Scions of Flight
0/Prologue: Flight of the Holy Knights

If it wasn’t the sight of smoke billowing over the horizon that got their attention, the blood-curdling howl that echoed over the horizon that made it clear to the two bird Pokémon there was trouble afoot. Up until now their flight back from Sunglow Range had been relatively uneventful, preoccupied only by the discussion about their recent trip to seek advice on the idea of them joining Sanctuary’s Adventurers’ Guild as a means for the two fledgling Marquesses to build character and leadership skills so they could effectively lead their subjects, but it was only upon reaching the skies above the Fungal Forest, the mystery dungeon that marked the homestretch towards the seaside hamlet of Sanctuary, they began to notice smoke rising over the forest below and stumbled upon a situation that was rapidly descending into chaos.

In the middle of a small clearing in the forest below was a large caravan of wagons surrounded by a wall of fire and numerous Pokémon of all shapes and sizes engaged in some kind of three-way battle. On one side were several rapscallion looking individuals raiding the wagons while another, more abundant side defended the wagons and tried to put out the fires nearby, and in between the warring sides were several feral-looking Paras, Shroomish, and Foongus that attacked anything and everything in sight in what was likely a retaliatory response to the raging fires destroying their habitat.

As the two bird Pokémon hovered over the chaos, they remembered a conversation days earlier with a Joltik named Canopus, who was known around Sanctuary as the Adventurers’ “Star Guide”, where he talked to the duo about how he was going help arrange an upcoming trip involving his guild alongside the Archivist and Merchant guilds and his wish that the two would consider joining the guild sometime. Realizing they likely stumbled upon the caravan that Canopus mentioned, the Taillow with blue scarf tied like a cape turned towards the brown Starly with a light blue scarf tied like a collar with a concerned look on his face.

“Leif, you don’t think Canopus and the other Adventurers are down there, do you?” the Taillow asked.

“Seliph you birdbrain, you know that Adventurers always escort caravans in Sanctuary!” the Starly yelled, “We’ve got to help them; they’ll never get past those Raiders and feral mushrooms without our help!”

“You’re right,” the Taillow nodded, “it may be a little earlier than expected, but consider this our first task as members of the Adventurer’s Guild! We’ll get that caravan out of there safely, and show those dastards how tough marquesses like us can be!”

Together, the two birds did a short loop in the air and dived down into the clearing below with their wings shimmering white, striking several Paras unfortunate enough to stand in their flight path and slicing the mushrooms on their backs off to send them into a panic.

As the two swooped through the chaos, dodging the various stray attacks and clouds of spores that threatened to knock them to the ground in some way, the duo further assessed the situation the Pokémon protecting the caravan and came to the realization that while the back and right sides were much more in control, the front and left sides were struggling to keep the Raiders back, and it seemed doubtful that even with their help that the caravan’s travelers would be able to escape with all their belongings.

Once the duo finished their flyby of the caravan, they ascended high above the forest canopy to get away from the action in order to formulate an effective plan.

“Seliph, you go help protect the left side of the caravan,” Leif ordered his cousin; “I’m going to go check on everyone in the wagons to see if anyone needs help.”

“Sounds like a plan,” the Taillow nodded, “we’ll meet up once we’re finished helping the caravan get out of the forest.”

With the matter settled, the two dived back into the action, with Leif flying more closely to the wagons as he made his way towards the middle of the caravan where most of the danger was up towards while Seliph flew towards his right side to see about helping the Pokémon protecting the caravan from that side. It was there that he caught sight of a fierce battle between a small group of Raiders and caravan escorts, and in its midst he caught sight of something that made his eyes widen.

Fluttering amidst the bedlam against a female Absol with a red scarf and a male Zangoose with a grey scarf was a Taillow much like Seliph, only female and having a navy scarf double-folded around her right wing. As Seliph looked on, he watched as she swooped down upon the attacking duo, her wings glowing with a silvery luster as they clashed with their claws and scythe-like horns, only to gracefully flap away from their counter attacks before continuing the cycle all over again.

