Chapter 26

Lane realized she was being watched not even halfway to the cabin. She saw more than one set of little eyes poking up at her from between the flowers—but she didn't think much of it.

She couldn't think of anything beside her burden, or else risk dropping the delicate human she carried. No matter how much she might want to stop, she just couldn't. Elisa was shivering constantly now, which Lane recognized dimly as the first symptoms of hypothermia. Soon her shivering would stop, then they would really be in trouble.

Her destination wasn't as close as it had initially appeared, unfortunately. Such clear air created its own illusion of proximity, one that failed as soon as she had passed over whole kilometers of field without the little outpost seeming to grow much in size. This place is huge. Where did the Starfall send us, anyway?

Too bad Korina hadn't found them yet. If the mew decided to lash out at Elisa and make her a Pokémon again, at least she wouldn't be freezing.

But then, Lane wasn't terribly fast while carrying so much weight. It wasn't that she had to use her physical muscles for the job, but it still felt like she was. The longer she stayed up in the air, the heavier her breathing became and the more effort it took. If she stopped even for a moment, she felt as though she wouldn't make it.

Which was why the voice was so distracting. Not Elisa—she was curled up now, trying to conserve heat as best she could in the air above the field. It came from behind her. Lane looked up to find a shape gliding along through the air, one that many trainers wouldn't recognize.

She did, though. Lane had spent years leading a group of the most devoted legendary-focused pokémaniacs in the world. Granted, this particular species had barely fit in, considering they were well documented enough for a few rare trainers to have even caught one.

The sky-forme shaymin was vaguely canine in basic shape, with white and green fur and dexterous little paws. It had no wings, nothing but slightly oversized ears and a red flower around its neck like a scarf.

This one was over twice her size, with a wickedly confident grin. It also spoke with far more confidence than she felt. "Never thought we'd see one of you up here. Whose kitten are you, firstborn? Aerie?"

"Oh my god." Elisa noticed too, pointing with one hand. "And that's a shaymin. That's three mythicals in one day, Lane!" Her voice filled with excitement, though she could still catch Elisa's teeth chattering between her words. "They're so much more regal than in pictures!"

"Lane, huh?" The fox zipped past Lane, close enough that his tail slipped along her fur. She whimpered, drooping in the air a little. His scent was as confident and strong as Korina's, yet wild and strange. Inviting, almost. "Funny name for a firstborn. But that's not why I'm here. You're not supposed to have humans around. Whatever you're doing with her, you should… go somewhere else."

Lane nodded. "We'd like to, very much! It's just that…" How much could she say without revealing too much and potentially upsetting Korina? Probably shouldn't tell others about Starfall when Korina might not even know. Please take my lead on this, Elisa. "We didn't mean to be up here. The, uh… Starfall sent us? Right now I'm just trying to take my friend up to that human building.

Until my big sister can find me."

"Big sister…" The fox circled around her in the air, flying so rapidly that it hurt to watch his path. She wanted to chase him through the air, so fast she'd leave a glowing blue trail behind when she moved. Maybe if she could win a race with him the fox would stop grinning that infuriating smile. "Well you're leaving, I guess it's okay. Just don't think we're trying to be unfriendly to you, firstborn. It's been so long since any of you flew this way. You want the tour sometime, just ask. There's lots of great spots to see in the valley. Might want to green yourself up first, though. You'd enjoy it more I think."

"Don't even think about it." Lane felt something big and warm reaching out to wrap around her, pulling her up against Elisa's bare chest.

Lane came to a jerky halt in the air, and nearly dropped them both. She wobbled, struggling to focus. There was one thing she wanted to do more than race the fox—she wanted to find somewhere cozy and warm and sleep for a few days until the world made sense again.

"Don't even think about Lane, he's mine. Er… she's mine? It's confusing.

Whatever, we're together. Whatever the Pokémon word for that is. No sneaking off on dates with her."

The fox's eyebrows went up. He stopped ahead of them, eyes narrowing.

"I thought this was simple. The big one isn't deaf. Is that why you're naked?"

"No." Elisa crossed her legs, wincing. "Or… yes, I guess. I didn't need them a few minutes ago. How do you know what clothes are? Lane, shouldn't we be…"

"Right." Lane stretched, and they started flying again. Though there was even less energy in their path than before. Elisa started to droop, right into the lopunny's waiting arms.

The Pokémon didn't look like she was big enough to carry a trainer Elisa's size, but Pokémon strength was deceiving. She took the weight in both arms, not even noticing Lane's extra mass.

"I know where we're going now," Lopunny said. "I'll get you there, master."

