Chapter 4
“...alright, I’m keeping things in English from now on, promise.”
“You better.”
Daylight still shines on the wayward twins as they stroll through the fantasy town. It's just as persistent as the growing headache that Bill is experiencing. After the latest revelation, he is now confident that whatever divine providence or powers that be which brought here are simply messing with him. Though he finds comfort in the fact that either he or his brother will wake up out of this inane reverie, turning everything back to the way it once was.
It has to. There’s no entertaining the notion that it’s not going to. He won’t spend his entire life with his fingers grounded and his body covered with hair.
Right?
“And Gill, another thing…”,
“I’ve got my fill of singing for now, if that’s what you’re gonna say—”
“That’s not it”, Bill interjects as they sidestep the legs of a colossal long-necked, winged dinosaur. “I mean… you seem to remember this… this…"
“Hm?”
“…this Pokemon stuff and all.”
That word had to come up sometime. Bill had only prayed that it didn’t have to come out of his mouth.
“Heheheh… you got stuck on Gen 4, right?”, the Hisuian growlithe replies with a hint of presumptuousness.
“I can’t buy that we’re having this conversation the way we are and you’re not in the middle of an existential meltdown”, Bill notes. He can still scarcely believe that the silver haired quadruped beside him used to be his sibling.
“Maybe it hasn’t fully sunk in for me yet? I told you, I find that weird too.”
“You’re weird.”
“Anyway… if my knowledge is useful in this place then you can count on me. And if there truly are more humans like us here, then we’ll have no shortage of wisdom to pull from. Tow-doe esturruh bee-en, right?”
“I said cool it with the Spanish…”
“Sorry, heh…”
For a while, the growlithes had been walking down the winding road guarded by the colossal tree trunks, their sense of wonder not yet dulled in the slightest. The streets are positively teeming with foreign marvels, from the exotic plants to the surreal residents… this lively place is doubtless a busy hub for commerce and exchange between hundreds, maybe thousands of them. One can’t help but become allured by the items on display shown in the omnipresent stores: from the entrancingly sweet aroma of the somewhat recognizable fruit to the crystal balls glowing with an incandescent misty blue. And who knows what other places could be hiding overhead up on the bridges, beyond the darkness of the sometimes cramped buildings...
…it kind of smells like a barn. A very enticing barn intermixed with the scent of freshly cut grass, but a barn nonetheless.
The unusual houses become more modest as they traverse through the land, as well as the bustling multitude of fantastic animals. On the way to the guild, Bill has to argue against going up the stone staircases leading to the upper part of the town on account of the sun being past noon. Gill complies with a pout.
And at the end of the dirt road, it’s there. Having spotted it in the distance for a while, it looks like the location is indeed hard to miss.
Two voices react in unison:
“Woah.”
The twins wander closer to the foot of a wide tree trunk tens of feet in diameter. What it lacks in height compared to the ones downtown it more than makes up for it by sheer volume. Accompanying it is a smaller annexed stump recessed into it, looking no less imposing. An inviting pond shimmers and ripples next to the building; something within it moves and swerves below the surface, indicating it’s deeper than its modest appearance might suggest at a glance.
Though the colossal trunk’s darker green is a telltale sign of wear, several lively voices can be heard in the distance when the former humans draw closer. Emblazoned in a modest wooden sign over the wide entrance is a four-leafed clover insignia alongside some recognizable, undeniably human characters:
“‘Clover Guild’, huh”, Gill reads out loud as they contemplate the sight from afar. Completing the picture is the breathtaking backdrop of endless grasslands and forests on the city’s outskirts.
Bill’s nose and ears twitch slightly. “Who’s coming here…?”
The twin canines shuffle around to see three… no—four figures drawing closer from the beautiful field vista beyond. One of them is coming their way at a faster pace…
“Hey! Heeey!”
A… mouse-like creature runs up to them on all fours (“or is it hedgehog-like?”, Bill muses). Its fur is a yellowish cream on its underside and dark blue on its hide. Beneath its big head and long snout is an orange bandanna with a green badge pinned to it.
“That’s a cyndaquil...”, Gill comments, once again marveled by yet another previously-fictional entity.
“Huff… huff…”
The squint-eyed mouse then stands up perfectly upright, dusting off its body with its tiny paws in a bizarrely human series of motions.
“Uh… hello?”, the orange growlithe greets the stranger.
“I’m guessing you two wish to speak with someone at the 'human' guild?”, a somewhat shrill male voice speaks to Bill. “Worry not, I’m the guildmaster’s trusty confidant! Rest assured you two will get the necessary accommodations to speak with him.”
