Welcome to Crewe's Deleted Scenes, part 1:

It was night time, of course. Crewe never traveled during the day any more; at first, it had been because she hadn't wanted to run into any J-Team members after leaving without so much as a good bye, but then it had become a habit, and so ingrained in her traveling mindset that she would have balked at going out in the sun to continue her journey.

It hadn't taken long for her to realize how unlikely it was for this quest to pay off. Crewe hadn't met her family--her real family--since she was an infant, and she couldn't even remember their faces. She could only guess where they might be, and they might just as likely be in some other region. But she'd made up her mind; lines had been crossed, and this was the only path left open to her, or at least the only one she cared to see.

So she traveled on. For days, she headed north, avoiding cities and towns and Trainers. Every so often, she'd run into a wild Pokemon. Mostly, they'd avoid her, though sometimes she'd have to run from a predator. Few Sneasel or Weavile appeared, and those who did had nothing to say to help her.

One night, however, she was just starting out when she nearly ran head first into a tall Sneasel.

"Gah!" She stumbles back, the other Sneasel grabbing her arm to steady her. "Sorry!"

"You should be more careful, I might've been something not nearly so friendly. Ever met an angry Mamoswine?" He gives her a friendly smile, which she nervously returns.

"Not yet, but I've certainly faced off against some not-so-nice things." Crewe looks over his shoulder to see two other Sneasels, a male and a female.

"Say, where are you headed? Four is better than three out here. If you're going our way, you could come with us for a while."

"I say it depends on how sharp her claws are--or at least how fast she can get out of our way." The female Sneasel steps up beside the first. "We wouldn't want any dead weight along the way."

"I can fight! And my friend taught me how to hunt really well, too!" The thought of Jab makes her feel a pang in her stomach, but she brushes it off. "I'm going north to find my family."

"Would you look at that!" the female exclaims, laughing. "You aren't the only nutter, Biton!" She ignores the angry look the first male shoots her, and places a gentle paw on Crewe's shoulder. "Sweetie, if your family got separated down south, they're all probably dead or caught."

"Don't say that, Morana," the first male--Biton--snaps. "They're probably fine." He smiles at her again. "So, what d'you say? Wanna come with us?"

Crewe shrugs. "Sure. It'd be nice to have some friends up here."

"Very true. So, what's your name? I'm Biton, this is Morana, and the guy back there panting his tongue out would be Martin."

"Nice to meet you. My name's Cr--Glint."

The look that froze Biton's face was rather hilarious to think about, later. At that moment, though, it frightened her.

"... Are you okay?" she asks, considerably worried.

"Gl--Glint? Your name is Glint?" he chokes out, eyes wide as twin moons.

So says a Sneasel girl that talks to me in my sleep. "Yes...?"

Biton lurches forward and grabs her shoulders, startling her.

"Hey! What are you--"

"When did you lose your family?!" he asks, low and urgently.

Crewe looks to Morana for help, but the other Sneasel looks like she's about to faint.

"I--I was a baby, I barely remember it. It must've been about fifteen years ago."

Biton paws tighten around her shoulders. "Where we're you? North, or south?"

"There--there was snow, but I think it was April. It must have been up north."

Biton's paws go slack and he lets her go, staring down at her like she's some dream come true.

"Arceus all mighty," he whispers. "I've finally found you."

"What...?"

"Glint... I'm your brother."

She wasn't prepared for that. To have traveled all this way, having all but accepted the fact that she would probably never find her family, and then find them on some lonely game trail in the woods... She would've liked several minutes to come to terms with this, but Biton gave her none. Instead, he threw his arms around her and drew her close.

"After all these years, you've come home," he murmurs. "I'll never let you go again. I promise."

Crewe--Glint--slowly wraps her arms around him and squeezes, closing her eyes and burying her face in his shoulder.

"I'm home," she whispers, more to herself than her brother.

"And home you'll stay," he replies anyway. "Forever."

It might have been around then that he started crying, or perhaps earlier. But it didn't matter; she was crying too.

And Now For Something Completely Different, part 2

Karmina had said there was nothing wrong. She'd said it so many times she had Prince Roy convinced that nothing was wrong, which was helped by the fact that Roy rarely left the palace anymore. He had no news ever since Ansel and Munin had disappeared, and hadn't sent out anyone else to gather some (for which they were all grateful; Karmina hadn't thought it necessary to convince them nothing was wrong). But the more Karmina insisted everything was fine, the more Renata was certain there was something dire going on outside the palace.

The dark blue dragon spent most of her time alone, nowadays. Ansel and Munin had been friends, but they were gone now. Brenna had been company for a while, but the young dragon had eventually gotten so annoying that Renata had introduced her to a few of the champions kept around the court for fun; one, named Haban after the great architect of the palace, had quickly found a small black dragon following him everywhere. At first Renata had felt guilty, but that had passed. Haban seemed to enjoy her company enough.

Prince Roy had once been a friend, but Renata could no longer find it in her to be around him as he spent his time pacing his rooms, muttering to himself about finding new messengers and going on a tour of the kingdom. She knew Karmina had forbidden anyone from leaving the palace, and Roy always listened to Karmina. The prince's disquiet had rubbed off on his close companions, the brightly colored pets Renata held such disdain for. They muttered and murmured, and she avoided the lot of them, which had also led her from the prince.

