A Truce of Trust

Leanne rolled over and rubbed her eyes when the alarm clock went off about seven. She'd set it quickly the night before, not wanting to miss any of the daylight that Oblivia offered. The sun was already up, but she could sleep through it. She normally wasn't much of a morning person, but she could feel herself starting to perk up at the thought of being able to dig through ancient Oblivian archives. She quickly got ready for the day, eating a quick breakfast of cereal before heading outside. She did grab one of the radios as Sunivel had suggested. She wasn't entirely sure how to work it though... It was kinda like a bulkier cell phone. Thankfully, there was a belt holster for it, so she didn't have to worry about hanging onto it all the time. She settled in a chair outside the house, the Oblivian heat rolling over her like an uncomfortable wave. She hated the amount of heat and humidity here. It felt like she was breathing water. She found herself using a fanning motion as she waited for Sunivel and Luseli to come out. However, she caught sight of a blue-haired guy walking through the village. He stopped when he saw her, then came over. He waved to her and smiled at her. "Well well, I can't say I've ever seen you around here before. What's your name, gorgeous?" He wiggled his eyebrows a bit and she flushed. She hadn't even been in Oblivia for a day and somebody was already hitting on her. Granted...she hadn't really expected to see anybody her age in the region with how much of the population was elderly. He wore blue shorts with a blue and white top, accented by a red vest and yellow scarf. He bore a small, blue beard that wasn't very impressive; it was more scraggly than anything else. "I'm Leanne Fewell. I'm here with Professor Franks as his apprentice more or less. I brought my sister, Cynthia, and he brought his granddaughter, Wendy, with us. I'm going over to Sophian Island today with Sunivel and Luseli." She did feel a little bit uncomfortable being hit on by a random stranger. She always hated whenever people hit on her. Then again, he was a Ranger. She saw the styler in its holster on his hip. The uniform wasn't anything like the Fioran uniform with its reds and blacks, though. It was a strange departure from what she was used to. The guy looked a little put out. "Oh, him. He's always badgering Sunivel and the others to talk to him about ancient Oblivia. They always seem irritated after talking to him." He paused. "You said you were going to Sophian Island with Sunivel and Luseli though? They actuallyinvitedyou? Aresearcher?Hard to believe." He shook his head. Well, it was the truth. Then again, Luseli didn't seem thrilled about it but Sunivel was more than willing to give her a chance. She wondered if he had picked up on something with her that he hadn't with Lucas... She wasn't entirely sure why he had invited her... It was so strange to her, but she wouldn't argue about it. "Y-Yeah... He invited me last night. I know we arrived just yesterday, so I can't understand why Sunivel invited me. That's on him. What's your name, anyway?" She was a bit uncomfortable with this conversation. It almost sounded like he was accusing her of something even though she had done literally nothing wrong. All she'd done last night was talk to Sunivel. He hadwillinglyinvited her to investigate the documents in their possession. He seemed pretty friendly, but he was friendly even to Lucas. She hadn't been one to press Sunivel into making the offer. It had all been on him. His intentions seemed pure. She really was interested in Oblivia but she hadn't really done or said anything beyond that. She hadn't attempted to manipulate Sunivel or anything of the like. "I'm Rand Young, Rank Seven Pokemon Ranger. I'm a younger Ranger here, just stationed here about a year ago, but I've learned a lot while being here. Signing those NDAs was a pain in the ass, though." He sighed and shook his head before smiling at her. "Your accent is different. Where are you from?" "Sinnoh, so pretty far off. It's basically the opposite of Oblivia. We can have really long days in the summer, but really short ones in the winter. We're pretty far north." She wasn't fond of the cold either, but she could tolerate it better than this tropical heat with a hundred percent humidity. She couldn't believe just how intense the heat was. She really didn't want to go anywhere deep into the rainforests, but that was where the ruins were. The forests mostly covered what had been open country. But with Oblivia being a nature preserve, then it meant that people couldn't readily cut down the trees. The only lumber allowed in the region was when something was needed to be built. It was hard to get too much to the region from the outside due to the strict NDAs people had to sign in order to enter Oblivia. "Oh, yeah, I learned about Sinnoh a bit while I was in the Ranger Academy. I've never been to a Trainer region, though. Are you a trainer?" He tilted his head and she sighed internally. She was so prepared for the scorn. Most Rangers treated her like she was the scum of the earth for