Chapter Text

Sunset’s Newest Member - Part 1

Iris

Early one morning, the sun was shining through the curtains of a newly-occupied bedroom within the wooden halls of Bluerock’s Sunset Guild. A Rattata laid on the bed in the corner that was clearly made for a Pokemon much larger than her, staring at the ceiling while lost in thought. She was still taking in the fact that they had actually agreed to take her in. This room was hers, now? Really? All of it? She wasn’t used to having a space of her own… There had to be a catch, right? What kind of work were they expecting her to do? She anxiously twiddled with the threads of her dark-colored hood as she waited for the Vaporeon that led her here to return… She was told to settle in and relax as long as she needed, but she was having a lot of trouble with the second part, and it’s not like she had anything to unpack in the first place. Not wanting to potentially interrupt whatever important business her new guildmates were doing, she decided to just stay put and wait until someone came to give her a task…

Finally, she heard a gentle knock on her door that made her suddenly jolt up. “C-come in!” The Rattata replied, quickly adjusting her hood to look as presentable as possible.

The door opened and the Vaporeon from before walked in with a gentle smile on her face. “Hey, hey! Um, it was… Pecha, right? Are you getting settled in alright?” She asked.

“Uh, y-yes, ma’am! No problems here!” Pecha said with a nervous chuckle, standing to attention and trying to be as polite as possible with her new… Boss? Is she the boss? She seemed like it, but she couldn’t quite tell…

The Vaporeon giggled. “Oh, please, just call me Iris. No need to be so formal.” She replied. “So! Um… Wow, it’s been a while since we had a newbie, I hardly remember what to do. I don’t wanna overload you with too much at once, so, well, I guess… Do you have any questions?” Iris asked with a tilt of the head.

“Uh, yeah, well, I mean… What am I actually supposed to be doing?” Pecha asked.

“Oh, well… I figured you could just settle in and take it easy today, you know? From what Mint said, it sounds like you’ve been through quite a lot…” Iris replied with a look of light concern on her face. 

“Okay, well… What’s my job after that, then?” Pecha asked with a confused tilt of the head.

“That’s kinda up to you, really! I mean, we all kind of just take whatever odd jobs we feel like… I can give you some suggestions, though! What are you good at?” Iris asked.

Pecha’s ears drooped shamefully. “I, uh… Well… Y’know, I was a thief before, so, uh… Yeah, kind of just stealing and sneaking, really…” She replied.

Iris blinked a couple times. “Oh. Uh, right. Well, um, that… Miiiiight not come in super handy for, like, work that’s not illegal…? Do you have any other hobbies?” Iris asked with the concern on her face growing.

“Not… Really…?” Pecha said, reflexively pulling her hood tighter and not meeting the Vaporeon’s gaze.

“Okay, well… Hm.” Iris put her paw to her chin and thought for a moment. “Oh, here’s an idea. How about you just spend a day tagging along with each of us at the guild and see who’s style you click with? I’m sure you’ll find something interesting.” She said with a confident smile.

“Oh, uh… Sure, if that’s not too much trouble! I mean, I don’t wanna get in the way of anyone’s work…” Pecha replied hesitantly.

“Haha, oh, please, nobody here does anything all that important. I’m sure we’d all be happy to have you tag along. Here, c’mon, you can start with me!” Iris replied, beginning to walk back into the hall and gesturing for the Rattata to follow her.

“Oh, uh, okay…!” Pecha said, following behind the Vaporeon down the hallway. “So, uh, what are you- Ack!” She began to ask, but was interrupted as she was forced to react and duck under the Water-type’s heavy-looking, fish-like tail nearly swinging directly into her head.

“Oh! Right, um… Maybe walk next to me instead, yeah? I’d rather not accidentally smack you into the wall on your first day, haha…” Iris said with an embarrassed chuckle. “Sorry, it’s been years since I evolved, but the tail swishing is still a force of habit… Even though it’s a lot more dangerous now that it’s not all fluff.” She said with a sigh.

“...R-right.” Pecha said, hurriedly picking up the pace to walk beside the Vaporeon. “Anyway, what are you… Or, well, I guess, we doing today, then?” Pecha asked.

“Well, I gotta make you your guild accessory! Maybe you can try your hand at sewing or knitting, if you want.” Iris replied.

“My accessory…?” Pecha asked with a curious tilt of the head.

“Yeah! We all wear something with this pattern that’s supposed to represent the sunset. My fins kinda get in the way, so I put mine on my tail instead, see?” She gestured towards a red-and-orange cloth tied around near the base of her tail. “They’re mostly just basic cloth, but it can be whatever you want, really! Eva and Bailey wear it like scarves, but Jamie wears it like a headband, Alex wears it around his front leg, they both think it makes them look all cool and strong… And Enzo wears his around his head, no matter how many times I tell him to keep it off his flame spots...” She continued, rolling her eyes. “Luka asked for his to be a collar instead, and Carter wanted a little bowtie... Hey, maybe I could make you a new hood! I’ve gotten pretty good at being creative with it.” She said with a prideful smile on her face.

