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A Zoroark shifted open dusty curtains, letting the orange of the setting sun into the room. He glanced over the grungy bed and filthy beat-up desk - nothing like the nice Guild furniture he'd used to enjoy. It wasn't glamorous, but at least he and his friends were safe.

"One day you'll have comfort," Blaze grumbled to himself. His body felt icky and exhaustion made every movement feel difficult. He sighed in relief, stretched out his slender arms and straightened out his back, then returned to his natural crouching posture. He put his forepaws on the ground and took a moment to stretch out one leg behind him, then the other.

A Dusk Lycanroc stepped across the threshold to the room, rapping her tail on the door frame to get Blaze's attention. Blaze jumped in surprise and quickly stood up, embarrassed. Indignation swelled through him. He turned around to find Tec looking at him, a mischievous glint in her eye despite her somber mood. In the setting sun her orange-red fur glowed. Blaze scoffed and sat down on the bed, flipping his red mane on top of it.

"You could announce yourself [i]before [/i]a guy embarrasses himself like that."

"Don't get [i]too [/i]comfy, Talon wants you to bring news to the Guild. They need to know what's going on."

Blaze cursed himself under his breath. They'd just got back from that mess, and she wanted him to set out again [i]already?

[/i]"I'm resting first. Tell that bird she can pay a courier if she [i]really[/i] needs that Chesnaught to know what's going on immediately. Better yet - pay a [i]psychic [/i]type. I'm waiting for nighttime when it's safer."

"I'm sure she knows already. This is important so she just wanted me to make sure [i]you [/i]knew before you got too comfortable and slept through all day, all night, and all day again. She'd tell you herself, but she's, well..."

"... Thanks," Blaze conceded reluctantly. He looked out the window to a sky of vibrant reds and oranges; it registered to him how messed up his sleep schedule was. "Should've been sleeping all day... I'll take a nap and get it done."

Tec stood in the doorway while Blaze slipped a paw under his mane to rub his aching neck. He noticed her standing there looking at him and glared at her, expecting her to go away. She looked at him with her head tilted to the side - one of those annoying looks that said "I'm worrying about you."

"Blaze... it's not your fault, you know that, right?"

Images flashed through Blaze's mind of his teammates - his [i]friends [/i]getting hurt. He wished they'd stop. He couldn't help wondering if he could've prevented the danger altogether by being more diligent in the first place, but...

"Of course," Blaze said, "Nobody was prepared for a trap."

"Good night, then. You know, we [i]do [/i]appreciate you being our messenger."

"I know," Blaze assured her. He sighed; he knew he was[i] [/i]the best suited for it. He just wanted to rest like everyone else did and recover his usual sleep schedule.

Finally, the Lycanroc turned around and walked out, nosing the door closed so Blaze could have some privacy. Blaze grumbled to himself and laid down on his bed, curling up on his side. He'd known that Uprise Range was dangerous, but none of his sources had told him a trap was waiting for them. Talon wanted to save the exploration team that was supposedly being held there, so they'd gone despite the danger. Not that Blaze blamed Talon too harshly for wanting to help or for being bummed they'd failed. He didn't want anybody to suffer at the paws of criminals, either. Blaze was just happy his team made it out safe. If anything serious had happened to them... they didn't know[i] [/i]what a Blaze in a sour mood was like.

-_-

Blaze stirred a few hours later, his sleep broken by vague dreams of his teammates getting hurt. He felt no more rested than he had been before - paradoxically he was [i]more [/i]exhausted. As much as he wanted to lay his head back down and sleep for another eight hours he picked himself up and tried to shake himself awake, the orange bead in his hair zipping about like a projectile. It was nice and dark, though Blaze could see pretty well. He opened his door as quietly as he could to try to keep from waking his friends - had it squeaked so loudly when Tec closed it!? He cursed under his breath as he snuck down the hallway to slip away unnoticed and inform Agmundr of their failure. He nearly made it to the door before a figure shifted in the shadows.

"Stealthy," teased a soft, unassuming voice suddenly.

Blaze jumped, and barely managed to stifle a yip. He swung around to find the Zeraora [i]wasn't [/i]asleep. Volt was awake sitting on the couch in the common room peeking over the back of it, his cat eyes reflecting what little light there was available back at Blaze.

"Arceus, do you want to tell the whole [i]city [/i]I'm sneaking out?" Blaze hissed.

"No," Volt cried, shrinking away, His ear flicked in shame - Blaze tended to forget how endearingly tender that Zeraora could be.

"Get some rest, Volt," Blaze asserted in a gentler tone. "I'm just slipping out to inform Agmundr how our day went."

"I worry about you, Blaze," Volt whined. "You're always going out at night. It's dangerous."

Blaze felt touched - he threw up an Illusion quick to mask himself shaking his head to clear it. When he let his Illusion down, Volt was none the wiser he'd nearly lost his composure.

"I'll be fine," he said. "Night's my time, I can take care of myself."

"Just... I don't want to wake up one day and find you're not there."

"That's not going to happen, Volt," Blaze assured him. "I know how to slip away."

"Like how you got caught by a Zeraora you didn't even know was awake?" Volt teased.

