Pokèmar Episode III: Thunder's Past

Jailbreak

After having Zorua cast an illusion that showed a gaping stab wound through the chest and making him look as dead as possible, I started dragging him to the mass grave sight for all of the Zoroark victims. Because it was at night, I didn't run into very many Raichu, so I didn't have to worry too much about explaining myself.
Soon, the three of us reach the dumping area. And as to be expected, the smell of decaying corpses is beyond revolting.
   "We're not out of danger yet..." I whisper to Zorua. "I see someone standing guard. I'm going to have to be a bit rough with tossing you on the pile."
   "If it means getting out of here alive, I'm willing to do it." He responds.
   "Don't forget your end of the bargain."
   "I haven't. Don't worry." We reach the dumping zone. And I thought it smelled bad from afar... Trying to get the job done as soon as possible I throw the "body" as soon as I am with in throwing distance. He slams into the side of it and rolls down to the the bottom. Hopefully he wasn't too hurt by that.
   At that point the smell gets too much and I gag. Drawing the guards attention. He looks me over and hopefully buys the story that we laid out.
   "The smell is quite something, isn't it?" The Raichu guard jokes, casually. Whew. I think we're good.
   "How do you stand this?! It's vile!"
   "I've learned to out of necessity."
   "I suppose that's true... Sorry. I can't stand it any longer. I have to go."
   "Alright. Take care." With the conversation over, I hastily turn to leave. Returning to Thunder who decided to stay well away from the vile mound. I honestly don't blame him.
   "Did it work?" he asks.
   "Like a charm."
   "Great! We're making progress."
   "Yeah. But things are about to get a lot more dangerous. For me, anyway. You'll probably be fine."
   "You've been through much worse, Alex. Don't worry too much." We both know that it's time to part ways now. With a quick hug, we both turn to leave. "Good luck, Alex." He says to me as he goes.
   "You too, Thunder." With that I turn my attention back to the dumping pile. Hopefully, Zorua's illusion powers are enough to keep him hidden from sight. I start making my way to the rendezvous point outside near the outermost edge of the tree wall. Our window of opportunity is small. Here's hoping we do it right...

🕐🕒🕔🕖🕘🕛

   "Ugh... And I thought the cells were bad..." Zorua now reeked of blood and decay. If I never have to smell that again it will be too soon. "There had to have been an easier and less revolting way to do this..."
   "I'm sure I could have thought of something, given time. Though something tells me that wasn't in the highest supply."
   "Whatever. What's the plan now?"
   "We climb."
   "The trees? I can't do that! Especially not like this!"
   "I can. And I can carry you." To show him what I mean, I wrap one of my vines around his torso, tightening it and securing it in a knot.
   "Oh... I really don't like heights..."
   "Just take deep breaths, don't look down, and close your eyes if you need to." Okay, first things first. I need to find a place to latch onto and rappel up. I see a nice, thick branch jutting out from the side of the tree. That'll be my first target. I throw out my vine to the branch. Once I see and feel it connect, I quickly coil it around it. A few tugs to test its strength and I'm ready to go. "Alright Zorua. It's time to go." I start climbing my vine, going slowly as to not accidentally pull the branch off.
   "Oh no.... no no no no no... Please no..." Was all I was hearing from my passenger. That and more than a few curses. I try not to let it distract me as I climb higher and higher until I reach the branch. Now to find the next branch...
"If you wouldn't mind, please try and keep quiet. The dark of night may hide us, but it won't matter if they hear us."
"I'm... I'm trying... Acrophobia isn't exactly easy to control." There. There's the next branch. After this we should be able to climb out over the tree itself. I latch on and pull myself up.
"Ok. Almost there. We just need to get to the other side of the tree and lower ourselves down." Turning back around, I see the poor Zorua shivering in fear, clinging to the tree for dear life. "Ok. Just follow my lead. I've still got you." He shakily nods and treads carefully behind me. We cross over onto an outstretched branch outside the encampment.
"Now, all we need to do i-" my sentence was cut off by the one sound I didn't want to hear, the branch breaking. It can't hold our weight. "Oh frick..."
The branch falls, taking us with it. At this hight, we won't survive the fall. Unless... I scour the area and see a horizontal branch on a nearby tree. With no other option, I take advantage of it, latching onto it with my vine and holding on with a death grip. We swing forward with more force than I can handle, forcing me to let go.
We start tumbling across the ground, eventually coming to a stop with only a few additional bruises.
"We're dead aren't we?" My terrified companion mutters. "We died. The fall killed us."
"No. We are, by some incredible force of luck, alive." Zorua opens his eyes and, after seeing us firmly planted on terra firma, immediately relaxes his tense muscles and breaths a heavy sigh of relief.
"Let's never do that again."
   "Agreed."

🕐🕒🕔🕖🕘🕛

Thunder
The morning sun rises. And Thunder's part of the plan comes into play. Wasting as little time as possible, he washes up and makes his way over to his father's tent.
"Dad?" He calls. "Are you there? I need to talk to you about something."
"Dova." Sadu replies, opening up the tent flap. "I was just about to send for you."
"Really? Why?" Suddenly, his father's face grows stern.
"Has your friend Alex ever seemed... untrustworthy?" What? What's this about?
"No. Not at all... Why?"
"Because one of our scouts just reported seeing him and the Zorua spy fleeing the encampment together last night. And I desperately hope you're not in on this..."