The Taillow could not bear to look away to see what was ahead of him, mesmerized by the spectacle before his eyes and the star of this display of power and agility, and it briefly brought memories of his father describing what it was like when he met his mother. Before he could delve deep enough into his memories to remember his father’s words, the Taillow slammed head-first into an orange object, knocking it over as the Taillow tumbled into the ground and slammed into a nearby tree.

“Hey, why don’t you try watching where you’re flying!” a male voice rung out as the Taillow shook his head, “The last thing I need is some bird Pokémon that can’t pay attention to its surroundings!”

By the time Seliph’s vision was restored, he found himself staring at a Buizel with a black-colored headband and scarf, his left hand carrying a sack that was slung over his shoulder and what appeared to be some sort of stick in his mouth, all combining to bring the appearance that this individual was a thief of some sort.

“Drop the bag, Raider, or be assailed by my mighty wings!” Seliph threatened, his right wing pointing at the Buizel as if it were a sword, “I won’t allow dastards like you to pilfer off a caravan and get away with it!”

“Easy there, blue bird,” the Buizel calmly replied, “I may not look the part, but I’m an Adventurer.”

“Then why are you standing around doing nothing?” Seliph folded his wing back, “We need all the help we can get if we’re to get the caravan through safely.”

“I’m waiting on my teammate so we can team up,” the Buizel replied, “I’m not exactly what you call the strong type of ‘mon. Of course, I’d be willing to lend you a hand… if you can sweeten the deal that is…”

Before Seliph could ask the meaning of the Buizel’s words, someone called out to the Buizel from behind one of the nearby mushrooms, drawing the duo’s attention towards a Sandshrew with some odd red spots around her green eyes.

“Sorry I’m late, I had a bit of a run-in with some Raiders,” she said, “but now we can take them down together Gaius!”

“Sweet, and now that we’ve got blue bird over here, we can put up a fight,” the Buizel nodded, “what do you say, you in kid?”

“First off, my name is Seliph,” the Taillow said with an apprehensive stare directed at the Sandshrew standing next to Gaius, “and second of all, what’s with all the blood around your eyes, Sandshrew? If that’s battle damage, I don’t see how you can still walk around with an injury like that and still see where you’re going…”

“Heh, you catch on pretty quick kid,” the Sandshrew smirked in a sinister manner, “no sense waiting any longer, let ‘em have it!”

To the shock of the two Adventurers, the Sandshrew’s eyes flashed a light blue color, her body glowing pink as she grew a couple of inches in size and turned into a slate grey fox with red and black accents on her body, realizing this was not truly Gaius’ teammate, but a Zorua Raider disguised as her to get close to the two and ambush them, and by the time Gaius tried to retaliate against the Zorua’s treachery, she had already stuck the Buizel square in between the dots on his back with an Aerial Ace attack, sending him hurtling towards the tree behind Seliph and crashing head on, his last words being a faint “Su…gar…” before slumping down to the ground in defeat.

Before Seliph could either confront the Zorua or come to the unconscious Buizel’s aid, a small quintet of Raiders emerged from behind the nearby trees and bushes, surrounding the avian prince from both sides as they inched towards him with menacing looks on half of the reinforcements’ faces. To his left were a purple Spritzee and a Bulbasaur with an orange scarf, their hunched body language signaling they were ready to tackle Seliph at a moment’s notice. On his right were a Houndour with a cunning smile on his face and a female Poochyena with a blue scarf that bared a most timid look on her face that seemed to suggest she was not seriously into this attack. Last but not least was a pink Goomy with blue dots and a purple bandana stationed next to the Zorua that had tricked him and Gaius earlier, the appendages on its head forming what appeared to be a salute towards their Zorua ringleader as she tied a dark red scarf around her neck and gave it a tight tug.

