The Aura Within | Pokémon

Eight | The Devilry Brothers

After their break, the group of knights wasted no time to pack everything up and continue their journey, mostly because Soul threatened to beat the crap out of them if they didn't hurry up. She could be scary sometimes, but she just wanted them to keep moving forward as soon as possible. It seemed unusual for Soul to have her team take a break so early. Perhaps it was because of her lack of sleep the other knights noticed no matter how hard she tried to hide it. Aaron had in fact convinced Blake to talk her into taking a break, so maybe the idiot blond actually pulled through and convinced her.

Either that or Soul couldn't resist going back to sleep. They were on their break for almost three hours, and no one dared to wake her up. Her teammates were nice enough to let her sleep in since she was the leader of this group. Now here they were, walking through a rather rocky terrain. Although, based on the large lake near them, they must be getting closer to Azure Village.

Azure Village received its name due to the beautiful blue waters of their ocean and how vivid it contrasted against the azure sky. Akira had been there before while on a mission months ago. It was a distant memory, but he recalled guarding a noble who was to attend the village for an important event. All he could really remember was being mesmerized by how blue the village was.

As they continued walking through the now forest-like terrain, Akira couldn't help but get the feeling that the group was being followed. It might've been just a hunch, but his instincts were almost always right. He slowed down his pace and eventually stopped, causing the rest of the group to stop as well. Mark looked back at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Akira, what's wrong?" he asked. As soon as that question left his mouth, Soul unsheathed her sword and pointed it at a tree nearby.

"Show yourself!" she demanded.

"Heh, looks like you were right, Brother. They're sharper than they look."

Two men appeared out of their hiding place with smirks on their faces. They looked very identical, almost like clones. It was obvious they were twins; they were practically hard to tell apart. They had the same spiky brown hair, suspicious red eyes, and mischievous smirks. They even wore the same outfits that consisted of black slacks, grey long sleeved collared dress shirts, black boots, and black coats that reached past their knees.

Who were these goofs?

"Well, Brother." One smirked. "They appear to be part of Kanto's elite knights, so it's to be expected."

"You're right, as always," the other complimented.

An irk mark made its way onto the side of Akira's face. How the hell was he supposed to know which one was which?

"Who are you?!" he queried, already fed up with them.

"Who are we, you ask?" The one on the left rolled his eyes. "I guess we might as well introduce ourselves, right Brother?"

"Might as well." The one on the right shrugged in response. "Mama didn't teach us manners for nothing."

Out of instinct, the white haired knight reached for his samurai sword that was sheathed in its scabbard on his back. These guys seemed suspicious, so it's only natural for him to allow his instincts to take control. The one on the left smirked when he saw Akira reach for his weapon, causing him to narrow his brown eyes.

"Don't you think it's a bit rude to reach for your weapon while a stranger is trying to introduce himself to you?" he asked the rhetorical question.

"It's called instincts," Akira spat, keeping his brown eyes hardened. "You don't just stumble upon people out here."

"Fine, but don't expect me to be nice." He shrugged.

"Just tell us who you are!" Soul demanded, annoyance and authority clear in her voice.