Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 35 - The Hunters' Leader

Upon returning home, Owen felt exhausted. Despite not needing sleep, he wanted it. Zena offered for him to rest near the pond inside her home again, and he happily agreed, though he realized soon after that his bed might not be big enough for him. That gave him an idea. He was planning on visiting the Grass Realm while he slept—or was that technically meditating?—so he felt it'd only be appropriate if he switched to his Grassy form for the night. His tail curled around his body and his limbs slowly dissolved into a tapestry of vines. He then focused on his wings; they went from green and leafy to actual, thick leaves, which he used as blankets.

Then, his limb-vines twisted around the leaves of his tiny bed. He curled around his self-made nest and closed his eyes, though he could still sense Zena staring at him.

"Uh, is something wrong?" Owen asked.

"N-no, nothing." Zena looked away. "I was just... interested in how you decided to sleep."

"Oh. Uh, is it weird?" Owen looked up, resting his head on a clump of vines.

"...Yes. That's a bit strange, Owen."

"I mean, it's no weirder than you becoming water and sleeping as the lake, right?"

"I... I suppose so," Zena said. "You aren't going to turn into a giant flower next, are you?"

"I don't think I'll try.". He curled around again, readjusting his vines. Something about resting against a thick bed of vines felt familiar.

Slowly, he drifted off to sleep.

<><><>

Nevren returned to Hot Spot Cave under the cover of darkness. Lit only by the mushroom glow, he tilted his head to the side and narrowly dodged a Moonblast.

"Sorry!" Willow called.

"Quite alright," Nevren replied.

Willow skittered toward him; Nevren held out one of his spoons for her to land on. "Are you back from your boring paperwork?"

"Yes, though I fear there is still quite a backlog remaining," Nevren said. "Is Anam resting in his home?"

"Yep! He was talking to himself."

"Talking... to himself? Ah, you mean to his spirits."

"Yeah. But I dunno what he was saying."

"Well, thank you, Willow." He lowered his spoon and she hopped off. "What are the others doing?"

"Mostly meditating. I saw Manny trying to summon someone, but he was too blurry to see. Everyone else is just being boring so the mortals can sleep."

"Mortals. What a funny word for the mutants," Nevren said. "Well, I will be going to Anam now."

"You sleep with Anam?" Willow gasped. "I knew it!"

"Pardon?"

"Rhys is gonna be sooo upset!"

"...Pardon?"

"You two are mates, right?" Willow's eyes shined with mischief. "You and Rhys? I thought you two were. But it's you and Anam instead, huh? I didn't think you'd be like that."

Nevren stared at Willow.

"Are you the one that keeps sending Rhys love letters and Pecha berries? That's what Demitri told me. He keeps getting them and sometimes he hugs a huuge pile of letters when he thinks nobody's watching. You seem like you'd write a ton of letters!"

Nevren walked on. "I do not send Rhys letters. That is from an old, close friend of Rhys. They speak through telepathy, but I suppose they also enjoy physical correspondence."