“O-oh, um, I mean… Thanks, but I really like this hood, actually…” Pecha replied. Even though the days of thieving are behind her, she still didn’t quite like the idea of covering her head in such bright and easily spottable colors… “Um, I’ll just do a simple scarf too, if that’s okay.” She said, not wanting to make things any more complicated than it has to be.

“Aww, okay. Well, anyway, here’s my room! Sorry, I know it’s a mess, but… Come on in!” Iris said as she stopped at a door with her name painted on the front in a pretty, bright blue font that matched the color of her scales. She opened the door and gestured for Pecha to go inside.

Pecha looked around the Vaporeon’s room as she walked through the door. Her room was vibrant and colorful with a beautiful, intricately blue-and-white patterned handmade quilt on her bed, similarly detailed curtains and a strange-looking contraption right by the window alongside a bucket full of various tools and trinkets that Pecha had never seen before, plus a few bins full of loosely organized rolls of threads and fabrics. There was a special bin just for the red and orange options, of which there was substantially more than any of the rest. The Rattata couldn’t seem to find any of this alleged “mess” that Iris had warned her about.

“Nice place…” Pecha said. “What is that… Thing?” She asked, gesturing towards the contraption by the window.

“It’s for sewing clothes! It’s probably the nicest thing I own. Making stuff took forever until I saved up for one of these… Wanna give it a try?” Iris asked, leading Pecha over to the machine.

“Uh… S-Sure, I guess.” Pecha said hesitantly, hoping she wouldn’t accidentally break something. Though, looking at the strange machine, she wondered if she should be more scared about it breaking her… 

“Okay! Here, you can test it with this bit of scrap cloth, just to try it out. You just use your paws to guide it along the needle here, and then step on the pedal to… Oh.” Iris stopped herself, suddenly noticing Pecha’s size compared to the machine. “Um… I don’t think it’s quite set up for your height, actually… You won’t be able to reach the pedals, huh?” She said.

“...Yeah, figures.” Pecha said with a sigh. Not the first time her small stature has gotten in the way.

“Well, um… Hey, I can show you how to do it the old-fashioned way, instead! It just, uh… Takes longer.” Iris said. She grabbed the scrap fabric, then dug around in her bin of gadgets until she pulled out a needle with a spool of thread attached. “Here, I’ll show you a really simple pattern. You just take the needle, push it into the fabric, then back up the other side, like this…”

Pecha watched as she effortlessly ran the thread through the piece of fabric. She was going pretty fast, even with her less dextrous paws, but she was pretty sure she got the idea…? It can’t be that hard… “Okay… Uh, what’s the point of this, though?” Pecha asked.

“Well, usually you’d be stitching two fabrics together, but if you’re just practicing, it’s fine to do it on one piece… I think it’s kind of soothing to just get into the flow of it, honestly. It’s like meditating, letting your mind go on autopilot… Here, give it a try! Just be careful not to prick yourself.” Iris said, handing Pecha the cloth and the needle.

Pecha gripped the needle and sat down on a beanbag near the window, and tried to remember what Iris was doing… It was such a simple pattern, and her paws were a little more dextrous than the Vaporeon’s, so this should be super easy. Maybe it’s even a good chance to impress her, show her how much of a quick learner she is. She plunged the needle into the fabric, then pulled it back through the other side… She noticed her spacing wasn’t as tight as Iris’, her line not quite as straight… But hey, it worked, probably. She got a little more confident and tried to go as fast as Iris was, but then… A small slip of the paw, and the needle plunged past the fabric and into one of her digits, causing the Rattata to yelp out in pain and drop the cloth.

“Oh no! Are you okay?” Iris asked, grabbing Pecha’s paw and examining it. It was just a small prick, but there was a tiny bit of blood showing.

“Ugh, I’m fine, it’s nothing… S-sorry, I’m just… Fuck, I’m so stupid.” Pecha blurted out in frustration. How’d she manage to injure herself on such a simple task? What an awful look for her first day…

“Hang on, I’ll patch you up.” Iris said and rushed to a cabinet in the corner of her room, where she pulled out a hefty first aid kit and dragged it over to Pecha. She opened it up and held Pecha’s paw, cleaned off the small wound, then covered it with a tiny bandage.

“Th-thanks…” Pecha said, her face flushed with humiliation still. “You just have all that at the ready?” Pecha asked, looking at the excessive supply of household medical equipment.

“Oh, well, I guess on top of patching people’s clothes, it’s also sorta become my job to patch up people too, haha…” Iris said, closing up the first aid kit.