“Well well, what do we have here?” The Zorua said as she grabbed the sack Gaius dropped upon being struck by her attack, “Now that there’s one less Buizel to deal with, let’s see what goodies the little Taillow has for us.”

“Don’t think I’ll be taken down so easily by a bunch of cravens,” Seliph threatened as he raised his wing once more, “as Marquess of Chirphy, I will protect the honor of the Pokémon of Sanctuary and all who travel to it!”

“What’s a marquess? Isn’t that like a prince?” the Bulbasaur asked, stopping the advance if her fellow Raiders as they looked at her in confusion.

“You mean this Taillow is of nobility?” the Poochyena said with a stunned face, “Oh, of all the ‘mons my first theft is going to be of…”

“And that’s a bad thing Gigi?” her Houndour partner growled as his placed a paw on his face in disgust, “this ‘mon has probably got a big load of riches somewhere on the caravan!”

“W-wait, that might be a good idea,” the Goomy nervously exclaimed, “I’ve heard there are deadly consequences for messing with nobles, e-even if their sovereignty was wiped out by the cataclysm…”

“Will you all just stay focused for a freakin’ minute?!” the Zorua shrieked, irate that her fellow Raiders were getting distracted, “You’re all Raiders, and nobility or not, we’re taking his belongings; and if you don’t like it Taillow, too bad, because you’re S.O.L pal!”

Rather than wait for the Raiders to make a move, Seliph charged at the purple Spritzee at full speed, wings shining with silvery luster as he readied himself to strike the male Perfume Pokémon with all his might. Just when he was about to deliver his attack, however, the Poochyena suddenly appeared in between the two, muttering “I’m sorry” as she swung at the Taillow with her right-front paw in prime position to intercept and send him flying back.

In a matter of split seconds, another Taillow emerged between Seliph and the Poochyena, blocking the latter’s attack with its right wing before spinning around and batting her with its wings, moving out of the way just in time for Seliph to finish his planned attack, striking the Spritzee with a Steel Wing attack that left a noticeable cut on the right side of the Perfume Pokémon’s face, sending the Spritzee into a total panic the moment he noticed a tiny bit of blood coming out of the wound.

The sudden appearance threw both Seliph and the Raiders for a loop, but while the latter were too busy trying to calm their Spritzee ally down to focus, Seliph had turned towards his new comrade and realized that it was none other than the female Taillow he saw earlier, her body bearing a bruise or two, but otherwise still a remarkable sight before his eyes, even when she came up to the awestruck Taillow and uttered some words that fell on deaf ears before smacking Seliph in the face with her right wing.

“This is no time to be gawking like that,” the female Taillow shouted as Seliph snapped back to reality, “Either you help join the fight against the Raiders or get out of here!”

Before either of them could make a move, Seliph noticed that a cloud of Sleep Powder had emerged from near the sextet of Raiders as the Spritzee’s screams finally died down, watching as the Bulbasaur ran away from the group as she carried her teammate on her back towards the opposite direction before disappearing into the Fungal Forest, leaving the remaining quartet to turn and face the two swallows with intimidating glares on the faces on all save for the Poochyena.

“I’ve underestimated you marquess,” the Zorua said, her body hunched in preparation to lunge at the two Taillow, “Not that I care, all that matters is that you’re pissing me off, and I’m not going to let you wreck our first job! Let’s get ‘em!”

A loud roar filled the air as the Raiders charged at the Taillow duo, only to be suddenly stopped by the emergence of a lone third party leaping in between the two sides from the treetops in the form of a ferocious Breloom, who menacingly glared at the two sides with head rocking back and forth in time with its tail and limbs that simply refused to stop twitching in agitation.

“Which of you is burning this forest down? Answer me!” the feral Breloom shouted in a tone that bordered on sounding like a squawk, “Nobody is innocent. Someone must pay!”