Even Karmina was distant. The elderly she-dragon normally rarely let Renata from her sight, insisting that the kingdom needed a new Singer, and as quickly as possible. But now she secluded herself in her room, leaving only rarely to speak with Prince Roy, and more commonly sending out a young yellow messenger in her place. Renata also took to avoiding him; when he did catch up to her, she refused to hear his message and insisted that Karmina come talk to her herself. Without fail, upon failing to deliver his message, the young messenger would leave without a word. Sometimes Renata considered inflicting Brenna on him, but decided the poor lad didn't need that kind of stress for doing what the Singer asked. And Karmina loved Brenna too dearly to be bothered by her.

Eventually, she decided enough was enough, and made her way to Karmina's room. More than once she'd come here only to be rebuffed by two guards that stood day and night in front of the entrance. As usual, they refused to let her in; this time, Renata began Singing.

Not the type that would kill the poor beasts; she was not so desperate yet. Instead, Renata Sang the very same Song that Karmina had Sung that first night, to put them into a deep sleep. By the time the guards realized quite what was happening, they were too tired to resist, and sank to the floor. Renata stepped over them and pushed her way through the heavy soundproof doors of the Singer's quarters...

... Only to stagger at the Songs hitting her inside. Karmina huddled in the center of the room, her wings hunched over her head. The Songs converged on her, swirling through the room. Renata had begun learning to see them, and was nearly blinded when she tried by the intense brightness and colors swirling through the room. She quickly stopped and hurried to Karmina's side.

"Singer Karmina," she murmurs, resting her muzzle against the black dragon's. "You hear so many Songs."

"My dear Songling child," she breathes back, opening her eyes. "So many die. Will you sing for me?"

Renata's eyes open wide in shock. "Singer, I can not Sing for those that do not deserve to die! I will not do so for you."

Karmina sighs. "A cruel child to say that I do not deserve death. But that is not what I meant, my dear Songling. This room is filled with the Songs of those that are dying; many have gone unheard. Give me one more, one that you might have sung when you were a man--I apologize, I use the wrong terms, don't I? A woman. Give me a human song, my dear Songling child, and give me something besides death to listen to."

Renata hesitates, then begins to sing an old flying song, one that many a rider sang while on an excursion with one of her stable's dragons. A cheerful song about clouds and sky and freedom and life; Karmina sighs happily.

"Ah, child... be glad I do not Sing my own Song; it would fall to you to Sing the songs of the dead and dying with no one, and hear them Sung by those with Singers. That of a Singer is not a good life."

"We should fix what makes them die," Renata says, lifting her head. "I will."

Karmina shakes her head. "It is not for the Singers to heal, but to hear and Sing and kill and know. They will die. We will Sing."

"Then I'll Sing a Song of life," Renata growls, lashing her tail. "And I'll save them all."

"You are a good child, Renata," Karmina murmurs. "But this is beyond you."

"I don't care. The Songs have to stop leaving their lives."

"Very well, then. If you can make it so, I wish you luck."

"Do you a Song of luck?" Renata asks, turning to leave.

"No. You'll have to write your own Songs now, my dear Singer child, if that's what you would be. I only know the Songs of life and soul."

"Then I will. Good luck, Singer Karmina. Bear your burden well."

"Good luck, Singer Renata. Lift it from me."

Crewe's Halfbaked Dream Diary, part 2

We were all playing cards, that part I remember. All of us but Grady; me, Thorn, Silver, and Leo. Grady was in bed. We'd rotated the bunks so he was on top, and he was pretending to sleep. We were all fooled, or maybe it wouldn't have happened. Maybe we would've lost Silver or Thorn, instead.

But we didn't. When the man burst in, wild-eyed and dressed in black, and said he'd kill one of us, whichever one stopped him from leaving, we still thought Grady was asleep. Until he stuck his head over the edge of his bunk and started talking. He was destined to rule the empire; we all knew that, though it didn't come up much. He tried to use that politician's charm he'd developed already in his teens, that charm that had inspired such love in all of us.

That love wasn't enough to save him, and neither was his charm. The man had jammed the button that rotated the beds so Grady was on the bottom, and that was that. We lost Grady. The man escaped, too. None of us could call for help, or go after him. We'd lost our center, and we fell apart.

Two days later.

The sights and sounds and smells of the party on the balcony were an assault on my senses, and they cut like an insult. I wandered around the outskirts, avoiding contact with any of the partygoers. They were celebrating his life, the commercials had said. More like celebrating his death; there were plenty of other people in line for the position, and Grady had spent most of his life living in Leo and Thorn's town, or at camp here with the rest of us. The people didn't know him.

I wasn't angry at most of the people at the party for that reason. They hadn't known Grady. They didn't know what a hole was left without him. There were a few people I was angry at, though. I saw Grady's parents there, making their mandated appearance. They didn't see me; they didn't know me. They didn't know any of us. I wondered if they even knew Grady that well. He was their son, but they had other sons. And like I said, Grady belonged to us more than he belonged to them. I saw my parents, too. I avoided them. They were here to take me home, because of the man. I didn't want to go just yet, though. I still had things to do.

