Security Chief Percival's Preparations

I am Percival. After I had landed in the Clover guild, loudly proclaimed my humanity, and had been given my tour, my life was a lot of delivery quests. Bring this here. Bring that there. Bring them there. I didn't spend a lot of time at the guild, and that which I did was spent quite awkwardly. You see, I have quite the bad memory, and am prone to forgetting things, and being ferried around by a giant metal corvid (myself) and meeting new people only exacerbated this problem. It wasn't uncommon for me to greet people I had already met as if they were strangers. It greatly availed me that I was not the driver of a taxi cabaret in my past life. Speaking of which, I sometimes wondered how things were over there. Did I simply vanish, did I die, or was some complicated multiversal theory at play? I didn't give this too much thought, besides when I was perched upon the highest part of the guild headquarters. Anyways, quite some time had passed, and sadly my nature from my previous life was not erased in the transition between it and this one. I was... am, quite the introvert. It'd be easier to list my acquaintances than people I do not know. Well, of course it would be. I remember them because I like them personally. Team Misfits, consisting of a Phanpy, Torchic, Totodile, and Cyndaquil. Team Buckler, consisting of a Squirtle and Torchic. They probably had names, but I didn't remember them. Oh well. They were all Pokémon, formerly human. I cawed loudly in laughter, only to be interrupted by someone crying out in shock. I snapped my head in the direction of the sound, only to see I spooked someone. Thanks to my eagle-like vision, I could see it was a Ribombee. Crap. I should know this guy's name.

"Greetings!" I exclaimed loudly. I suppose it doesn't matter that I don't remember his or her name. "I apologize for startling you, friend!" That works. "I was simply thinking to myself, and thought of something quite funny!" They looked at me, still startled. Please don't ask what it is. There's no joke. I just thought of Sneed's Feed and Seed again.

"U-um. Lliam was asking for you, Percival!" That stung a bit, they knew my name but I couldn't reciprocate the kindness.

"Thank you for the information! I shall attend to our guildmaster posthaste!" I had forgotten to mention Lliam with the list of acquaintances. He's our guildmaster. Also a Pokémon, formerly human, he's the one who opened this guild and gave us all a place to gather, without having to subdue our personalities. That's both a good and a bad thing, though. Some of my fellow Clover guildmates are... Ah, in my monologue I had failed to consider that the Ribombee was between me and the entrance. Swooping down from my perch, I fell upon him like a grand, crumbling cathedral. I stopped myself before I stomped down on him, but the beating of my wings blew the smaller Pokémon away. It was much akin to seeing a car fly by a plastic bag, but with all the panic of realizing said bag was filled with kittens. Fuck. Shit. Crap. Thinking quickly, I leaped forth with another great flap of my wings. For a moment, I considered catching him in my claws. No, it'd be like I hit him with a flying drop kick. My beak? No, that'd do super-effective damage or something. My only choice was to catch him in my wings, and hope the metal coating would not provide too hard of a landing. I was able to do so correctly! Excellent, now all that was left in this rescue was to... Ah, I see the problem now. I cannot fly while I hold this Pokémon in my wings. I twisted in midair so that I land on my back instead of on Ribombee, and crash land into the dirt. I skid against the ground for a few feet before we come to a stop. I let go of the shaken bug and clean myself off. "I apologize for the mishap! I trust you are unharmed?" It doesn't look like he's in any state to answer me. Uh... What do I do now? I simply bow, and resume making my way into the headquarters, and in my haste I smack my head against the door frame. This leads me to realize something. I don't usually use this entrance. There's a landing pad on the third floor, a few steps away from the guildmaster's office. Whoops. I waddle away from Ribombee before attempting to take flight again, getting to the guildmaster's office in no time. I duck into the door, Lliam noticing my entrance.

"Hello, Percival! I trust you received my message?" He asked. I stretch my wings out to bow, smacking them against the walls, startling myself, and forgetting to actually bow. The guildmaster looks at me awkwardly, perhaps second-guessing whatever request he was about to give me. "I trust you remember what I said about our summer festival?" He told everyone about this today. It's only been a few hours.

"I have. I apologize for being away at the time of Haxorus's rampage. I would have assisted Team Misfits if I were not." I bow this time, Lliam shaking his head.

"What's done is done, all we can do now is make it up to the residents of Capim town." The Meowstic shrugs. "Speaking of which, as we're hosting this event, we'll need to provide a security force."

"Of course! You have nothing to fear. I shall do as you say!"

"Great! You're in charge, big guy." Huh? "You'll be working with Bean, Mustel, and Serpes." I don't know who any of those are. "You'll have a week to prepare, as that's when the festival shall be held. Any questions?" I take a moment to think.