The moment Seliph opened his beak to try and reason with the feral Breloom, the female Taillow quickly covered it with her right wing and shook her head at him, as if quietly scolding him for not recognizing that this Breloom was not going to listen to whatever he had to say. Still, despite showing the lack of civilized behavior that was common among feral Pokémon, the young Taillow somewhat understood its anguish of having its home burn, and it bothered him as a member of royalty to be unable to try and make peace.

“Hey, we’re in the middle of a fight, get lost mushroom head!” the Zorua shouted, drawing the Breloom’s attention away as it made slow, frightening footsteps towards the Raiders before unleashing a blood-curdling roar that announced its high-speed attack, its usually short arms stretching out to deliver a mighty punch to the Houndour’s face, sending him flying high above the forest canopy until he became nothing more than a twinkle in the sky.

Rather than share the same fate as her teammate, the Poochyena fled for her life screaming, leading the feral Breloom to chase her deeper into the forest with a feral roar, leaving the two Taillow alone with the Zorua and her Goomy teammate.

“Tch, I knew I should’ve picked a better party,” the Zorua grumbled as she looked on, sighing as she turned to toward the Goomy riding on her back and smirked, “Oh well, not like I can’t handle this with just the two of us, right?”

The Goomy nodded in response to the Zorua’s statement, lowering its squishy body in sync with its stead in preparation for their next attack. The female Taillow spread her wings in response, feathers glowing with a silver luster as she readied herself for a counterattack.

“You; don’t just stand there,” she said to Seliph, who was still taking in everything going on in front of him, “you can either fight by my side or fly back to the caravan and hide. If you’re truly here to help out, to live up to your convictions, then prove it here and now!”

Motivated by the Taillow’s words, Seliph’s wings began to shimmer in the same silver luster; his right wing raised much like a Pokémon with hands would raise a sword in the air as he delivered a stern message to his opponents:

“I am Seliph Birdos Chirphy, and in the name of the Adventurers and the Pokémon of Sanctuary, I will not go down easily!”



Something was off somewhere, he could feel it. It had been an oddly uneventful checkup on the individual wagons in the caravan for Leif, for the first six or so wagons at the lead had experienced little incursion from both Raider and feral Pokémon alike. It was down from the seventh wagon on back, however, that Leif began to notice where much of the chaos was focused, for the Raiders had either successfully raided and burned down the wagons or were in the middle of a conflict with the Adventurers, Merchants, and Archivists guarding them. The one sole exception to this was the seventh wagon from the front, where for some odd reason there was not a single visible Pokémon stationed there, not even to watch the slowly flowing tide of Raiders and killer mushroom Pokémon inch closer to the front, and not a single one of the wagons ahead seemed to have paid attention to what looked to be a disaster in the making.

Not wishing to leave a wagon by itself, the brown Starly swooped down and softly landed through the wagon’s front side, where several crates of all shapes and sizes were stacked around the sides so that any passengers could freely move back and forth around the wagon. What disturbed Leif most, however, were the trio of Pokémon consisting of a Patrat, an Eevee, and a gold Vulpix that lay scattered next to the crates, clear signs that they had been in a struggle of sorts and that there may be enemies nearby waiting in ambush.

“Alright Raiders, come out and show yourself!” he shouted, “Any of you that want to take these possessions away from their rightful owners will have to answer to me!”

“P-p-please don’t hurt me,” a voice whimpered from behind one of the crates, “I’m just a defenseless passenger on this wagon…”

From the stack of crates to Leif’s left side emerged a female Chespin with a dark red shell instead of the usual green color and strange, glowing blue colors on her paws, feet, and the odd tuft of fur on her head, slowly moving towards the brown Starly with her paws held high in surrender and a docile look on her face that suggested that she had been through a lot.

“Are you alright there?” Leif asked the timid-looking Chespin, “Can you tell me what happened?”

“H-h-how do I know I can trust you?” the Chespin meekly asked.

“I’m not yet an Adventurer, but I came to help them defend the wagons with them,” Leif said in a relaxed manner, folding his wings back to show he meant no harm, “My name is Leif, what’s yours?”