"Fuck off," Blaze said with a violent shake of his head.

"Just... Come back[i],[/i]" Volt emphasized.

"I will."

Blaze had no intention of leaving and not returning; it bothered him Volt worried about him. He turned around and slipped through the door, leaving the anxious Zeraora to wait for his safe return. Of course, Blaze knew what was going on. That Zeraora cared for him. It flustered him, he didn't want that Zeraora worrying about him.

[i]Silly thing, [/i]Blaze thought to himself. [i]Thank Arceus you didn't get hurt.[/i] His mouth twitched - this time nobody was there to see it. He wished he could put Volt's mind to rest more than he already had, but it was more dangerous running around the city at night than he let on. Blaze looked both ways then slunk off, navigating the streets to find his way to where the Guildmaster was hiding and keeping his eye out for other, less-reputable nocturnal pokemon who could pose danger to him. He snuck across streets and through alleyways near imperceptibly, aside from his orange eyes and that bead in his hair. Better a glistening bead than the way Volt's bright yellow fur tended to stand out in the dark.

Blaze made his way through the city as rows of apartments and houses gave way to shops, taverns and inns, keeping an eye out and rerouting whenever he found another pokemon roaming around. Shadows were Blaze's friend, though he was happy he had Talon, Tec, and especially Volt to add to that list. He had to route around the center of the city to avoid those lanterns the Guild had put up to try to deter the ne'er do wells from ne'er-do-welling. Ironic, Blaze thought as he passed by the dimly lit streets of the city square, those were supposed to help the Guild keep the city safe, not make it harder.

It took some time, but Blaze found himself at a door to another dilapidated place across city. After the attack, the way the Guild and its members were forced to live in the places no one else wanted to live got to Blaze. Even some of the places [i]he [/i]stayed at before Talon picked him up were better taken care of than the places they were forced to stay now. Blaze wanted better for himself and his friends... living a life in the shadows wasn't as fantastical as Volt and Tec had envisioned it being.

Blaze knocked on the door in that secret rhythm the different Guild members had agreed on. It rung out deafening against the still night, but this quarter of the city was inhabited by the nocturnal pokemon who [i]did [/i]mean good, so there was no one around to be bothered by it or find it suspicious.

The door opened to reveal a Weavile.

"Blaze?" he whispered.

"Frost."

"We weren't expecting you for another day, at least."

"I have news," Blaze said.

"Come in, I'll wake him up."

The door opened fully, then suddenly, someone jumped Blaze from behind. It was a Sneasler trying to spook him out of any Illusion he might've been holding. Blaze jumped and his fur stood on end, and certainly he was more awake, for a moment at least.

"Arceus' sake, you don't have to make it so jarring," Blaze complained.

"You [i]know [/i]we have to," Sn'eel said. "Else it wouldn't work if you were using Illusion."

Blaze grumbled. Of [i]course [/i]he wasn't using Illusion. But until they did it to him, they didn't know for sure. Blaze didn't want it to be that way, but the Guild couldn't afford to take [i]anyone [/i]at face value at the moment.

Frost let Blaze in, so Blaze could finally rest for a bit sitting on a chair waiting for Agmundr. He nodded off, only for the tank of a pokemon to nudge him awake with a deep yawn and sit down in a chair across from him. Blaze could see on his arm a band, that special golden one marking him as the Guildmaster.

"Blaze, I'm happy to hear from you. I would hope that you have good news for me, if it is to wake me up so early." He spoke in a warm, deep voice befitting his size.

"It's urgent because it [i]isn't [/i]good news," Blaze said.

"Arceus' sake," Agmundr grumbled. "Can't [i]something [/i]go right lately?"

"Our information about Uprise Ridge was inaccurate," Blaze said. "Either we were lied to, or else they figured out we heard about it and moved them."

The Chesnaught cursed and grumbled.

"Team Valor is alright, at least?"

"No serious injuries," Blaze said. "Just... low spirits."

"I'm sure," Agmundr sympathized. "You went all that way for nothing."

"To be caught in a trap," Blaze corrected. "Sniffed it out just before it closed around us."

"I'm sure your Illusion came in handy."

"It was closer than I would have liked it to be," Blaze said.

"Care to explain?" Agmundr prompted.

Blaze didn't particularly care, but he went into it anyway.

"Uprise Ridge is more dangerous than it was, but we prepared for that. We weren't prepared to find a [i]Tyranitar [/i]of all things shaking the earth like he was trying to break the continent apart. We were nearly surrounded by the time we figured out what was happening."

"You got Volt out of there, right?"

"... I made sure everyone was safe," Blaze evaded. He felt Agmundr's eyes on him, he tried to find [i]anywhere [/i]to look other than back at them.

"You couldn't be more obvious about it, Blaze."

With that Blaze found the power to meet Agmundr's eyes head on.

"Fuck you."

Agmundr huffed in response.

"You're lucky I know you. Take [i]care [/i]of him, let me tell you from experience you'll regret it if you don't and he slips away. I'm dealing with that right now with Team Aegis. Annoyed you didn't find them. Not your fault, mind you."

