Chapter Text
As far as Alec was concerned, it could be worse.
To start with, he could be dead, or even worse, still stuck inside one of those spheres - the bright flash of the energy stored in its Paldium shell was still fresh in his memory. The feeling of stasis, the world outside halting, only to snap back with just the knowledge that time had passed but no idea what had happened or that he’d even existed in the interim. The feeling of ceasing to be as a sentient entity for a while.
No, the cage was better.
He held his knees a bit closer to his chest, looking over the encampment. It was fairly large, cages stacked in haphazard rows and filled with all manner of creatures, a noisy clash of colours behind rows of cold bars. Somewhere near the center of the encampment, over where he could make out the flicker of flames through the rows of bars, Alec could hear the loud and grating voice of the black merchant as he talked loudly with a client.
He yearned for the warmth of that flame right now - whatever Twins forsaken place he’d been brought to was a lot colder than Mount Obsidian, and he missed the rumble of the volcano. The low, fearful noises of the other cages occupants was a poor substitute for that steady sound.
He’d already tested the bars and the lock was out of sight. Reaching blindly for it had earned him nothing except sore knuckles and forearms as the merchants black feathered Cawgnito had appeared silently and suddenly to peck at him until he gave up, opting for scowling angrily at the skull-like face instead. Its glowing red eyes betrayed no emotions before it vanished as quietly and quickly as it had appeared.
So he sat there, arms wrapped around his legs as he played with his haircuff. It was a little impressive that they’d not taken it, the chunk of Paldium smoothed into a nice sphere. Luckily his capture hadn’t made the sight of the blue stone repulsive, the inner glow soft and calming compared to the bright, harsh light of a man-made Palsphere. Small comforts were still comforts.
Being in the cage meant he’d either been sold or was about to be offered up for sale, he knew that much. The black market was very open about its operations. What his exact fate would be was beyond him, but he was aware it probably wouldn’t be great. If they were dealing with the black market, they were not exactly the type to be treating anyone or anything well.
Maybe they’d be less prepared than the merchant and he could make a break for it? Past the rocky terrain the camp was in he could see the edges of a forest, the shapes of trees looming in the moonlight. Every so often he saw a flicker of shimmering pink and purple, or even orange glows like embers in the dark. While the Pals in the forest might get him, there was just as much of a chance that the merchant and his Cawgnito would run into whatever was in there and lose him.
With a huff he let himself sprawl as best he could in the cage. A lot of what ifs. Right now, his best chance was to get some rest and save his strength. It was cramped for him, but he could manage. Defiance in comfort.
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Red eyes looked down at him.
Alex started scrabbling back with a sharp intake of breath, clutching at his chest as the eyes owner looked him over. A small, sheep-like form floating above them, deep dusty purple fur almost black as it caught the light from the dazzling star speckled pink and purple of their mane.
A Daedream, his memory supplied to him as his sudden guest scrunched their face.
“I guess you’ll have to do.”
Alec blinked. “P-pardon?” He spluttered out, trying to arrange his half awake thoughts into comprehending exactly what was going on.
“Look,” The Daedream supplied, leaning back to sit in midair, its mane acting like a chair as they did so. “I need someone to help me out. You look like the right type for the job.”
Alec glared at them. “And why should I trust you?” Daedream were known for enchanting others, putting them into a deep sleep. Sometimes until they expired. That wasn’t exactly the type of reputation one looked to place trust in.
“Because I’m your only way out of that cage, blue-eyes.” The Daedream gave a knowing half grin, fang showing before flipping over, slightly paler hooves propping up their chin and kicking their hind legs like they were laying across a bed. “I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to get to where I need to with your help.”
Alec snorted, gesturing around them. “Oh yeah, you’re going to just get me out of this cage when you’re in… here… with me?” He’d looked around and realized with a jolt that he wasn’t in that cage anymore. He wasn’t much of anywhere.
A dream, he realized with very sudden clarity. He had fallen asleep.
Those red eyes bored through him. “I can get you out of there.” He looked up at the dream creature that had its hoof on its hip as they hovered just out of reach in the void. “But in exchange, you’re going to do exactly as I say.”
“And that is?” The words tasted bitter.
“I’m going to open a bunch of cages after you wake up. You’re going to head into the forest and follow me.”
They didn’t leave much room for him to argue as they smiled, fang peeking out between their lips. “Better wake up, blue-eyes. We don’t have all night.”
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Alec awoke to a soft click from above the cage. The chatter of the merchant had stopped, as had most of the uneasy rumbling of the other cages occupants, so the soft sound stood out against the few remaining noises.