The Chespin hesitated at first to talk back to the brown Starly, but she eventually introduced herself as Anni, explaining that she and her Patrat partner Keres were simply riding along when Raiders showed up and attacked with devastating maneuvers, and it was only when her friend took out their group leader with her Iron Tail attack that they were able to repel the attack, at the cost of everyone else on board lying defeated and unconscious as a result of the battle. As such, Anni took it upon herself to guard the wagon until medical help came, for she feared that if she went to look for help, the Raiders would take the opportunity to steal everything from the wagon.

Leif was suspicious of the dark red Chespin. While her story was convincing at the least, there were some details that seemed off, namely why the trio of Pokémon lying around the wagon didn’t appear to have any signs of being in a battle and why medical help hadn’t arrived yet to help them out. It didn’t help that there was a strange falsetto in her voice and the glowing blue colors on certain places on her body that stood out among what was considered normal even for a Shiny Pokémon such as herself, and these facts combined made it clear that perhaps there was much more to this than meets the eye.

Without any warning, Leif brandished his right wing and delivered a swift blow to the Chespin’s face, slamming her into the crates in a shower of pink light that quickly dissipated to reveal Anni’s true form as a male Shiny Zorua.

“Damn, you’ve got some sharps eyes there,” the Zorua grunted, “alright, enough with the antics, Keres, stop playin’ dead and let’s get out of here!”

The Patrat hopped back on to her feet with a childish smile on her face, running towards her ally as he rose back up, a smirk forming on his face as fire flickered between his teeth, and as the two turned their backs on the Starly and fled towards the back of the wagon, the Zorua unleashed a ball of fire from his mouth that narrowly missed singeing Leif’s feathers.

“Now, attack!” shouted a voice from the back of the wagon, “We’ve got them boxed in now!”

A bright flash of lightning stopped the Raider duo in their tracks, skidding to a halt just as the light disappeared to reveal a two-foot tall Larvesta with yellow-gold horns, a mark that resembled a burning heart on her chest, and an orange scarf standing alongside a Joltik with a pink scarf around his neck and similar colored mark on his big left eye, their bodies crackling with electricity as they stared down the Zorua while avoiding eye contact with the Patrat for some odd reason. While Leif didn’t recognize the Larvesta, he and the Raiders realized that Canopus, the so-called “Star Guide” of Sanctuary, had come to lend a hand in apprehending a pair of thieves.

Not wanting to try their luck outrunning the little Joltik, the Zorua’s mouth alit with flames one more, threatening to cook Canopus to a crisp. Not wanting to see his soon-to-be leader harmed, Leif yelled a battle cry and flew towards the Zorua as fast as he could, drawing the Zorua’s attention towards Leif as he slammed into the Zorua’s face with such force that he prematurely unleashed another ball of fire as he fell out of the wagon and down onto the ground, followed closely behind by his teammate as the Larvesta rammed her out with a Flame Wheel attack.

“Nicely done Leif,” Canopus said as the two Raider fled the scene, “I see you’ve decided to help us out after all.”

“The pleasure is mine, Star Guide,” Leif bowed, “anything I can to help the innocent out of a jam.”

As Leif prepared to offer his right wing in greeting, the Starly winced in pain and quickly folded it back in place, realizing that in his efforts to save Canopus he had suffered a mild burn on his right wing. While it was done to help a comrade out of a jam, Leif couldn’t help thinking how much of a scolding he would’ve gotten if certain individuals knew he had gotten himself injured.

“Are you alright?” the Larvesta asked, “That burn looks pretty serious…”

“I’ll be fine,” Leif lightly waved his uninjured wing at her, “It’s not that much anyway; I can’t rest until we get this caravan out of the forest.”

“You shouldn’t underestimate the extent of your injuries,” said a male voice from around the right side of the wagon behind them, “We can’t have everyone going about if they’re not one-hundred percent.”

Approaching the injured Starly was a Roselia wearing a pair of glasses, his professional appearance and demeanor suggesting that he was certainly good at his job as a doctor and proud of it.