“You do a lot around here, huh?” Pecha said.

“Yeah, kinda… I mean, someone’s gotta do it, though. You can’t even imagine what it’d be like if I had left Alex and Jamie to fend for themselves, it’d be a disaster around here without someone cleaning and taking care of folk…” Iris replied with a forced chuckle.

“Haha… You know, at first I thought you were the big boss around here, but you’re sounding more like the guild’s mom…” Pecha said.

Iris let out an exasperated sigh. “Please don’t say it like that…” She said.

“O-oh, uh, sorry, I mean, I was just… I didn’t mean to…” Pecha stammered, her ears drooping anxiously as she realized she must have insulted the Vaporeon somehow. 

“No, no, it’s fine, I mean, you’re right, honestly, I just… Don’t say it like that, haha.” Iris restated. “I don’t mind, really. I handle all the ‘boring’ stuff because it’d drive me nuts if nobody else did… Aaaaanyway… How about we get you your scarf? Let me handle the needles for now, though… You’re free to hang out and keep me company, though, if you want.” She said with a smile, getting her sewing machine ready.

“...H-hey, uh, if you need any help with the ‘boring’ stuff… Well, I don’t know how to fix up clothes, or anything about first aid, but, uh, I can try to help, as long as I’m not gettin’ in the way.” Pecha said, trying to make herself useful but staring at the bandage on her paw.

“I’m fine, don’t worry… Thank you, though.” Iris said with a warm smile.

Pecha smiled back. She felt a little more at ease, though still worried she wasn’t going to be able to make herself helpful around this place. She watched as the Vaporeon effortlessly cut and combined strands of red and orange fabric together into a single, Rattata-sized bandana, working with such fluidity you’d think she was a part of the strange machine she was working on. Once it was done, she took the bandana and walked behind Pecha, pulling her hood down off her head and then swinging the bandana around her neck, gently tying it around the back for her and tucking it underneath the front of her hood.

“There. Now you’re officially one of us.” Iris said with that same warmth on her face. 

Pecha slid her paw across the red and orange fabric tied around her neck. One of them, just like that, huh? It’s that easy? How is she so trusting? She still felt like there had to be a catch to all this, but… It felt nice, even with that lingering suspicion in her head, feeling like a part of something for a change. “...Th-thanks.” Pecha said, unsure of what else to say.

“You’re welcome! And hey, listen, if any of the others give you any trouble… Especially my brothers… Just let me know, okay?” Iris said, a hint of sternness in her voice.

“Uh, should I be worried about them…?” Pecha asked nervously.

“No, no, they’re fine, it’s just… Well, Alex can be a bit crude, especially to girls, is all. And he doesn’t mince words, so he gets on people’s bad side a lot. And Jamie… Well, his mouth runs faster than his brain does, sometimes. Don’t take it personally if he says something stupid.” She said with another eyeroll.

“Haha, got it…” Pecha said. She got the sense that the Vaporeon cared about her brothers as much as they annoyed her. “You’re sure they’re… Safe, though? To be honest, I, uh… Don’t really like being alone with guys most of the time. Except gay dudes, they’re chill.” Pecha said with a nervous laugh.

“No, no, don’t worry about that! I mean, they are probably the straightest dudes you’ll ever meet, unfortunately, but… They’re not gonna do anything weird to you. Promise.” Iris said.

“...’Unfortunately’?” Pecha asked with a squint.

“Oh, I mean… I dunno, it’s stupid, there was just always part of me that wished I had a sister or at least a gay brother, you know? I think that’s why I get along best with Luka and Eva out of the others here… You’ll probably like them, too.” Iris said with a wistful smile. “...Sorry, I’m oversharing, aren’t I? Hey, it’s a bit past noon, now, how about you come with me to the market? I gotta get some stuff for Enzo. I’ll buy you lunch, as a treat for the new girl.” She offered, looking out the window.

Pecha’s eyes went wide. Free food, too? She had to be dreaming. “Oh, uh… Sure!” She replied, nodding excitedly.

Iris smiled and walked towards her door, grabbing a shopping bag along the way and gesturing for Pecha to follow. Pecha was admittedly a little curious to hear more gossip about her brothers and the other guild members, but she supposed she had time to learn more about them in the coming days… As they walked into town, she had some lingering thoughts in her mind. There was still a part of her feeling like this whole scenario was too good to be true, but the Leafeon from the city who brought her here promised that they were good people… So she decided to cautiously take his word, for now. She figured tomorrow she could tag along with one of the Vaporeon’s brothers, now that she knew a little more about them. That Flareon was the one who vouched to take her in in the first place, after all… He couldn’t be that bad, right? 

Only one way to find out, she supposed…

To be continued.