There's a long road ahead [Tobias]

[Mason]

He had never been one to just take it upon himself to spy. He wasn’t a flag-waving Nox patriot, he didn’t speak to young minds about freedom as he had been spoken to. But if you want to live in wartime, you do as you’re told. At least, until you get to call the shots. The thought made him shiver.

Mason wondered if living like that was even worth it in the end.

But, unless one has a death wish (and he did not), spying was not the time to contemplate these things. The task was simple; disrupt supply trade leaving Blackthorn City. Preferably ammunition and the like. The only problem? How to do it without gigantic explosions. He had gone through several plans in his head and on paper, none of which were perfect or even completely reliable. The city was too unfamiliar - and though Mason had spent several hours up to this point tracking the movement of the guards, there was no way he’d be able to learn the area inside and out in time.

”It’s not worth igniting the war over” Mason had been told, and the spy couldn’t help but agree. But it did make things more difficult.

So, under a sliver of the moon and the sparse light it gave, Mason waited, his patient gaze fixated on the camp that was situated just outside the main part of the city. The river was directly to his left, with the bridge overhead and the churning water down below. He shuddered to think about how cold it must be without the sun to warm it, especially being situated in the mountains like it was. At least hiding was easy with all of the uneven terrain.

Hm. Hiding was easy. A bit too much so.

Mason had been instructed to meet his partner here, but hours had passed. Even though a specific time was never provided, the spy wondered where this other man was and when they were supposed to meet. He had assumed whenever - but having been so fixated on watching the guards and preparing, Mason figured he had better check around a bit.

He hoisted himself up from prone position, going into a tentative crouch and turning around. No one. Mason relaxed a bit, stood up, and leaned comfortably against the wall of the cliff above him. Still no one. Scenarios ran through his head, could he pull this off without backup, what was the best way to go about disposing of the cargo without an extra set of hands, where would be the best spot to cross the river...

With a shrug, he reached for a pokeball at his belt, and aimed it at the water below. His Milotic appeared beneath the surface with a small splash, and raised her head towards her trainer, waiting for an order. ”Idril. Hide under the bridge, and wait for my signal should I need to use it.” His voice was a near whisper, as though the spy was being watched. ”Be careful.’ The Milotic obediently nodded, and Mason patted her gently on the head as a farewell gesture.

A good spy always has an escape plan - and this was his. A last resort, if things went terribly wrong. He watched his pokemon swim away, nearly gliding on top of the water with her tail fin swishing in the gentle wake. Now all that was left to do was wait. Mason dropped into a crouch, hands together at his chin, thinking.

The spy had already been waiting and watching for hours, a bit longer couldn’t hurt.

[TOBIAS]

Patience is a virtue, isn't that how it's said? Perhaps to the virtuous, but patience is for the ones too afraid to act. Wasting time was never the gurilla's style, putting off the inevitable always hounded him at every turn. Any task given to him by his superiors wasn't likely to be ignored or put off until later, but today was something different. It would be the first time he would have to work with a partner on their own terms, where they would be the ones instructed to aquire their goal with whatever measures were necessary. The white-haired young man had too much anxiousness about this mission from the start, knowing that if it came down to it and his partner wasn't responsive to his orders, there would be a serious problem. Heading along the usual routes into the rocky areas surrounding the road exiting Blackthorn was a fool's game when there were so many enemies en route, so Tobias was left to his own devices to travel so far by foot. Night had already fallen, it was hours ago that Tobias had set out from Petalburg City, but traveling from halfway across Hoenn to Petalburg in a few hours was going to be difficult considering the terrain. Making it halfway atop the back of his Onyx, Tobias was well on his way before too long. The orders couldn't have come at a worse time, but it didn't matter much by then. Hours passed too quickly, and after his companion had run out of steam, Tobias was delayed in reaching Blackthorn before the sun went down. Figures, but his partner would have to wait. Relying on his trusted arcanine Hel to help him cross into the outer expanses of Blackthron city, the guerrilla raced to the scene across the rocky plains until he was forced to dismount his ride and recalled Hel back to the safety of his pokeball. After that, the trip would have to be on foot down the rigid cliffsides. God only knows where his partner had been waiting for him to begin the operation, but it would only matter to Tobias if there was a fight he was missing out on already. Traveling across the plains in the pitch dark alone in heavy lux territory wasn't exactly his best subtle plan for the time being, but he would reach the dropoff soon enough where the roads connected to the outer city bridge. Here would be the best place to begin the mission from, but he sighed with annoyance when he was forced to remember he needed to meet his assigned teammate before things went underway. Finally met with the sounds of rushing water as he approached the edge of the rocky clearing, the white-haired young man crept lower to the edge of the grassy areas below, then spotting the lights from the lux guards just a dozen feet or so away before he quickly made his way behind a tall tree just to the side of the cliff's edge. Damn, he'd come too close on this side of the bridge, he'd have to get down to the water and make his vantage point better to try and track down his partner. Nobody could be seen on the edge of those cliffsides, or even on the mountain paths on the way here, so he had little to no idea how exactly to find someone who might be hiding in the area. At least this other guy knew how to do his job right, Tobias couldn't even spot him. Sighing with little information to go off of, Tobias remained hunkered down behind the tree and pulled out his silenced phone to check if he was given any messages or further information to go off of. He waited, occasionally peeking out from behind the tree to try and gain an idea of how to make it past the guards in the open without being seen. _________________________________________________________________ Words: 653 Notes: Sorry it took me so bloody long! ;_;

[Mason]

With every little bit the moon rose, Mason became a little more worried. His partner - whoever he was - could be missing, hurt, or already caught. A few supply crates weren't worth the life of an operative, no matter what they contained. So, against his better judgement, he stood up from his crouch and removed another Pokeball from his belt. Mason tossed it up the side of the cliff that was about a foot over his head, and his Umbreon appeared, waiting silently for orders. “Go search the trees.” He whispered to his pokemon while standing on his tiptoes and looking for a foothold to climb up back onto the flat ground.

Sending two pokemon off put him at a disadvantage if it came to fighting, but going in guns blazing wasn't exactly a strength of his in the first place. After all, if no one ever knows you’re there, then there’s nothing they can do about it. A cat can’t chase a rat it never sees.

He wondered if it was his fault that he couldn't find his partner, but this assignment had been such short notice that he barely was able to get here from Olivine. There wasn't any time to get acquainted prior to this, to plan together, to strategize. The man had always been overly cautious - as shown by the hours he had just spent watching guards and lights from the cliff side. All he had was a makeshift map on a piece of paper he had been drawing up, and a Milotic waiting under the bridge if things got really rough.

Better than nothing, Mason thought as he hoisted himself up the short cliff side, trying not to disturb any rocks that could fall and give away his position. Even though he was far enough away that the lights didn't shine at his hiding spot, the night was deathly still above the rush of the river. Insects quieted under the watchful human eyes and the bright lights they operated, as though simply existing was enough to warrant scrutiny.

As the Umbreon prowled through shadows and trees, his master approached the outer bridge with tentative footsteps. Even though his partner would be able to spot him better, Mason felt a nervous chill go down his spine. He didn't like being out in the open. The comfort of the rock walls from his observation point covered his blind side, but here there was nothing but a bridge and a Lux camp. Above all though, time was short. The night only lasts so long, and in Lux territory that window of opportunity the darkness provides seems even shorter.