“Larvesta, what’s your name?” the Roselia asked, aiming the red rose on his right arm at Leif in preparation for whatever first-aid he was about to administer.

“Yang sir,” she replied, “is there anything you need me to do?”

“Get me an Oran Berry while I use my Aromatherapy on this Starly,” the Roselia ordered, “I can treat the burn, but healing directly is a different matter.”

As Yang hopped back on to the wagon to retrieve an Oran Berry from one of the containers, the Roselia’s red rose released a soothing aroma, slowly healing the burn marks on Leif’s wing as they glowed with a light green color. As the burns began to disappear, a soft moan was heard coming from inside the wagon, drawing the quartet’s attention to the Eevee and Vulpix that were once lying down inside the wagon rising to their feet, yawning and stretching their limbs like they had just woken up from a nap.

“What happened to you two?” Leif asked the duo, “You were supposed to be guarding the wagon!”

“All I remember was that this dark red Chespin coming by asking for help,” the Vulpix said, “and when we took that Patrat in, she suddenly opened her eyes and there was this pretty light…”

“You two need to be more careful about that next time,” Canopus said just as Yang returned with an Oran Berry for Leif, “We can’t afford to be tricked like that. You’re lucky Leif came by when he did, otherwise the Raiders would’ve left not even a splinter of the cargo remaining.”

“It’s alright, I’m just doing what’s right for the Pokémon of Sanctuary,” Leif said in between bites of his Oran Berry, “Even if Seliph and I didn’t get approval to join the Adventurers, we would have helped out anyway.”

“Speaking of which, where is he?” Canopus inquired, “I haven’t seen him at all during this skirmish.”

The moment Canopus finished his sentence, a loud battle cry that sounded much like Seliph’s voice echoed over the chaos of the continuing assault, startling the group for a moment as they searched for the source of the commotion. Leif’s eyes widened at the realization he had left his cousin out to fight out in the pandemonium, knowing that Seliph had very little experience in a serious combat situation, and without giving warning to his comrades, Leif flapped his wings and took off in the direction of the battle cry. Though he earned a scolding from the Roselia for not letting his wounds fully recover, such things were the least of his concerns, for now was the time to lend a wing to the one living ‘mon he most considered family…



For a Pokémon whose specialty was to create illusions, she had put up a good fight. Of course, there were several factors in what made the fight against the Zorua and her Goomy teammate difficult for Seliph, for one being that he had never had much experience in any battles beyond friendly spars with Leif and some of the others from his lost country. It didn’t help matters that his attempts to team up with the female Taillow weren’t as coordinated as the Raider duo, for the Goomy was able to keep them at bay for the most part with attacks such as Dragonbreath and Sludge Bomb, and even if they could get through the Goomy’s barrage, the Zorua was able to block their attacks with her Aerial Ace attack, knocking the both of them back to restart the process all over again.

“What do you think doing?” the female Taillow scolded Seliph, “We can’t win this fight if you get getting in the way!”

“And we can’t win if we don’t work together,” Seliph countered, “We need to play on each other’s strengths more instead of going it alone!”

“Aww, what’s the matter? Too bird-brained to fight anyone other than each other?” the Zorua taunted, “Why don’t we do you a favor and put you out of your misery!”

“Not before I put you out first,” said another voice as the Raider duo prepared for an Incinerate/Dragonbreath combo, “Take this!”

Before the duo could execute their attack, the sudden appearance of Leif caused the Zorua to quickly change to an Aerial Ace, narrowly blocking his Steel Wing attack only to cause her to roll over to her left and nearly knock her Goomy teammate off her back.

“Leif, you made it!” Seliph exclaimed, “How’s the caravan doing?”

“There are a few wagons holding off the Raiders coming in from behind, but the ones further up the caravan are holding steady for now,” Leif reported, “Now let’s say we kick some Raider tail, Seliph! We’ll take them out if we charge them all at once!”