“Oh, thank you so MUCH!”, the orange canine rattles off, feeling his heart become lighter. He is elated to the point where he doesn’t care about his visibly wagging tail. “W-We have no clue what happened to us, I-I— we heard that there actually were humans on this weird place a-and we hoped that you could give us some pointers about our situation and—”
“Yep! Yep! I know your kind of story! Just between you and me, I’m also, uh, human. For real, it’s not an act!”
“Oh, thank God! Gill, we’re —”
“HOWEVER!”
Cyndaquil had raised a paw. “Before letting you see the guildmaster, I have to say… are you two a couple?”
The growlithe is visibly taken aback by the strange question. He quickly glances at Gill, who is just as confused. The orange canine resumes:
“Uh… no? We’re siblings, just this morning we—”
“That’s all I needed to hear, thank you very much!”
Cyndaquil’s attention shifts completely to the silver haired canine, acting as though he hadn’t addressed someone else entirely a second ago. He continues as he walks on two legs towards him:
“Don’t you worry, girl… ‘Jill’, was it? I assure you, there ain’t no shortage of fire-types to give you some company”, the mouse-like creature huskily declares in a lower-pitch, touching his non-existent chin as he does so. “I can show you the ropes around here, making fire ain’t too difficult and I know all the tricks to it. How about it, angel?”
Gill blinks twice.
Bill appears to be briefly frozen in time.
What just happened now?
The elder brother snaps out of his daze, still too stunned to believe what he heard:
“Excuse me?”
“Look, man”, Cyndaquil sighs, reluctantly returning his focus on the other twin. “I’ve been through this whole song and dance before, I’m a staunch believer in female liberation and I say you can’t go your whole life wrangling your sister forever. With all due respect, you’re uncalled for. Right babe?”
…
…Who the fuck does this guy think he is?
Glaring at Cyndaquil, Bill steps forward: “I... just… listen to me, I—”
“It’s okay, Billy.”
A coy, feminine voice interjects. Bill had never expected that sound to come out of his sibling.
“I think”, Gill’s high-pitched voice continues, doing a quick flick of his long silver mane before closing his eyes. “Things have been quite… stressful, what with all that’s happened to us lately…”
The large red canine slowly paces around the cyndaquil, closing a circle with a playful tail swish that brushes the mouse’s face.
“...so, like… I wouldn’t mind having someone to keep me… company to show me how it’s done. You really do strike a chord with me, don’t you, Mr. Cyndaquil…? …Mr. Cyndaquil?”
Cyndaquil’s bravado has all but evaporated.
Like Bill before him, he appears to be frozen in time with a blank expression.
…Well, that’s not completely accurate. At a glance, one can tell that his hands are visibly shaking.
“What’s the problem, Mr. Cyndaquil?”, Gill asks with a smirk. “Am I too big a girl for you?”
This is too much for the mouse.
"...ᴼʰ ᴳᵒᵈ ⁿᵒᵗ ᵃᵍᵃᶦⁿ..."
“Knock it off, Guillermo”, an embarrassed Bill interrupts, sitting down and pressing his forehead with a paw.
“W-Wait… ‘Gee-yur-mo’?” Cyndaquil quickly sniffs at the air. “Ohhh… you’re a male…”
Cyndaquil contemplates the Hisuian growlithe in silence as he walks away towards his unsettled brother. The mouse mutters to himself:
“...I think I still wo—”
A cloud of fire blasts overhead.
“GAH!”
Behind the frightened Cyndaquil is an annoyed-looking orange bird the same size as him. Its appearance is reminiscent of a big-headed baby chick, possessing two long, large talons and a pair of tiny yellow wings.
“You’re incorrigible”, an actual female voice remarks.
Flanking her are two other animals of similar height: A miniature sky blue elephant bearing a tired expression on his face and a bipedal, darker blue reptile resembling an anthropomorphic crocodile of sorts. Matching Cyndaquil, they all wear similar bandannas, the reptile also being clad in a bandolier strap carrying all kinds of salves and liquids.
“...they have to be salves, right? They can’t all be alcohol?” Bill quickly muses as he analyzes the instantly recognizable scent.
All in all, they look like a strange bunch.
“Hey there, bud!” the crocodile quickly waves with a smile. His cheery voice is slightly coarse. “Sorry for that, our friend here can get a little frisky.”
“That’s a polite way to put it…”, the elephant’s deeper, matter-of-fact voice follows up. “Excuse us for the inconvenience, disregard anything this deviant told you.”
His courteous tone is not inviting, but also not quite distant. “We’re Clover Guild’s Team Misfits. Phanpy, Torchic, Totodile, Cyndaquil.”, he lists off, pointing each of them with a small trunk. Torchic lightly hops onto his back as he does so. “Do you have any business here?”
The Hisuian growlithe takes the lead this time around: “Hey there, sir. My brother Bill and I—we’re both stranded. We heard that this exploration guild has some ‘human-lore enthusiasts’ that actually are human and so we came here since we’re… well, human. Just woke up this morning like this...”
