he's a Charmander! Charmanders are well known for being bold and strong! Look at him, he's a wimp! Why couldn't he help you earlier?"
I glanced over at Sam for a moment. It was true, he did just freeze up. "Do you think he wants to be that way?" I presented to Rou.
"Well, I-I don't know, maybe? He's always so unsure of himself and he seems like he could break any second! He's unstable!"
"To be fair, I'm pretty sure he's felt the same way about you."
"But I'm sure of myself. I'm confident! How is it that he feels the same about me?"
"Well, you look at him like he needs to be more confident, and I think he looks at you like you need to be more caring. You both see what each other needs. Isn't that similar?"
"I guess... I just don't see why he can't toughen up and deal with criticism and things? I mean, I've had a tougher life than he has, and I don't see how me being more considerate of him is gonna help him grow."
This was more complicated than I had thought. What was I supposed to say to that?
"Let's keep thinking about things." I concluded, seeing that dinner was likely getting close to being ready. "You think about ways to not argue with him, and I'll think about how to help each other grow."
"Whatever you say Eva. You're the boss."
We rejoined with Sam and ate dinner. Soon after that we got things ready for tomorrow end slid into our sleeping bags. The stars could easily be seen tonight, and the sky was kind of breathtaking to say the least.
I guess I never really had seen the stars much back home. Either that or they look really different here. Maybe I lived in a city, and because of all the light pollution I never saw the stars much? I don't really remember to be honest. But what I do remember, is that I like to see the stars. Some would shine brighter than others, and it made me imagine someone had put a dark blanket over the world, having poked tiny holes into it.
"Do you guys think there are more worlds like ours out there?" Sam eventually said, staring up at the stars.
"Like more with Pokémon or humans?" Rou offered.
"Either. Other ones where there are Pokémon or humans like us, staring up at the night sky, wondering the same things we do?"
"There have to be." I said, joining in. "That's where I come from!"
Sam laughed. Gosh I missed his laugh. "I guess so, yeah!"
A few seconds of silence passed by.
"Do you think there are others out there who have worlds to save?" Rou asked.
"Not sure." I eventually replied. "Maybe some do? I hope they can, if they need to..."
"Yeah."
...
"Well, good night guys. I'm off to bed!" Sam said after a few moments before turning over onto his side.
"Yeh, good night." Rou said as he soon followed suit.
I tried not to think too much about my role tonight. Those thoughts seemed to have no end. I decided to just leave them aside for right now and try to sleep. Everything seems to be okay between Rou and Sam for the moment, and I just wanted to be thankful for that. It may be a fragile peace, but at least we have gotten this far.
I could just hope that tomorrow would be better.
"Good night guys."