"Who is Bean?"

"The Fletchling?" That's not too informative.
"Who is Mustel?"

"... The Zangoose?" Nor is that.

"Who is Serpes?"

"Percival, what was the first assignment I ever gave you?" Damn it, what was it? Ah, right.

"To get acquainted with my guildmates?"

"I can see you didn't listen to me!~" The guildmaster states. I bow my head in apology, but my stature makes it look as if I'm glaring down at Lliam.

"I'm sorry, but I did not think that was a serious assignment. It sounded like a suggestion." My voice lowered itself in shame, but it came across as anger when paired with the leer.

"Ahahaha~ I see, I see... Serpes is Mustel's partner in Team Fangclaw, a Seviper." Lliam answered, and I straightened my posture.

"Thank you. If you believe I am the best man for the job, then I suppose I shall give my all to live up to your expectations." I bowed yet again, and then very slowly backed out the office. I was becoming more accustomed to flying than walking, which was quite a scary idea. This corvid body was clearly made for flying, and considering my main job here relied entirely on the act, I very quickly became more comfortable in air. Now then, how would I go about gathering my cohorts? I could walk around and ask others, but that'd take forever, and I'd likely cause a lot of chaos in the process. Let's see... Let's see. Ah, I have an idea! I cleared my throat, inhaled, and let out a booming CAW!! That probably got people's attention, now I could actually start talking. "BY ORDER OF GUILDMASTER LLIAM: I, PERCIVAL, AM TO HEAD SECURITY OPERATIONS FOR THE SUMMER FESTIVAL. AS DESIGNATED BY OUR GUILDMASTER, I SHALL BE WORKING WITH BEAN, MUSTEL, AND SERPES!!" I shouted. "PLEASE MEET ME ON THE THIRD FLOOR." It wasn't long before the three made their way up. Bean was the first to arrive. I learned this later, but he and his team do not actually live in the guild's headquarters, and I lucked into giving him a shout when he could actually hear it. Much to my surprise, he landed in front of me with not so much as a word. He was barely bigger than that Ribombee. "Salutations. You must be Bean! I am Percival, a fellow member of the Clover Guild, and-" Ah, a Zangoose and Seviper made their way up to this floor. They lined up next to Bean, and I cleared my throat. "Salutations, you must be Mustel and Serpes! I am Percival, a fellow member of the Clover Guild, and the newly appointed head of security for our upcoming Summer Festival! As per the guildmaster's orders, we shall be working together to provide the event with security, to keep it safe for all attending personnel. We-" I was interrupted by the Seviper, whom I could only assume to be Serpes.

"Why were you put in charge? What letsss you bosssss usss around?" He sharply questioned me with a glare. I do not know. Think, Percival, think!

"I am the single largest flying Pokémon in the entire town. Also, I stand watch over the guild's headquarters when not playing courier." I left out the fact that this is because staying perched up on the roof is the equivalent of laying in bed for me.

"Then why have I never noticed you?" That's because, uh...

"Have you ever looked up?" I asked.

"I... have not. That'sss acceptable, I sssuppossse." His demeanor lightened up a bit, thankfully. I didn't really know how to talk to people, much less giant, venomous snakes.

"So, where was I..?" I wonder to myself aloud. "Ah, yes, we shall be on the look-out for any troublemakers during the festivities. We must deal with anyone who wishes to disrupt the joyful atmosphere quickly, and peacefully. I doubt the need to make any potentially lethal assault will show up, but I'm sure we are all capable of..." I take a look at my compatriots. One has giant claws for fingers, another has a blade on one end and fangs on the other, and the last... Is about a foot tall. "... talking down any potential conflict in a way that can satisfy all parties." I settle upon that as my answer. "Regardless, we must decide on a way for us to maintain vigilance of the festivities. It's only natural that I find a high vantage point to perch on, and keep a bird's eye view of what's happening." I turn my head to the Seviper and Zangoose. Don't those two usually hate each other? "Team Fangclaw, I will let you two patrol as you see fit. Together, separate, alternating roles, I leave the choice up to you as you both seem capable. I only ask that remain vigilant." I turn my head to the Fletchling. "Bean, you are to act as our messenger. I want you to accompany Team Fangclaw, and relay any messages they might have to me, or to each other if they decide to split up." It seems as though they don't have any comments, not even anything funny to say. Bean has nothing to say whatsoever. I think for a moment, does that cover everything? "Does anyone have any questions?"

"No."

"No sssir."