A Cremis in a nearby cage’s ear twitched as the lock on its cage also opened. Alec could make out the faint glow as a dark shape - that Daedream if he had to guess - flitted between cages at seemingly random. There was some minor stirring, the sounds of various Pals waking up.
It was then that the Cawgnito finally made a sound as it teleported on top of a cage, a harsh, shrill squawk escaping its boney beak as it appeared and pecked relentlessly at the invading Pal. There was a groggy sounding swear from over by the fire as the merchant woke up and took notice.
With a thunderous roar, the cage the Cognito was perched on exploded apart, the locking bars holding the top on having already been removed by the Daedream. The bird barely missed colliding with the floating Pal as the top of the cage was flung off, clattering down somewhere in the camp as a hulking form burst from the small space. The light from the fire shone off its black chitin as the Warsect took absolutely no time to take a swing at the falling bird.
And then the camp erupted into chaos.
Dozens of cages where pushed open by their occupants, the pathways between them suddenly filled with various Pals. Alex shoved his own cage open, almost running directly into the Cremis as they made a break for the forest's edge. But they were also met with a large portion of Pals who were headed into the depths of the camp. There were many snarls as all manner of creatures chose to deal with the problem at hand rather than just escape.
Alec was torn on if he should just run for it, or if he should try to open cages, looking back over the rows of still locked enclosures and the Pals now trying frantically to get out of them, various cries all meshing into a cacophony as the chaos unfolded. He should help! Nothing deserved thi-
The thought was shattered by a rattling sound that pierced the absolute chaos, Alecs blood running cold a moment before the thunderously loud sound of gunfire erupted from the middle of the camp.
He wouldn’t help anyone if he was dead.
Alec could hear many things he wished he could not as he followed the white fur of the Cremis into the woods, almost falling a few times as he stumbled on the uneven terrain in the dark. The cacophony from the black market camp was slowly lessened by the trees, the dark branches catching at him as he fumbled through them. There was the thought of looking for the Daedream, but for right now the bright white fluff of the other escapee was a good enough guide for him to not run straight into a tree, and getting as far from the camp as he could seemed like the best idea.
More than one time he heard the startled sound of a Foxparks woken by his tired dash, and twice the squawk of a Nitewing, the sound just making him urge his sore body faster, deeper into the woods. Luckily, the Cremis he was chasing had to be an alpha - it had taken him this long to realize how large the Pal was as it moved through the trees but the added size of the fluffball meant there were less branches that could trip him up as he followed it.
Unluckily, that meant there were still plenty at chest level.
The grade had turned uphill at some point, and after taking a few more branches to the chest Alec stumbled out of the treeline and was suddenly even more happy he had followed the Cremis. In the dim moonlight he could see how to his left the world just seemed to end - a cliff. There was a good chance if he’d just run straight through everything he’d have found it the hard way.
He stood there for a moment, catching his breath and listening. As the pounding of his heart slowed he could hear the soft sound of waves lapping against rocks. There was no ruckus of a chase.
He took a deep breath and walked back to the forest's edge, pushing back in deep enough he couldn’t see the cliff. Part of him wanted to continue to follow the Cremis, but the rest of him was tired and sore, all that moving after being in a cage catching up now that he’d stopped. There was a chance he’d get spotted while he rested, but he needed to stop, just for a while. Just long enough to regain his strength.
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“You know, I thought I told you to find me and follow me.” The Daedream hovered with their hooves on their hips, looking down disapprovingly.
Alec huffed. “Should’ve kept close to me then. Maybe we could have freed more of the Pals in that place together.” The thought of all of them still caught there weighed heavily on him.
“And get us both caught? You really find cages that comfy, huh.” Alec frowned as the creature continued. “Anyways, you still owe me, so you’re going to listen up.”
From captured to be sold and put to work, to being rescued and put to work. Alec wasn’t exactly sure this was that much of an upgrade anymore.
“You actually went the right way, so you’re at least lucky. Less work for me.” They leaned in a bit closer, the landscape warping into view. Ah, he was asleep again. “There’s a cave at the bottom of the cliff,” A vision of the deep, dark entrance shimmered into view behind them, framing the dream creature, their mane looking even brighter against the abyss of the entrance. “There’s a slab in there I need you to get.”
That too appeared, a flat stony slab, the blue shine of Paldium in the shape of an eye surrounded by the suns rays emblazoned across it.
