All That Ends…
It's dark. I don't like it- it's just scary and… and…
There are ghosts in the dark.
"Merry!" I hear someone call out in the distance. "Meeeeerrrrryyyy!"
I may not like the dark, or ghosts, but I don't like that person more than either. I scramble away as best I could, deeper into the forest. I duck under bushes left and right, jump over a branch or two and end up at the bank of a small river.
I look down to see my own self in the dim moonlight: me, a nine-year-old girl, with messy brown hair, brown eyes, and ratty clothes. Nothing but a toy to those people.
Target practice for their pokémon. My body is still sore from today and the past weeks to the past months. I ran when I had the chance, even if I had no chance.
"Aw come on Merry! Stop running! I promise your punishment won't be toooo bad… maybe just the whole hand… or maybe a foot!"
I panic. There's no time. She's getting closer and I have nowhere to go. I don't know how to swim.
"There you are!" I turn to see the woman of my nightmares standing there with Murkrow on her shoulder, no doubt the pokémon that tracked me. More rustling and emerged her other two pokémon, a pyroar and a Pawniard. I could see her lips turn into that wicked smile of hers. "Come on Merry. It's time for you to go back!"
She extends her hand to me. I back away. She laughs.
"I like the attitude. Maybe we should introduce to the pack. Those guys are mean little doggies!"
"No…" I manage to squeak in fear. I've seen the pack do their work.
You never make it out whole with them involved.
"No… no…" I keep backing away. I don't care if there's a river behind me. I'm not going back.
"Yes!" she laughed. "Yes, you'll love them!"
I fell in. I struggled in the current. It's a stronger river than it looked and tumbled me over and over.
As the water pulled me away, I could see that woman just standing there. She wouldn't dare bother chase me when she can't swim.
Not like I can either.
Despite this, after a while, I was able to latch myself onto a log sitting in the river and climb on. From there, it was an easy walk back onto solid ground.
"I'm free…"
I knew I was. I saw no murkrow in the sky, I heard no laugh. No dogs.
Just empty, abandoned forest.
"Where am I though?" I ask myself. I've never been outside the facility and before that, I did my best to stay in town before things went wrong. I never had to traverse a forest before.
Especially one so… quiet.
I have no choice. I have to walk. I can't sit still. I may be free now but that woman might still come in enough time.
So, I walk.
Towards nothing.
Nothing but trees. Not nice trees filled with leaves and fruit. Dead trees with sharp branches. Dull grass, prickly bushes, no flowers…
No pokémon.
At this point, I'd ask even for a ghost to show up. It'd be livelier than a creepy, dark forest.
A silent dark forest at that.
I'm tired. I'm hungry. I don't know how many days I've been here. I've been seeing things, hearing voices but I don't see anyone or anything no matter where I look.
I haven't eaten since I escaped the facility. My clothes are still soaked from the river yet I feel hot. I've been coughing lately and my throat has gotten sore.
I've got a cold. And I don't have medicine.
I don't have food.
I have no warmth.
I don't have a bed.
And… I have no way home. This forest is just… too big. I can't find a way out. Day feels like night and night… it's just too scary to go far. I can barely sleep at night because it's so cold.
I haven't moved from the tree I'm under in the past two days. I'm too scared.
Too weak.
I feel sleepy… sleepier than ever before. My body is sore and I just want to lie down and sleep, so I do. I close my eyes and dream of home.
'I just… just want to... to go home…'
"Is… …wake?"
"Mmm…?" I struggle to open my eyes. It's too bright and I end up closing them again. "Mhmm…"
"She's awake!" I fell something cold but soft touch me. It felt so weird. "Wake up! Wake up!"
"Mmm… no… I wanna sleep…" I mumble. I don't know where I am or who's next to me or why I'm here but I know that I'm tired. "Please… let me sleep…"
"You'll have plenty of time to do that later!" whoever the voice was, they were persistent.
"Token. Let her be for a minute or two. New ones don't get used to it so fast… it was the same for all of us."
"Aw…"
'New ones? What new ones?'
I finally open my eyes to see trees all around. The sky was an amazing hue of pink and orange- sunset. Looking around, I see trees with no leaves on them. They're dead but still, somewhat comforting.
The view was spoiled when a small tree trunk with red eyes appeared in front of me.
"Ack!" I fell back, slamming my own head into something behind me. "Wha… who… why!?"
"Oops, did I scare you?" with a better look, I can see that he's not actually a tree trunk but is wearing one instead. His body is nothing but a wispy, translucent black. "I'm sorry…"
He came to me and held out a stubby little hand to me. I could see the smile on his face- no ill-bearing at all. Still, I have no clue what he intends for me to do with his hand- something he noticed.
"Oh uh, you don't know what a hand-shake is…?" I shake my head. He put his hand down and rubbed them nervously. "Y-you take my hand and shake it. That's all."