having a trainer's license even though she didn't actually battle or anything. "Yeah, but only insofar as to have four Pokemon... You don't need a trainer's license if you only have three Pokemon, but if you have anything more than that, you need to pass a basic test to prove you can take care of more. I have no plans to go on a journey and challenge the Contest or League circuits. At all. I'm a researcher, not a battler." She had no intents of doing any of that. Cynthia was probably going to go on a journey, though. She enjoyed battling unlike Leanne. She was quite the skilled battler from what Leanne could gather. Though, yeah, she really didn't want anything to do with battling. It just wasn't her style personally. Thankfully, there was no real expectation to go on a journey at any point even if one did have a trainer's license. "Ah, gotcha. Well, as long as you have fun with what you do, that's what matters." She blinked at that. That was his reaction to learning she was technically a trainer? Most Rangers scorned her. The tension between the two different mindsets was crazy high. Trainers didn't like Rangers because they didn't understand the bond that could be brought about through battling while Rangers didn't like trainers because they saw battling as sanctioned abuse. Neither side was right. They both had such a deep, flawed understanding of the other side. She wasn't sure what the Ranger Academy taught in regards to trainer regions... Though she was aware of a Ranger Academy in the Aryce region where the hybrid ranger class individuals were taught. They weren't officially part of the Ranger Union, but they had training to help out trainer region governments on issues such as poaching. "Yeah. I'm not really one for battling. My little sister is though." Yeah. If anybody in the family would take on the League, it'd be Cynthia. She'd already been training up the Gibble into a Gabite. She wouldn't be surprised if Gabby ended up as a Garchomp before Cynthia even left on her journey. She had no other Pokemon currently, so she would have to make up for it on a journey. Cynthia really was quite the intensely talented trainer from what Leanne gathered. "Well, I guess I'll see you later. If you ever wanna chat, here's my radio ID channel." He scribbled down a number then headed off. Leanne shook her head a bit. What a weird guy. He was definitely interested in her; there were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. She wasn't entirely sure if she'd reciprocate or anything... She was trying to focus on her time here. Thankfully, her thoughts were interrupted by Luseli and Sunivel approaching. Sunivel raised a hand as he approached, leaning against his cane as he limped. "Hey Leanne. Ready to head out?" She nodded enthusiastically. "I am!" She tried to put the previous interaction out of her mind, now more focused on being able to go to Sophian Island. Beventi was also with them. Ah, right, the ability to get over the water and around the waterfall... Though...the Suicune did absolutely terrify her to no end. She had nearlykilledthem when they'd arrived. "Well, follow us." They headed down to the beach near Cocona Village and approached a bit of an older man who seemed to be living alone on the beach. "Hey Booker, mind giving us a ride over to Sophian Island?" Sunivel sounded a bit tired. Had he not slept well that night? She wasn't entirely sure. But she hoped that he'd get some rest. He was obviously in pain whenever he walked, though she couldn't pinpoint why. "Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. We'll also have to take Saveria back to Mitonga, so hope you don't mind a little bit of a pitstop." A woman with long, burnt-red hair stood nearby, looking a bit nervous. So that was Saveria... The Entei. She hadn't expected such a larger, powerful Pokemon to be so nervous and anxious. But there might be more to the story there. She did remember something vaguely about the Civil Flame from Kira's stories, but it had never been a point of study for her. All she knew was that it was a civil war focused around Fire users for some reason that resulted in them being treated poorly in ancient Oblivian society. "Follow me and let's get on the ship." "Okay," Leanne said. They followed Booker around the side of his house where a modestly sized sailboat stood. It wasn't a large ship, but it'd do the job of getting them from island to island. They all boarded and Leanne settled down on the deck. She stretched back and it didn't take long for them to shove off from the land. The sea breeze started to wrap around her and she smiled. This felt a lot better than sitting in Cocona Village with the tropical heat. She was more than glad to be here with the legendaries even if all of this was strange... The next few hours were relatively quiet with the legendaries making conversation among themselves or to Booker. They didn't approach Leanne, but she was fine with that. She enjoyed watching the sea swirl beneath them and feeling the sea breeze on her face. Plus, she was a little worried that she might come across the wrong way if she