“And why can’t you just get this yourself?” Alec questioned, reaching for the dream slab. It felt cool in his grasp. Nothing really special either, just a rock tablet. Maybe a little on the thin side, pretty, but nothing more than another Paldium infused rock.
The Daedreams face soured for a moment, just long enough for Alec to catch it before the single-fanged grin returned. “Welllll, I totally could, believe me. It’s just so much easier to have help. Besides, if I’m with you, less things will want to pick a fight. Your kind tends to make everyone think twice about what they’re doing.”
Alec somehow doubted both these points, but he wasn’t exactly in the best situation as it was. If ‘his kind’ tended to make others think about what they were doing he probably wouldn’t have been about to be sold. That said, the Daedream did set him free, and from what he’d heard of their kind, if they really intended to be rid of him then he’d just never wake up. “Alright then… What else?”
“Nothing else.”
“There’s always something else.”
The dreamsheep stuck their tongue out at him. “Just be quiet and follow me.”
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A lot more time had passed then the last bit of sleep he had gotten as Alec finally awoke, rubbing at his face groggily. He was sore, he was stiff, he was dirty and scratched and absolutely on the exact wrong side of the islands from home if the direction the sun was coming from was any indication. Still a massive improvement from the day before, so as far as he was concerned he was doing great.
It didn’t take long for him to notice the Daedream, watching from halfways up a tree as he roused himself. They didn’t seem to be making great motions for him to hurry up and follow them so he took his time waking, and taking in the forest.
In the sun it was decently pleasant, the sound of Pals echoing through the branches. It didn’t take long for him to spot a few of those low lying berry bushes that seemed to pop up around the archipelago in the underbrush, one of the few nice things about the islands. The deep red of young berries mixed with the deep blackish purple of the ripe ones, and the shape of the leaves seemed to indicate they were dewberries, so he had himself something of a breakfast while he took stock at least. A good morning, all things considered. The ever present fog wasn’t even all that thick today and he could see the branches of the massive tree to the northwest through the canopy in the fairly clear air.
The Daedream was soundlessly following Alec as he munched the handful of berries, hungry enough to even enjoy the unripe ones, humming to himself as he got the tartness of the young fruit. Finally, he got up enough energy to peer over the edge of the cliff. It wasn’t that far down, all things considered, maybe a good ten meters. If he was careful he could climb down the cliff, there weren’t any large rocks at the bottom and plenty of handholds and ledges, so he’d probably be fine.
Alec noticed with a bit of puzzled interest that the alpha Cremis from before was standing at the bottom of the cliff, bright white fur standing out against the darker sand of the beach. It stood and looked up as he looked over the beach, tilting its head as it took note of him and then somewhere over his shoulder. He blinked a few times before looking back. The Daedream was making a sour face at the Cremis and Alec frowned at the dark furred Pal before looking back at the fluffy fox-creature. It gave him one last look with those big amber eyes, then wandered into the cave that was down at the bottom of the cliff with a calm trot.
The floating sheep-creature lazed in front of him and gave him a look that clearly conveyed the sense of ‘get on with it’ before they slowly floated down the cliff, moving from small ledge to small ledge until they finally sat at the bottom with their arms crossed, floating there with a look of bored impatience.
“I’m going, I’m going…”
It didn’t take long for Alec to climb down, especially not after his floating companion so kindly showed him the way. It was only a few new scrapes and bumps to the numerous across his chest and arms, and a few new ones on his shins as he struggled a few times to find the right spot to grab. He’d be fine.
The opening to the cave loomed in front of him as the Daedream gestured to it impatiently. The opening honestly wasn’t all that big, maybe large enough to fit a Mammorest through if you really tried. He couldn’t see beyond the entrance - It was like a void, even with the sun at his back looking in, a meter or so of sandy floor then a wall of inky darkness.
For a moment Alec wondered if he had lost his mind. He was out here, far from home, following the directions he’d gotten from a Daedream in his sleep after it freed him from a cage where he was about to be sold on the black market. It was an absolutely absurd combination of events that made him want to laugh, turn around and take his chances trying to swim from this island out past the fog, because if all that other stuff was possible then getting off of this archipelago might just be possible as well.
Instead he walked through the opening.
It was uncanny to feel the sun just cease after a few steps, the warm of the morning sun replaced by the cold dampness of the cave system instantly. Behind him it was the same featureless void he had seen outside. In front of him it was a large cavern, a few stalagmites occupying the center where a dull light shone through the ceiling.