The rush of anger waned, replaced by unmistakable feelings for that Zeraora.

"I do," Blaze assured the Chesnaught roughly. "Don't treat me like I'm some lovesick Eevee."

"You're not," Agmundr conceded. "You can protect a little more than an Eevee can."

"Talon and Tec are fine too," Blaze resisted with an annoyed twitch of his ear. "We're all fine, just shaken up. Also... we're sorry we couldn't find them. Talon's been in a mood all day, nearly had to drag her home to keep her from getting captured too."

"Thank you for letting me know," Agmundr said, thankfully letting go of that other topic. "I'll find another team who's more ready to handle a Tyranitar to take on that ordeal. I think... before I let you go rest there is one matter of business."

Blaze just wanted to sleep, what could Agmundr want with him at such an awful time? He stared at the Chesnaught intently, eager to sleep the day away.

"I was waiting until a better time to say, but I'm sending you to Serene Village. That place needs protecting and, well, it's sure to have somewhere nice for you and your team to stay. You should be welcome there. I sent advance notice, and most pokemon there are still good, anyway."

"To - Serene Village?" Blaze asked in wonder. It was a quiet place removed from the struggles the Guild was facing. There, Blaze wondered if he and his friends could be safe.

"Yes, Blaze."

Blaze was delighted, but he imagined how rough Talon especially would take the news. He didn't want to be the one bearing the brunt of her frustration head on.

"Can I have that in writing? Talon's not going to accept it unless there's something official."

"I thought you might ask. I had Ember draft it up earlier. Luckily, we have a Braixen who can write."

Agmundr held out a rolled-up piece of paper. Blaze took it and opened it to see what it read. His reading wasn't the best[i], [/i]but Talon had taught him enough to be able to trust Agmundr wasn't trying to trick him.

"Thanks, Agmundr," Blaze said, hesitantly. "I just hope it convinces her we're out of our league."

"It's my fault you didn't have the resources to sniff it out sooner. Speaking of, I presume you'll have to tell your contacts you're leaving."

"Just another matter to keep me awake," Blaze realized with a grunt.

"Don't let it," Agmundr asserted. "There's no rush, you deserve rest."

"Alright, then," Blaze accepted, reticently. Despite all the preparing he'd have to do to move to Serene Village, he wasn't about to complain about Agmundr making him put it off.

"Keep safe, Blaze. If Varðheim is considered fallen, Serene Village is a place we can begin again. I stay here to keep things together, but... if it helps Talon, tell her that her spirit is strong enough to nurture a [i]new [/i]Guild."

Understanding flashed upon Blaze. He looked at the Chesnaught like he was crazy.

"You're not saying..."

"Without your network, we are in the dark. That's not for you to worry about, that's for [i]us [/i]to worry about. Do not take my charge so seriously, we are not giving up. Our biggest mistake was centralizing. Instead, we'll have guilds all over the continent. Smaller ones, full of likeminded pokemon who want to protect. Be that close-knit team, Blaze, like how the Guild [i]used [/i]to be."

Suddenly, Blaze didn't know what to do. He was taken aback, unsure how to respond. If his little network of informants was [i]that [/i]important, why was Agmundr making him dissolve it and abandon the Guild?

"Go and keep [i]your [/i]family safe. It is not selfish to want safety for those closest to you; it is all one should expect from a pokemon. I will do [i]my [/i]part to keep this city safe."

Blaze was speechless. Silently Agmundr gestured him away, and wordlessly Blaze slipped away, clutching at the letter the Chesnaught had handed him close to his chest. An escape from this awful reality the Guild had found itself in, but a charge to make it better in the future... Blaze didn't know what to make of it as he snuck back 'home.' The thought clouded his mind with confusing questions, worries and problems he hadn't been prepared for. Almost, Blaze wished Agmundr had just banished his team from the Guild altogether. That way Blaze would be thinking of questions which were much more familiar to him. Where to sleep, where to find food, finding safety... Blaze wasn't ready for the ones Agmundr was making him consider.

Walking into the safe house, Blaze's mind cleared as he walked by the couch and remembered Volt was sleeping on it. He tried to sneak by unnoticed, but before heading down the hallway to his room he had second thoughts, and instead backed up to try to find a squeaky floorboard. It took a little work but he found a particularly loud one, and walked over it emphasizing the squeak. He held himself for a bit, waiting to hear if Volt stirred.

"Blaze, is that you?"

"Sleep, Volt," Blaze said, as if he hadn't just woken the Zeraora up intentionally. "It's just me."

He paused for a bit, then decided to move on and make for his bed. He opened the door to the sound of that awfully loud squeak, then closed it behind him and hid the letter in a desk drawer. He slipped himself onto his bed, but thoughts of Agmundr's charge to Talon kept him up. Blaze was pretty sure the situation was more dire than Agmundr made it out to be. Blaze didn't want to see the city fall, but... what good was it if Blaze, Volt, Talon, and Tec fell too?

Blaze didn't want that at all. Instead, they could live happier lives isolated from the concerns of Varðheim. Still... Blaze couldn't shake the feeling they were getting themselves into something much grander than they were ready for.