The shaymin followed along behind, expression growing more thoughtful. "You should know it isn't safe here, Firstborn," he said. "We want to help, but the world isn't the same as it used to be. Having a human with you is too obvious."

"Nothing I can do about it," Lane squeaked. She could probably hover on her own, despite her weakness—but she stayed up against Elisa's chest. At least there she could provide a little warmth to the struggling human. And if she was right beside her, maybe the legendary wouldn't feel quite so willing to be confrontational with her.

He's a grown-up legendary, and I'm just a kitten. We can't win a fight with him. Just like she'd been helpless to do anything when the celebi appeared.

It's too fast. We just wanted to wear silly outfits and maybe get a picture with them one day. If they ever made it back, if she ever got her hands on a phone again and could update the True-Myth Club, she knew they'd never believe her. Maybe we should try anyway? Even if they don't believe I'm Lane, I do have a huge list of people who would be friendly to us, in cities all over the world.

Lane didn't need her phone, specifically. While she might not be good with very much, she'd kept everything about the True-Myth Club safely backed up. Any internet cafe in the world would work just as well.

"We don't have much choice at the moment," Elisa said, though with her legs poking sideways from the lopunny's princess-carry, even she didn't sound very confident. "Unless you're saying that old weather station isn't a safe place.

But I don't know where would be out here."

"For you, nowhere," he said. He said it so casually, without any hesitation for compassion. Maybe Korina's attitude wasn't as uncommon as we thought.

Legendaries think they're above people. I guess with their powers they kind of are.

It made Lane even more curious to meet a Shaymin who had decided to let a trainer catch them.

"There are solutions. Maybe they'll be needed. Firstborn would need to ask, though, not you. I'm old enough to remember all those old promises.

That's probably why you ended up here, eh kitten? Your parents knew it was safe."

The lopunny was making good time, and they'd already slowed as she approached the valley wall. Stone steps were carved there, just barely shallow enough for her to climb. Even so, Elisa clambered free, insisting on doing it herself.

That was Lane's cue to hover again, following along behind Elisa and separating her from the fox. "Do you think we'll be attacked here?"

"Not by us," Shaymin said. "Even trespassing humans don't get attacked.

That's not our way. Is the human telling the truth? Are you really mated to something so… smelly? Bulbus?"

" Yes," Lane said flatly, before Elisa could argue for herself, or worse.

Mean or not, the legendary was trying to help them. He might know more about the world that legendaries lived in than Korina would ever be willing to share. "Please be nice to her. It would mean a lot to me."

"Nice," he repeated. He touched briefly down on the rocks, seeming to bounce up them and back into the air. Showing off, just annoying the increasingly sweaty climbers. "I will not promise nice. Too much to ask. One last piece of advice for the firstborn and her… mate. Not safe up here. But the valley—lots of us down there. Look like us, and no one will find you. At least until we fly south."

We. It explained all the eyes she'd seen, all the little voices whispering about her. But those had sounded feminine, and not half as cocky as this fox.

Maybe he was their leader?

Lane nodded gratefully. Some part of her couldn't resist taking advantage of this opportunity. Many hours of heated forum debates could be settled, she wasn't going to waste her chance. "Is it true you can take two shapes?" she asked. "One like a… little hedgehog? Then the way you look now?

Or are those… two different species?"

The fox rolled his eyes. "Were you even looking when you were down in the valley, firstborn. You might need a healer if you ask questions like that. Get your eyes checked."

"Uh…"

"Yes," he said, bounding right past her. The ground leveled out, leaving only a gravel path directly to the old weather station. Up close, what had seemed a perfectly intact building now began to show its wear. A window was shattered, and a section of the roof to one side had fallen in. The door swung on its hinges, squeaking faintly in the wind. A large round building rose beside the house, at least twice its size, though Lane hadn't noticed it from the valley floor thanks to flaking paint similar to the rocks all around it.

An observatory, with the familiar rounded top. Guess it makes sense they'd put it up here. If we're far from civilization, then there's probably not a lot of light pollution and other distractions. There was no road beside the building, only a flat helipad that was mostly clear of debris even after who knew how many years.

The shaymin didn't get too close to the building, stopping at the edge of the slope. "I might warn you if someone comes," the shaymin said. "I haven't decided. If you come down, ask for Cedar. I'm the oldest, so it's my right. I'll see what my little sisters think about helping your mate. No promises. Even if we help, I still don't promise to be nice."

He turned, gliding back down the slope and vanishing into the valley below.

Elisa glanced briefly after him. Her eyes followed him over the edge—

then she shivered again. She glanced to one side, at the glacier of blue ice so large it looked like another mountain. "I met two new legendaries today," Elisa said, voice flat. "That was not how it was supposed to go."