I blink a few times. Slowly but surely, I raise my hand. It enters my vision and I could see what it was.
A hand exactly like his. I pull it away and examine it, then I examine the strange boy in front of me.
"Oh, yeah. I'm a phantump and you are too!" he exclaimed. He took my hand and shook it for me, shaking me up and down as well. "My name is Token!"
"To… ken?"
"Yup!"
"Token…" I look at my hand again. Wispy black and somewhat translucent like his. Which meant…
I reach up and touch my face only to feel the bark of a tree. I had the same stump he had on, though I assume it looked different to very least.
"Token, what's a phan… tump?" I ask him. He chuckled in response and I groaned.
"A phantump is what we are!" he paused and tapped his hand against his chin. "Well… that's what I know at least. We're called phantump but I suppose I don't know what we are really…"
"Did you wake up like I did one day?" I ask him. He nodded.
"Yup! I was greeted like you were. It's tradition!"
"Is it…?" he nodded again. "Why?"
"I believe I can answer that."
I turn, as did Token, to see one of the large trees turn out to be not a tree but some sort of mix of tree and… us, I guess? He had the same wispy black body we did but a single red eye compared to the two Token had. He was also really tall and had lots of leaves.
And scary claw hands.
"My name is Gremly new one. I am a trevenant and you are a phantump." he poked where my forehead was, though I suppose it was just the trunk protecting it. "A phantump, what you are, is a child of the forest. A spirit meant to protect it."
"Really?"
"Is that what you told us?" Token said aloud. Gremly rolled his eye. "Wow, did I get it wrong."
"You never listen Token. You'd know better if you did. Like how if continue to wander off during the day like always, one of those humans will take you away for good."
"I know that! I'm just having fun is all!" he exclaimed.
"Fun is fine but your safety is concerning. It's why I tell you to stay with everyone else." advised Gremly.
"Everyone else?" I ask.
"Yes. They are plenty of your kind within this forest- living and playing together." Gremly smiled. "How about you let Token take you to meet everyone else?"
"Hey, but she doesn't have a name yet!" shouted Token. A name? Searching through what I know, I really don't have one.
"Well, we can't have that." Gremly moved closer to me and held out a hand. "What do wish to call yourself little one? Tradition states you get to choose your name, unless you want me to choose for you."
I think hard about this. I don't want a really weird name that makes no sense. Looking around, I spy the beautiful sunset in the distance. I knew exactly what to call myself.
"Just call me Sunset!" I exclaim. The trevenant chuckled quietly while Token comes up to me with a smile.
"Sunset it is!" exclaimed Token. I giggled. He's an excited one, I can tell. "Don't worry, none of us know our pasts!"
"Really now? How strange…" I say aloud. He doesn't take notice at all.
"Come'on, let me show you the area! You'll love being here!" Token grabs me and starts to pull me away. I give Gremly a pleading look and he just laughs.
"Go on Sunset. Enjoy yourself. You have plenty of time to do so now."
"Umm… alright." I let Token pull me away for a bit before yanking my hand away. "I can move on my own Token!"
"Hehe! Don't be so mad Sunset- you didn't want to move so I did so for you!"
"Well, let's see how fast you move then!" I challenge with a smile. I could get used to living in this forest.
"You're on!" Token sped off, I follow along.
"Don't hurt yourselves you two…" Gremly paused and chuckled. "Kids…"
The sun had set by now and Gremly was still waiting in the small clearing. He knew someone was coming to him.
Sure enough, after snorting loudly, another trevenant walked out from the shadows. She was short for a trevenant but a trevenant none-the-less.
"Berry. Good to see you're around."
"Gremly… when do you suppose you'll tell this one the truth?" asked Berry. She was holding tattered clothes that could possibly fit a human girl.
The trevenant hummed. He didn't like the prospect of admitting where new phantump come from. He himself was one of them long ago and still remembered how it felt to finally know how he came to be.
"Like all the others… until they find themselves…"
He looked down at the ground. Beside one of his rooted feet laid a small mound of dirt. Before, it was just a rotting stump in the ground. Now, the dirt hid a truth that could potentially destroy someone if they found out.
"How long would that take then?" asked Berry.
Gremly turned to Berry. She could see the frown through the slot of his trunk.
"How long did it take for you to find out?"
She looked away.
"Years… maybe…"
"Let them have that time to have fun. It'll be a better life for her in the end."
He smiled.
"Living eternally as a ghost is better than suffering as a child. If she ever finds out…"
He began to walk away, leaving Berry standing in the clearing, clothes still in hand. In the distance, she could just make out crying- crying that sound like a child's. She let out a sigh and a frown came to her face, as did Gremly's.
She knew exactly what he was talking about know.
"We'll know when."
This story made on request. Please don't forget to leave a review and a favorite.