Safe Haven

Now You choose

Reina's head felt fuzzy as she slowly began to raise her head, drowsy as she was. Her eyes blinked slowly, as the spots in vision dissolved into the clear sight before her: her new home.

"Ughhh..." Reina groaned, annoyed at her own body for getting out of bed. She knew she had to get ready for the day, though, as she continued in paw steps to the small mirror low on her bookshelf and began correcting the patches of fur that were sticking out. How did she manage to always have such a bad bedhead?

Reina turned to the other corner of the room which housed Haven's sleeping body. Was she going to get up? Reina glanced over at the clock above the doorframe, squinting to read the time. It was 7:40 something, almost time for all members of the Guild to gather. Was Haven going to skip, or something? Well, it's not like they take attendance.

Reina decided to face her fears, though, and walked over to Haven's side of the room. Approaching the silver eevee's resting body, she began to speak.

"Um... Haven?" Reina said, voice close to a whisper. Haven didn't stir, however, still deep in sleep. She supposed she wasn't loud enough.

"Haven," Reina repeated, now in a semi-casual volume. Haven's body still breathed in a steady rhythm as if no words had been uttered. Reina cringed, wondering how loud she would have to be to draw her roommate's attention.

"Haven!" Reina yelped, now in an elevated tone. Unlike previously, the silver eevee's eyelids gradually opened, and a groan escaped her mouth. She rolled over, facing away from Reina.

Did she just... ignore her?

"I--You have to get up!" Reina explained, annoyed at the eevee's refusal to listen. She walked over to the side which Haven turned, again facing her. Haven's eyes shot open, directly staring at Reina.

"I was planning on waiting until 7:55 to get up," Haven explained, pointing her eyes at Reina, "but if it'll make you shut up I suppose I can wake now." She said in a gravelly voice, probably because she had just woken up. Reina's eye twitched, aggravated with Haven's attitude. She was just trying to help...

"Whatever, if you wanna be late then you can go on ahead," Reina replied, blinking in surprise at her own words. Since when could she just... say stuff like that?

"Pft." Haven snorts, redirecting her attention to her fur as she begins to groom herself. Reina looked away, choosing to leave early. She didn't need to coddle her stupid roommate, anyway!

In retaliation to Haven's prior words, Reina walked out the door and abruptly shut it, making a loud banging sound. She cringed a little, though, immediately feeling guilty for being petty. Had others heard the loud noise? She hoped she didn't bother anyone...

Reina sighed as she continued walking down the hall, joining the crowd of Pokémon gathered in the central area of the Guild. Around her, she saw several Pokémon, but nowhere near as many as she had seen yesterday. The room was full of conversation, sounding almost quiet in how she couldn't understand a word in the sheer amount of talk. Of the Pokémon present, Reina spotted the glameow and houndour from yesterday and wrinkled her nose awkwardly. Hopefully, they would just leave her alone.

Reina directed her attention to the rest of the room around her, attempting to distract from the noise. Past the Pokémon and to the left of the stairs was a toxicroak standing in a circular stone structure that gradually built up to form a croagunk statue. Within the mouth of the croagunk statue was a cauldron containing a bubbling purple substance within. She didn't want to know what that could be...

Parallel to Toxicroak's area, shop, or whatever it was, was a green sprout poking out of a hole. Reina imagined that the average Pokémon could fit in there!

Reina found herself staring at the walls, though. They were beautiful. The red mud brick that was carefully sculpted and placed on the wall was covered with moss, vines, and all sorts of greenery. The design drew her in, and she just couldn't stop admiring how connected the Guild's interior was with nature.

Suddenly, though, Reina's attention was brought back elsewhere.

"Hello, everyone, I hope you're mornings are well." A voice said, echoing throughout the halls. The room quieted at these words, and all attention was on the speaker. Reina looked over to where the voice came from, spotting a small, but muscular, leafeon. Beside her was Charm, the ninetales.

Reina found herself scanning the crowd for a select few Pokémon. She quickly spotted Haven standing in the back, a neutral expression on her face. Continuing to look, she eventually spotted Erin, closer to the front of the crowd. She wished she wasn't so closed off by the surrounding Pokémon, or she would go sit with Erin...

"Today we would first like to introduce our newest recruits to our motto," Charm announced, voice loud and affirmative, "It goes like this," she said, pausing, and suddenly the whole room erupted into voices.

"A ONE, A TWO...A ONE-TWO-THREE" everyone repeated loudly, and Reina found herself shrinking a little bit in surprise,
"ONE! DON'T SHIRK WORK! TWO! RUN AWAY AND PAY! THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!" They all cheered. Reina didn't even realize it as she sighed in relief when it was over.

"That is the cheer we perform every morning, and it is how we've done it since the Guild's creation." The leafeon explained, looking specifically at the recruits as she spoke.

"Now, the dining hall will be opened in a moment for breakfast, but--" Charm's voice became unlistenable as voices piped up in excitement at the announcement of breakfast. They all continued to laugh and talk until interrupted by a yell.

"LISTEN!!!" The leafeon spoke. She stood tall, demanding the attention of those in the room. And they listened. "BUT! That will be only after you are dismissed. Recruits, I ask that you stay behind a bit longer. If you don't fit that criteria, you may leave." She announced, dismissing the other Pokémon. Pokémon almost immediately started to head for the dining hall. Reina jumped out of the way so as not to get trampled by the hungry Pokémon. She noticed that Haven left, too. How long had she been with the guild?

"Hello, little recruits!" The leafeon said excitedly, surprising Reina. Had she not just been yelling for attention a few moments ago? "I'm Violet, and today you will be deciding who you will form a team with. We know this is a big decision, but the good news is you can always change it later," she says, smiling, "Just don't abuse that power, please." She finishes, looking annoyed like that had happened before.

"We ask that you come back here to this spot at noon, ready to tell us who you'll be joining forces with," Charm explains. Reina looks over at Erin, and their eyes meet. He smiles at her, and Reina finds herself smiling back.

"You are dismissed," Violet announced.