talked to them about ancient Oblivia. She knew what Kira knew, but that was limited to one era and mainly the Thunder Pacifist area of life. Most people didn't get to experience life beyond their assigned role in Oblivia, so she was more than excited to be able to learn about Oblivia through their eyes. But she knew there were a few periods that were traumatic so she might not get much out of them about those periods... Eventually, they set foot on Sophian Island and Leanne stretched. "Wow, this town is nice." Cocona Village was a little ho-dunk village with dirt roads and paths. There wasn't any sort of infrastructure really unless one counted the houses. Here, there were paved, cobbled roads. Everything seemed to have a sheen about it. It was beautiful and well-maintained. Sunivel nodded. "Aqua Resort is the nicest place in Oblivia. Considering it's mainly elderly people here, it makes sense to have it well cared for. Tilt Village is mainly younger people since the hills and cliffs make it so hard to get around. Now, follow us." He started walking and Leanne followed. The houses and everything were truly beautiful but they bypassed them and headed out on the dirt path. "We'll be walking for a few hours, but I'll need to rest every so often, if you don't mind." Leanne shook her head. "I'm excited, but do what you need to." She knew he had been injured somehow, but she had never had it clarified when and how. She doubted it was something he would want to talk about, at least right away. She did want to get to the bottom of Oblivia as much as she could, but she had to balance that with the ethics of handling people. There was a certain way to interview people in ways that were sensitive and kind. Just jumping straight to trauma that had crippled him wouldn't be very kind. Yes, she wanted to know everything, but she wouldn't let that overtake her care for the people around her. It was hard to balance her enthusiasm sometimes though... "Thank you. It'll be a little while until we reach the Temple. Do you want to talk or do you just want to look around?" That...was a good question. She knew where her mind and mouth would take her if she talked. "Might be best to just let me look around. Though maybe I could ask some questions if you're okay with that...?" She'd try to focus on just the evidence she knew would be physical and hope it wouldn't trigger them into negative memories. "All right, feel free to shoot. Just don't expect us to answer everything." She shook her head. "No, I understand. If I go too far...please tell me. I don't want to upset you guys." That was really the last thing she wanted. She was trying to build good rapport with them. Lucas had completely busted his chance to do that some time ago. She didn't want to come across as an insensitive researcher who cared more about the facts than the people that had lived through them. "We just won't answer if you hit a sensitive spot." "Okay... This was Braban Shuikal, right? Brashuil for short?" Kira hadn't much focused on geography with them. She knew the island names, but that was about it. The island names were from a bit of an older form of the language, so she wasn't entirely sure what they meant. "Right. It means 'divine island.' Due to holding three Temples, it was seen as the most divine island aside from the one that held the White Captain." Held? She thought she vaguely remembered something about Kira saying the White Captain existed, but she wasn't sure about it. She wanted to ask, but she wasn't sure if that would be too far or not. "What was the White Captain's island named?" "Braban Idakal or Brakal for short--White Island. Though keep in mind that descriptives come after the thing in ancient Oblivian. So you're technically saying Island White instead of White Island." "Oh, of course." She knew that. She was fairly fluent in the final form of the language. Adjectives came after nouns. That was just basic. She had told him she was fairly fluent but still... She wasn't sure what he was getting at by telling her something she already knew. "Plus, the Rainbow Temple is where the Rainbow Trials were held. It's considered the most holy place in all of Obrevi religion... We were some of the highest deities." It...was honestly hard to hear them speaking of things in the past tense. Granted, it had been over a millennium since ancient Oblivia had last stood... She wished they could've stayed where they were most comfortable. They were all clearly traumatised in some shape, way, or form by what had happened. Sunivel seemed okay, but Luseli... She carried so much pain with her. Her form appeared so tiny and her shoulders hunched forward. She made no attempt to interact with Leanne, Sunivel, or Beventi. Beventi took up the rear while Leanne and Sunivel walked side by side at a slow pace, Luseli far out front. She seemed eager and intent on returning to what was her home. "...Can I ask what you meant by 'held' for the White Captain's island? I remember Kira saying something about going there for a couple of years but..." She wasn't trying to get into anything sensitive, but she was