“Oh!”, Phanpy reacts at the tale, his expression immediately laced with understanding. “You both arrived here that recently? Oh dear, I’ll arrange a meeting with the guildmaster right away, you have nothing to worry about.”
“That won’t be necessary~!”
The twins turn towards the soft male voice.
Clad in a fluttering black cloak, a figure appears out of the wide building’s entrance. A dark blue humanoid taller than both canines, his appearance is similar to that of a domestic cat. A tuft of silver hair falls down his forehead, right between two strangely shaped ears folded into themselves. Coming out of his long garb are two giant fluffy tails swaying independently from each other.
And the bright turquoise eyes… though the feline’s smile is modest and inviting, his mere glance and posture commands an undeniable presence befitting that of someone handed authority. It’s as if the peering green pupils had a piercing aura of their own, shining with a mysterious gleam…
…the aura is momentarily stopped by him getting distracted. He quickly crouches down by the pond to observe a patch of flowers. He pulls out what appears to be some weeds with his own hand.
The humanoid’s fur on his tails stand on end—he nearly trips while trying to get out of his crouch.
“Ah… apologies!”, the feline’s gentle voice declares as he cleans his long clothes. “Stubborn things, these irises. Oh well… they’re always a nice fixture to have, wouldn’t you say?”
The two former humans are yet to opine on the curious individual.
“I didn’t mean to pry, but I had listened to your plight”, he immediately resumes before they can come up with a response to his rhetorical question. “We’re used to seeing humans crop up from time to time.”
“Yeah… all of us in our team are human”, the torchic on top of Phanpy adds in a despondent tone, looking at her partners.
“Guildmaster Lliam, right?”, Gill intervenes. “Are you a human, too?”
The guildmaster lets out a small yearning sigh. “That I am…”
“This kook used to be human?”
“...if you're wondering as to why we’re all here, I can’t say for sure. Many of us come from all walks of life in more ways than one, so we don’t know for certain.”
“How long have you been here?”, Bill curtly inquires.
Lliam puts his hands behind his back, flicking his bushy tails. “I’d say it’s been a few months since The Gathering, give or take? That is to say us founding the guild.”
“So… you people have no clue how this happened to us? O-Or if we even have a chance to go back?”
The orange growlithe is met with a silence he didn’t want to hear.
Lliam briefly looks to his side with a hint of resignation. The other four creatures have no response of their own, either.
Realization settles in.
“This can’t be happening…”, Bill mutters in despair.
The younger brother's paw touches his shoulder.
...
“Listen up”, the meowstic speaks in a comforting tone. His otherwordly eyes focus on the orange growlithe's gaze. "Bill, is it? I've been tasked with keeping this merry band together for a while now. One thing you'll come to learn about me—sorry... us is that we never spurn a fellow human seeking help. Never. So long as there's a will there will be a way. In the meantime... why don't you and your brother rest here for a spell while you figure things out, mister Bill? It's almost lunchtime."
Bill looks aside.
"...If you couldn't find a way out before, then what makes us any different?"
"Well, what makes you the same?"
...
"...do you have enough food?"
Both Gill and Lliam smirk slightly. The Misfits imitate them.
"You'd be surprised at how much food goes to waste~!", the meowstic retorts in a melodious quality. "Chin up, Bill. Things will turn out for the better. I'll see to it."
"I hope so. Thanks, Lliam", Bill responds, slowly working his four legs towards the guild's entrance.
"Wait!", the other canine interjects as he approaches the water. "Wait a second Billy, I haven't checked out the pond yet! It looks like there's someone in there!"
Bill's heart skips a beat. "Hey, watch out, you don't wanna kill y-"
Gill trips.
Splash!
"GUILLE!!!"
Once again, it feels like the world is ending.
He runs in vain. Nothing matters anymore. It's too late.
"...'Gee-yeh'?", Totodile asks to no one.
"AHHH!!", the desperate quadruped rippling the surface screams. "HELP! HELP, I'TS COLD, I'M FIRE AND ROCK AND I'M GONNA SINK!!"
"GUILLE! CALM DOWN, I-I'LL SAVE YOU! PLEASE!"
"AHHH!!"
Bill helplessly watches as drops of water land on his fur. He can't get too close, lest he suffer the same fate...
...amidst the screaming, he doesn't notice the red fox and its cat-like companion beside him. In one single motion, the small vulpine bites down on the thrashing body by its scruff and pulls it inwards with unnatural ease.
"AHHH!
Ahhh!
Ah!
...
Ah."
Gill notices he's laying on his side on the grass beside the pond. Other than his wet red fur making him look quite a bit different, the twins don't notice anything out of the ordinary. Both look at Gill's unperturbed savior.
The six-tailed animal chuckles:
"First time being a fire-type?"