These places always unsettled him. The size of this single cavernous room wouldn’t fit under that cliff, and that was considered normal - most of the caves on the islands were larger than they had any right to be, and they all tended to shift and rearrange themselves chaotically. The resources inside seemed endless, new nodes of Palduim cropping up with each new shift. Ruins appearing where before there had been a solid rock wall. Boundless treasures left in rooms that had been a deep well of water just the day before. A seemingly endless bounty from nothing.
But dangerous as well. Pals and humans alike roamed the caverns looking for resources. He really wasn’t in the mood to run into either right now - He was too sore and too tired to deal with that.
Alec hadn’t ever enjoyed spelunking, the caves on Mount Obsidian tended to be filled with magma and required plenty of planning to get in and out of safely. And now here he was doing it at the demands of a stranger.
A strange stranger, he mused as the Daedream materialized beside him. He opened his mouth to say something and didn’t even manage to make a sound before the floating Pal put a hoof to their lips and shook their head, eyes and body language telling him very clearly to shut up and stay shut up.
And so the creeping through the cave began. Despite the Pals insistence that he’d be a great deterrence, Alec really didn’t feel like that was true as he nervously made his way from room to room, each time he knocked a rock skittering he swore he could feel his heart stop beating for a second. It was hard to tell what might be something moving and what was the roar of his blood in his ears as he tried to keep himself calm. Trying to take steady deep breaths while trying to be quiet was not all that productive.
The cave was oddly peaceful, which did not help with his stress. There was not really any sign of anything alive in the rocky rooms and halls other than the two of them as they made their way through, the Daedream leading while Alec nervously looked around. Where were the local Pals? There wasn’t even a sign of a struggle. The air in the place was still. Quiet other than their movement which sounded thunderous to his ears.
They ran into a few dead ends littered with large fungi that stood almost as tall as Alec, some glowing with that bright Paldium blue, others a dangerous green. Spots where there was a clear opening, hand hewn columns framing the path before the tunnel just abruptly stopped with a solid, untouched rock wall. A room with a circular platform, stones cut and placed deliberately. He picked up a few cracked Paldium crystals that had laid near the center, probably part of something else that had long since been looted. There was a section that was almost completely submerged, the Daedream easily flitting across the gap as he jumped, landing in the shallows and soaking his legs in cold water. The sound of the water splashing about made him wince, but nothing came of it.
The longer they went without finding anything at all, the more twitchy Alec found himself, each new room more stressful. There should be something. Twins, there should be anything at all.
As they went through a great hall, great columns of rock reaching floor to ceiling, a faint sound finally reached them.
Of course the Daedream went right towards it, darting down a path and making Alec have to run to keep them in view, legs aching from what felt like hours of moving. He wasn’t sure how long they’d been going for at this point, and it wasn’t like there was exactly a wealth of ways to track time in a cave. Each path they traveled through took them closer to the sound. It sounded like a fight. Alec wasn’t sure he was ready for that.
He almost ran into the Daedream as he followed them through a narrow crack. A small hoof on his chest held him back as he took in the massive cavern that opened before them.
The most striking thing, what he noticed before anything else, was the towering tree in the middle. A shaft of light pierced the gloom of the space, demanding the tree be the center of attention, even as the dull blue glow of Paldium shone from the walls. It was unreal to see, and that was even with knowing there was a much more imposing tree looming to the north of the islands.
The second thing he noticed was the bright blue glow of concentrated Paldium from a crook halfways up the tree. Whatever it was shone brightly, the glow somehow seeming to surge and pulse with a heartbeat, and for a moment it was like everything else stopped existing. He shuddered.
The third thing that he noticed, which he really should have paid attention to sooner considering what had led them there, was the Cremis from before firing a hydro laser at… Something. Smoke and dust billowed from the far side of the cave as the beam of high pressure water carved a path through it, the sudden roar of the water deafening as it echoed in the cave. The smoke billowed out back towards the furious Pal, a shape inside moving.
Something exploded.
Alec didn’t really remember exactly how everything happened from there. He remembered the Daedream pulling him into the room as his ears rang, pointing at the tree. A pressure wave that made everything spin as it stole the breath from his chest.
The beckoning call of that blue light in the tree.
A sound so sharp that it felt like the world was splitting even to his deafened ears. Splinters as something blew a massive branch clean off the proud giant, smaller branches battering him as they fell. The pounding pulse of something, stronger and stronger as it guided him to it.
The feeling of cool stone against his hand.
Release.
A blinding blue pillar of light. Spinning circles of electric blue, strange arcs of power in the air. The cavern hummed with power that he felt in his bones.
The world dropped out from beneath Alec.