curious. She hoped she wasn't getting into anything too insane. She just... She didn't understand. She was just legitimately asking a question. Sunivel rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, that island's gone. Been gone for over a millennium. Sabios completely decimated it in his razing of the region." Leanne winced a bit. She had hit on a sensitive point unintentionally. She wouldn't press on it too much more, though. So she nodded. "Do you think you could tell me a bit more about the Temple system?" With that, they moved onto focusing on just how the Temples worked and how people flowed through them over time. It was more information than Kira had ever been able to provide. But it did make sense, given the fact that the legendaries had helped forge the system with their own hands. After a few more hours, they reached the end of the path and a massive waterfall stood in front of them. Beventi shifted over to her Suicune form and bent down for Sunivel. After a few trips, Leanne stood behind the waterfall and found herself walking through the halls of what was clearly an important structure. A large stone door stood in front of them, inscribed in ancient Oblivian. She couldn't quite make out most of the words. It was clearly a much older form of the language. Multiple forms of the inscription could be seen on the door, the last one being the final form of Oblivian that she was familiar with. "Ahead you will find the Trials. May luck be with you and may your future shine as bright as the rainbow." Simple but meaningful. She looked at the legendaries. Sunivel shrugged. "What do you want me to say?" Fair point. So she got up and walked back over to him. He put a hand on a seemingly innocuous rockface, then it slid down and opened up. Leanne's eyes widened and she looked up at him. "You didn't think we lived in the Trial areas, did you?" "F-Fair point." She followed him into the area behind the rockface and they walked along a smoothed-out series of caves. They wound and twisted with lots of other small offshoot systems, but she followed him. It would be horrible to get stuck and lost in this cave system. Even the Ranger wouldn't be able to find her. She did pull out her radio, hearing nothing but static. Yeah. She wouldn't even be able to call for help if she had gotten lost. But she would stick by them, so she didn't have to worry too much. Eventually, they reached a seemingly innocuous opening then it opened into a massive cavern. Her eyes widened as she saw what seemed to be endless rows of bookshelves. "Woah." They were all carved out of rock and it was nice and cool without much humidity. It felt like the temperature-controlled rooms that preservationists used in the first place. "How far does this go back...?" "Before it was even a kingdom. This room and the others like it were made specifically to act as repositories for documents. We learned pretty quickly that heat and humidity destroy documents and work against preservation. So we used magic to control the temperature to prevent degradation. And they were rarely touched, so they're still pristine." Sunivel smiled at her. "So have at. I can show you where to go for where you'll understand documents. And if you want to learn older forms of the language... Well. We can teach you." Her eyes widened as she looked at Sunivel. "You'd be willing to teach me?" Getting Kira to teach them had been hard enough. Yet he was outright allowing her to peek deep into Oblivia's history. Before it had even been united under the Irionde line. She couldn't believe it. No researcher had ever been allowed to do this much in regards to its history before. Sunivel nodded. "You got a good heart. You aren't like Lucas where you're only interested in the history of the region. You seemed to actually care about us as people and not just see us as subjects to talk to. Like earlier... You changed course immediately when you realised you had touched something sensitive and kept it off that topic." How could shenotcare about them? They were amazing. They were ancients that had seen the rise and fall of a great civilisation that was beyond fascinating. Plus...they were clearly traumatised. She couldn't just let them feel like they were only targets for her to ask questions to. They were stillpeopleeven if they were Pokemon. "T-Thank you..." She wasn't trying to make it seem like she was just doing this to gain further access to them and their documents or anything. She legitimately just wanted to treat them with the due respect they deserved. Pretty much everyone deserved respect as far as she was concerned. It was only evil people with terrible designs that didn't. And those people were fairly rare. "Anyway, I can show you where the section you can read is." He weaved in and out of the bookshelves, showing her where the most modern incarnation of Oblivian was. She'd be able to tell when she wouldn't be able to understand the language anymore, of course, but still... "I'll leave you to your own devices then." Sunivel dipped his head and left her alone. Wow... Trusting her with this massive collection of ancient