What made me the angriest was seeing Silver and Thorn. I did approach them, with the intent of finding out what they thought they were doing at this abomination rather than mourning properly, somewhere away from the nauseatingly festive air of the balcony. They responded by acting dodgy and ended up all but demanding I leave them be. Disgusted, I did so, and found myself over by the drinks. Automatically, I pulled a soda from a barrel of ice and wandered off towards the door, where I knew I'd find at least one person with the appropriate attitude. I popped the top on the can, but couldn't bring myself to drink. Leaving it on the balcony, I knocked on the door to our room. His dark head poked out from the top bunk, and I let myself in.

I looked up at him from the floor, hands shoved into my pockets. I noticed the cards were still laying on the floor where we'd dropped them. I had someone's hand halfway under my shoe. I couldn't remember whose.

"Hey," I said, giving him a sad smile.

"Hey," he said back. He looks down at the bunk. "The button's jammed. I couldn't get my bed down. But I couldn't sit on his."

"Yeah," I said, looking at the lowest bunk. The sheets had been changed, but none of us were about to sleep in it, regardless. "I'll come up."

I clambered up the supports to the top bunk and sat down beside him. He didn't look at me, but dangled his legs out over the edge and watched his hands in his lap.

"The party's outside," I said eventually. "Silver and Thorn are out there. They want to forget it ever happened. They don't want to mourn."

"They didn't love him like I did," he replies, making an angry sound in the back of his throat. "Where have you been? I would've thought you, at least, would be here."

I shrugged and turned to look out the window, past the party on the balcony outside, out over the city. I remembered Grady standing beside me by the railing, talking about the history of the city, and the people that worked there. He knew his stuff already. I'd stood there in awe of him, trying to imagine this teenaged, dark haired boy as a ruler. It wasn't that hard.

"I was getting ready," I said finally. "I couldn't come in here right away. I would've... I dunno. Gone crazy, I guess."

"That'll end up happening eventually," he said. "Just you wait. Grady kept us all together."

"He would've been great," I replied. As always, Leo's intense love for our friend both awed me and creeped me out.

"He was great," he shot back. "He would've been the best of the best, because he already was. And he loved us, too. Just as much as we loved him."

"I know." I sat quietly, sticking my own legs out over the edge.

"I got a letter from my mom," he says after a time. "She says that she got a letter from Grady's parents."

"No doubt thanking us for being his friends and then asking why we didn't die in his place."

"Not quite." Leo makes a face. "Apparently, all of Grady's letters home were full of him singing our praises. His mom and dad want us to be friends with the next in line like we were with him."

I made a sound like I was choking. "They want us to... what? Pretends Grady's brother is him? That sounds like an idea doomed to crash and burn." I paused. "Not that Grady's brother is terrible. He's probably cool. Never met him."

"You're right, though. Even if Grady's brother is like he was, you can't just... make us be friends."

Having soundly decided that this would be a bad idea, we sat in silence for a while longer. I remembered a different talk with Grady. He'd been explaining how his uncle, a general in the army, was going to take him out to meet the men when the summer ended. I told him that as soon as they knew him, they'd all be glad to die for him. I told him any of us would die for him if he wanted. He'd given me that sad, knowing smile that didn't work half so well since we'd schemed together on how best to use it to get what we wanted from the adults that were supposed to be in charge. Then he'd told me that if we died for him, he'd be doing it wrong, since he was supposed to die for us.

I was surprised that I hadn't remembered that sooner. I wondered if Grady had ever told Leo something like that. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, and saw that he had a brooding expression on his face.

"Have you thought at all..." he began, then stopped, frowning. I waited for him to continue, and eventually he did. "Have you thought at all, that Silver and Thorn were next to the door?"

I didn't answer, because I had. The two boys had been the closest to the exit when the man had come in. If Grady hadn't started talking, the man might well have decided that one of them were delaying him the most.

"Maybe that's why they aren't here," I said. "Maybe they're guilty."

Leo balled his fists. "If they were guilty, they should be in here, mourning him. And saying that it should've been them."

"They didn't want to die, Leo," I said softly. "I bet they're glad they didn't die, even if Grady had to die instead of them. And they just want to forget all about it, because they're guilty that he died for them, and then they're guilty that they're glad he did."

"I would've died for him," Leo announced angrily.

"You didn't," I said quietly.

He hunched his shoulders over and glares at the floor... no, at the lowest bunk. "I wish I had."

I put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't say that, Leo. Don't insult him like that. Once he told me that if anyone ever died for him, he was doing his job wrong. I bet wherever he is now, Grady's glad that he did what he did."

"Why don't you just go back to the party, then?" he demands, shooting a glare at me. I didn't reply, leaving my hand on his shoulder. After a while, he sighs.

"He didn't think he was strong enough to rule, did you know that?" he asked. Surprised, I shook my head. Grady had always had a certain...

[TO BE COMPLETED]