Broken Souls

Gastly Behavior

The Houndoom walk the forest with their heads bowed. We shuffle in far less practiced order behind them, pretending to look stoic or at least intimidating and failing on both accounts.

The forests are a lot more sparse than I remember them. The occasional Pidgey makes nests in the tall trees and calls into the empty day, only to be answered by the rustling leaves and the rare shuffling of bug types. We don't welcome trouble, either, though nothing in this forest is likely equipped to deal with the Houndooms, let alone our party.

Still, the silence is unsettling.

"Shouldn't we send someone back so we can tell them where we're going?" asks Ferro.

"You can return to them after we've seen an old friend of mine. I already told him you'd be coming, one way or the other." the lead Houndoom replies.

"Sounds like a trap to me." Millie says, with an emphasis on trap as she looks over her shoulder to me, the presumably capable leader.

"A trap?" laughs one of the side dogs, "How are we going to trap a Gyarados?"

"Fair point." Millie doesn't seem impressed and Rage, who is trying and failing not to slam against stray branches, gives no indication that he even noticed.

Ferro asks "What if they send someone after us... or after you? That's a rescue party for a rescue party. In my humble opinion, that sounds like the opposite of a party."

"Are your packmates always so insolent?" snaps the lead Houndoom.

"I don't know, Ferro, are you?" I retort, staring straight at Ferro, who looks thrilled with himself.

"I'm not going to lie. I feel personally attacked right now." Ferro says, putting a paw to his heart with his ears drawn back.

"Five seconds into a ceasefire an' he's already sidin' against us." Millie calls, and I feel my fur prickle. One of the Houndooms snicker and Toxis casts me an uneasy glance.

No, but if they do have a solution, I don't want to aggravate them. I say, though it would be nice to get some respect once in a blue moon. My fur ruffles on my back. This is looking more like some kind of trap by the second. I try to reach out using our golden bonds, but upon closing my eyes I find nothing at all. I guess we need Ashley there to tie us all together.

Since Shell's back at the camp, telepathy is out as well. Looks like we are just going with it.

The others don't have to turn around to know I've reached a decision or to voice their displeasure. I can sense their intent, their anxiety. I stare stiffly ahead, letting my fur settle and taking a long, deep breath. The others follow, and we are silent until we arrive into a wide area where almost no sunlight reaches the forest floor. Vines strangle the trees and fill in the spaces in the canopy, and the bark of the trees themselves are rotten. Paras scuttle around the roots. The grass has been replaced in patches by den material, a messy cluster of leaves and feathers, and in others it simply withers as it waits to die.

"Where are we?"

A white grin appears ahead, and a body slowly materializes around it. A Gengar stares back at us,
"Howdy." He puts his hand out. "These must be the newcomers you were talking about, Hux. Have to admit I'm impressed."

"Don't call me that." 'Hux', the lead Houndoom, snarls, and his packmates have their teeth bared as well.

"Whatever you say, buddy." His maniacal red eyes shift from one victim to the next, landing on me. I feel my fur stand up on end again and I calm myself with a steady breath, though the sensation never quite goes away.