documents... This was an unparalleled chance and opportunity. Sadly, she knew she couldn't remport most of what she learned here to the outside world. She wasn't an adult yet, but she knew the importance of the NDAs that people signed before moving to Oblivia. If it got out that magic existed... She could only imagine what it'd do the world. Things were peaceful and there hadn't been wars for a long time, but it might very well lead the world down a dark, dark path... But she put the thoughts out of her mind and started scamming the various pages. What should she read first? It looked like things were separated into sections based on topic... She went to the history section and grabbed a few books, settling down in a chair provided to her. With Sunivel's injuries, it only made sense to have chairs around. They were wicker but well worn, so she was comfortable enough. Before she knew it, Sunivel had returned, leaning into his cane while the other hand held a plate. She blinked. "How long has it been?" WIth the cave, there was no movement of the sun. There was magical lighting to keep things lit, but it didn't mimic the natural movement of the sun. It was basically modern artificial lighting, just without the electricity. "It's dinner time, about seven. I made you some ancient Oblivian food if you'd like to try it." She sat the book next to her on the ground and nodded. "Yes, please." She knew they ate with their hands which wasn't ideal, but what else would she say? He went through the trouble of it despite his cane and injuries... She wouldn't exactly turn the food down. Plus... With her not having eaten in about twelve hours, she was definitely very famished. She accepted the plate and ate, warm spices and other unusual flavors greeting her. "This is delicious. Have you shared these recipes with modern people?" He shook his head. "Nah, not really... They care more about modern recipes. Plus, we have to gather our own food in this case. Beventi brings it to us once per week." That was entirely fair. They still ate in the ways ancient Oblivian did, though there had been agriculture at one point. But most food just got brought to the region. There weren't enough farmers here. Plus, it was a nature reserve legally. They couldn't strip down the topsoil on Dulce Island for the sake of farming, not when so many Pokemon lived there. So there probably were some ingredients they didn't have, but for the most part, they could eat the ancient dishes. "I suppose that makes sense." She did look at her watch and frowned at the time. It took about three hours to get from island to island by boat, so it'd be dark by time she got to the shore. "Um. Would it be imposing if I asked to stay overnight?" She wasn't sure if they had guest rooms or anything to keep people. Then again... If the other legendaries stayed, wouldn't it make sense to have guest rooms? Sunivel shook his head. "Nah, I assumed you were staying overnight anyway. With how things were... You could probably spend the rest of your life here, right?" He smiled at her, clearly amused. She felt her cheeks heat up but she nodded. There was no denying it. She could easily stay in here the rest of her life, analysing and understanding the books here. There were so many. She could so easily dedicate her entire being to studying everything here. If they let her apprentice here, she would've been happy. She really could've been so happy... "Don't worry about it too much, if you wanna stay overnight at any point, just let me know. Just gimme your radio so I can let Lucas and the others know you'll be here. I mean I assume you wanna keep reading?" He chuckled a bit and she felt her cheeks remain heated, but she nodded. She took it out of her pocket and handed it to him. He walked off and she returned to reading, feeling like he only came back a few minutes later. "There you go. But you should come to bed in the next couple hours. I know you could stay up all night reading, but you really shouldn't." "Should I just head out now?" She sighed, resting her cheek in her hand. She would lose track of the time. It wasn't like she had any reference for anything. Her cell phone didn't work and definitely wouldn't have gotten any signal in this cave. The radio didn't even work… "Nah, I'll come back around ten. How does that sound?" She nodded. "All right." That was a decent time to go to bed. He left and she went back to reading, completely absorbed in the books. And, once again, it felt like he came back in the blink of an eye. She sighed again and stood, following him through the various corridors in these hidden chambers to a small room. "Here you go. There are some clothes in the dresser if you don't want to sleep in what you have now." Yeah, jean shorts and a t-shirt would not be comfortable... He closed the door behind him and she dug through the clothes. It was cooler in here, so there was what looked like a nightgown. Huh. It was relatively modern... Or so it felt. But she changed into it and crawled onto one of the mattresses, curling up and falling asleep, her dreams filled with visions of ancient Oblivia.