“I don’t care how many of you there are, you’re still no match for us!” The Zorua boasted, “Now come on down so I can clip your wings!”

Together, the bird trio charged towards the Raider duo with their Steel Wing attacks, twisting in spinning in the air as they dodge their enemies’ attacks. Just when it appeared all three of them were about to strike the Raiders all at once, Seliph and Leif broke off towards the opposite sides, leaving the female Taillow to clash with the Zorua and her Aerial Ace attack. It was all a ruse, however, for as the Zorua tried to push the female Taillow away, Seliph and Leif made a nearly synchronized dive towards the distracted Zorua, smacking her Goomy ally off her back and down into the ground a few feet away.

“Now, let’s finish this!” Leif shouted as the female Taillow rejoined them, “Time to put together a Triangle Attack!”

“Triangle what?” the female Taillow exclaimed, confused as to what Leif meant only to be assured by Seliph that it’s a special tactic from where they came from.

Together, the three birds began to spread out in a triangular formation, surrounding the awestruck Zorua as she readied another Aerial Ace attack, waiting to see which of the three would be the first one to make a move on her, an answer that came in the form of all three birds diving towards her in almost perfect synchronization and striking the Zorua with their Steel Wing attacks at the same time. The Zorua spun in the air from the impact with an anguished scream, and with a hard thud she landed close to her unconscious teammate.

“Unbelievable,” the Zorua grunted as she struggled to get up, “I can’t believe I lost to a bunch of birds, especially to someone who claims to be of royalty.”

“Had enough, Raiders?” Leif said with a glare in his eyes.

“Perhaps that will teach you not to steal others’ property,” the female Taillow added.

“It’s our duty to protect our denizens from thugs like you,” Seliph said, “As long as I live, I’ll see to it that you’ll be brought to justice!”

“Spare me the heroic garbage already,” the Zorua groaned, her legs beginning to buckle under her weight, “You just remember this, marquess, you and your bird pals just messed with Tex of Team Strawberry Crisis. Someday, I’ll make you pay for this, and you’ll be the ones on your knees when I’m through with you!”

With those last words, the Zorua finally collapsed; a long hard battle had ended for Seliph and the female Taillow that aided him, and together they breathed a sigh of relief in having defeated their nemesis. While Leif was also happy that the fight had been won, the fact that Seliph revealed his royal status to an enemy prompted him to scold his cousin, much to the confusion of their Taillow companion.

“That was some impressive teamwork,” shouted a voice from the skies above, “I expect nothing less from a pair of royal birds.”

Swooping down from the tree line above was a Flygon with what appeared to be black, fingerless gloves on its hands and a white strap on its neck. Leif fluttered back a little in a strange, almost frightened manner upon seeing the Flygon approach, but the female Taillow was quick to assert that this Flygon was on their side.

“Well, if it isn’t Seliph and Leif, I’ve heard a lot about you two from Canopus,” the Flygon said, “My name is Ezekiel, and I’m an Adventurer Guild leader just like him, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance!”

As Seliph bowed in respect towards his Adventurer superior, Leif was noticeably shaking in place, eyes wide with fright and breath rapidly exhaling from his body as he stared back at Ezekiel, and it was only when Seliph assured Leif that this Flygon wasn’t here to harm him that he stopped panicking and calmed down.

“You’ll have to forgive Leif, Ezekiel,” Seliph said, “He’s got a fear of flying dragons, it’s a long story, but I don’t think we don’t have time for that.”

“Agreed, we’ve still got some Raider butt to kick!” Ezekiel nodded, “What do ya say, want to join up? You can bring Lucina along with you want, I think you guys should be able to work together again with no problem.”

Just as the trio of birds nodded their heads, a loud collective howl coming from near the caravan brought the attention of the flyer quartet, and with the command to take the fight to the Raiders, the four spread their wings wide and took flight towards the battle that was to come.

The doors of destiny had opened, and no one could say what fate had in store for them all…