Peacekeepers

Chapter Twenty One - Repose

A pink, dusk sky sprawled overhead by the time the champions and their Pokémon made it to the town by the lake. With all of them nearly frozen to the bone and thoroughly worn out from the long trek, the first thought on everyone's mind was to find shelter and warm up.

The town was hemmed in by a circular stone wall and an open gate with a pair of Arcanine sitting as guards. As the six travelers approached and proceeded through the opening, the Arcanine merely watched intently and sniffed at them, as if they were more of an alarm system to any potential dangers than actual guards.

Inside, the snow-covered path they walked had turned to a sort of muddy, slushy mess from the day's foot and cart traffic. Wooden buildings and homes lined the streets and paths in an almost haphazard way. Although evening, the town's activity seemed oddly quiet.

After a few moment's observation, Cynthia realized the obvious lack of men in the population, and the ones present were either elderly or very young children; those of fighting age no doubt sent off to one army or another.

Thankfully, no one paid much attention to them as they walked by.

An older man working at his smithing task, paused briefly to gawk at them but then quickly returned to his work. Children laughing in a game of tag rounded a corner and slowed to stare in wonder at their four Pokémon before zooming off in play again. Women passed by amid various chores, carrying baskets of laundry or food, all staring curiously for a moment before moving on.

It seemed they were simply taken for a pair of soldiers passing through; a somewhat normal occurrence during a warring era.

Although they had originally wanted to find warm lodging first, walking by a building spewing the smell of ramen and rice had both champions stop dead in their tracks; neither had realized just how hungry they were until that moment.

Steven and Cynthia shared an inquiring look and then a sheepish smile when their stomachs chorused a growl. "Glad to hear we agree," she said with a chuckle.

"Yes, but I'm concerned about the currency that Kenshin gave us," Steven pointed out as he pulled a coin purse from their supplies. "I'm a rock specialist... old coins are out of my field."

"Let me have a look." Cynthia hummed as she took the purse and examined a handful of gold, silver and copper coins. "I can't say I'm certain, as I've only studied currency briefly, but I think a single silver would cover the cost of two meals. A gold should cover a night at the Inn."

Steven nodded in agreement. "Sounds reasonable."

Turning to enter the establishment, their four Pokémon trailing behind, an elderly man stopped them with a raised hand. They hadn't noticed him at first, but he sat in a chair just beside the doorway with an Eevee curled up and sleeping on his lap.

"Hold on you two. No Pokémon allowed in any establishment." He coughed a couple times before nodding towards a large building down the street. "You can set them up in the barn though, with the rest of the critters."

Frowning, both trainers gave their Pokémon an apologetic look. "Sorry guys, can you wait out here until we eat?" They didn't want to just send them to the barn without checking it out first.

The foursome whined and grumbled but ultimately plopped down on the slushy ground, all of them too tired to complain further.

Stepping through the open doorway with simple fabric drapes hanging down, the pair found themselves in what appeared to be a traditional ramen stall, with a bar and a row of stools, mostly vacant. Multiple lanterns hung from the ceiling and cast down warm, pleasant light throughout the room.