Beans flutters up to my shoulder, and whispers something into my ear. I can't hear a word he said. I nod in solidarity, pretending that I did, when an idea hits me. "Ah, right, do you all have a good mental layout of Capim Town? If not, we can go look over it now. Regardless, we'll have to do it again by the time the festival rolls around, due to the possibility of stalls changing the walkable paths." They nod. "I suppose that is it, then. Do what you must to prepare yourselves. Remember that the fate of the Clover Guild lies upon our shoulders." I look at the Seviper. He looks at me. I disregard this and turn around. "One last word, before we part. I doubt that the raging Haxorus shall return, but do be ready in the case that it does." Before they can reply, I fly away. I have no fucking idea what we're meant to be doing until the festival starts. I simply circle around and return to my perch, and get to thinking. What can I possibly do as head of security? Think, Percy, think... Most disturbances at such events are just incidental and not caused on purpose, but a lot of the big ones are planned. Is there ground to believe that someone would perpetrate an attack at the festival? No! But, maybe... They do have a lot of enemies here. That's why the festival is being held in the first place, is it not? The masses were prepared to kick them all out of town over the destruction of the Blue Claw inn's stage. Surely, someone could be willing to take this opportunity to try and evict them. I try to push this to the back of my mind and think of something else, but it keeps clawing at me. It's my duty as the chief of security to make sure that nobody was planning such a thing! I spread my wings out. I'm not the mon this city needs, but the one it deserves. Taking wing once again, I fly into town, landing on the Blue Claw inn's roof as softly as possible so to not attract attention. Thanks to my excellent birdlike hearing, I can discern what is being said inside. There's nothing peculiar, or particularly noteworthy. I, of course, still keep an eye on the headquarters. There is a chance that they could strike while I am out keeping an eye on the town.

This continues for the days leading up to the festival, but... a new rumor resurfacing piques my interest. Word of the black knight resurfaces, they say he tracked down rumors of human settlement here in Capim Town, and has his eyes set on the Clover Guild's headquarters. Not this shit again. It seems I was spotted during my eavesdropping, but instead of realizing my allegiance to Clover, they assumed that I was the black knight, come to strike. Have I really not spent enough time for them to recognize me? Perhaps it's for the best that they believe I'm some mythical figure, and not just a lurker.

Two days before the festival

I'm approached during my eavesdropping patrol. "Holy crap, you're a big guy!" I hear a voice say. A Corvisquire? I didn't know there was one in this area.

"Indeed." I simply agree with him.

"What're you doing behind here?" I motion for him to quiet down, my wing's foremost feather positioned in front of my beak. In case that didn't get the message across, I look to the side slightly, tracing where my beak opens this time.

"Are you new around here?" My question elicits a nod from the smaller bird. "That'd explain why we haven't seen each other around, then. I am Percival, and I was appointed as the head of security for the summer festival. I am on the lookout around town. I'm keeping an ear out for talk of any plans to disrupt the event."

"Whoa! Do you think someone would do that?!"

"There is a chance. The festival is being held because of the Clover guild's screw-ups, and they're hoping to regain favor with the townsfolk here. Failure risks their eviction, so there's no doubt they'll be trying their best to succeed. Anyone with a grudge could be planning to sabotage them." I grin. "If we're unlucky, there could be a murder on our hands." I look at the Corvisquire expectantly.
"Would it be a bad time to join?"

I shake my head. "No, I believe that it'll all go according to plan." He must be a native. I wonder if this is how it feels when I act comically dense around people? Usually it's not on purpose. Usually.

"Okay then, good luck!" He cheerfully wishes me well, and then flies off. I hadn't heard anything alarming, thankfully. There is, of course, the chance that I simply missed any plans, but I can find some relief in the lack of any evidence. Sadly, though, the black knight rumor had expanded to include my talk with the Corvisquire, saying that "I" have the assistance of a small bird Pokémon. That'll be particularly pesky since Bean will likely be flying to me regularly during the festival. Oh well, that can simply solve itself!

Final Hours of Preparation

I am reporting to the Lliam one last time. "Anything of note, Percival?"

"No sir." I shake my head. "Preparations are complete, and I have even taken the liberty to listen in on the people of Capim town." He makes a face. "It is quite a shady tactic, but I can assure you that I've heard nothing of any plans to cause a commotion. From the start I doubted that the townsfolk would be willing to perpetrate some kind of... terrorist attack, for lack of a better term. This served to merely reinforce it." Lliam looked somewhat relieved.

"I'm glad to hear that.~" He smiled, gaze returning to his book.

"This job has been quite different from my usual. Once I am back to acting as a taxi cabaret, I believe I shall miss it a bit."

He looks back up to me. "Cab isn't short for cabaret."

"What?"

He stifles a laugh. "Cabaret is a form of entertainment." I stare at him blankly, and leave to assume my watch over the festival.