Chapter 1: Fugitive on the Run
*Pant pant pant*
I looked behind me to make sure the guardian serpents had lost sight of me. In fact, I was so focused I tripped on a tree root. The ground met my face. Quickly, I scrambled to my feet and grabbed onto the tree trunk, hauling myself up. They can't climb trees, right? I wondered. I kept climbing until I'm sure I was hidden by the emerald leaves and leaped onto a nearby thick branch.
"Hah...hah...we...lost sight of him. Can't we just...postpone this search?" huffed a guardian. The other one shook his head.
"Can't. King's order. We have to capture all idiotters." Pah, idiotters. A nickname they call us. The word idiotters is a combo of idiot and otters. In my point of view, that nickname is cheesy. The first serpent groaned.
"Aww. But it's getting dark. I can't search during the night. I have nyctophobia!"
"Fine. We'll search tomorrow. I swear if it wasn't for your fear of the night..."
"Ok, ok I get it. But can we leave now?"
"Yes." Once the two left and out from sight, I breathed in relief. The cool wind flew softly threw the leaves. I closed my eyes halfway and plopped down onto the branch, letting my back rest against the trunk of the tall apple tree. The moonlight shimmered and the stars sparkled like the shiniest diamonds in the night sky. I gazed up and wondered, Why did all of this chaos have to happen? Why can't we water types and grass types get together like before? Life in Pokeworld used to be so peaceful. All types used to get along. Grass, water, and fire. The world is divided into three regions, each having a ruler. That is until...the accident occurred. I looked down at my purple necklace and caressed the lilac colored amethyst heart that was hanging from the deep violet collar.
"Yeesh, I should get some sleep. Put my mind off of this." I mumbled to myself, and closed my eyes.
Fire was blasting from all directions. Screams of mothers. Screams of children. And yells of fathers. I stood there, watching. Watching all chaos and pokemon falling. My feet are frozen in place as the shadow of the Serpent King and his army of servines came closer, eyes neon red. I quickly shielded my face with my right arm before the looming shadows enclosed me and swallowed me in darkness.
"AH!" I screamed, jolting from my sleep. After moments of patting myself to see if I'm alright and alive, I sighed and slouched. Nightmares. They never end, do they? This was my fifth nightmare this week. Maybe I should go to the fire region to get some help, I thought. After all, fire beats grass. Again, I looked at the sky to see a mix of orange-red and golden yellow sky with no clouds. The sunlight peered through the two mountains. I grabbed the nearest apple, rested my head onto my three fingered hand (paw, however you want to say it) which was on my raised right leg and ate in silence, pondering over my thoughts. All at once, the tree gave a violent shake, causing me to lose balance. I quickly released the grip of the half eaten apple and grabbed onto the branch. I squeezed my eyes shut until the tremor halted to a stop.
"Ow...hey!" Huh? Gazing downwards, I spotted a female servine, rubbing her head. The half eaten apple laid next to her left foot. "What the-?" I quickly grabbed the thin branches with leaves and pulled them closer to me, desperately trying to conceal myself. I may be invisible when others look from angles, but when looked from directly below, well, that's a different story. In my case, she's DIRECTLY below. The female servine picked up my half eaten apple and looked up. "Hello? Is anybody there?" I didn't reply. Instead, I concentrated on how to escape this predicament. What I didn't expect, was her giving the tree more violent shakes using her two vines that protruded from her back. I lost footing and fell, along with several red apples to the ground with a thud. "Woah, a dewott!" I sat up and rubbed my head until another apple fell onto my head, causing my vision to blurr. Once my vision cleared, I noticed a pair of reddish brown eyes. Eyes filled with surprise and curiosity. "Are you ok?"
"AH A SERVINE!" I backed up fast and ended up hitting my head against the tree. Ow.
"Wow, this is my first time seeing a dewott! Hi!"
"Y-You're not a serpent guardian, are you?! You're not gonna arrest me?!" The confusion in her eyes signaled me no.
"What?"
"Um..."
"I'm Servine! What's yours?" Ok, I guess she's not bad.
"I'm...Dewott. Um, why is your name the name of your species?"
"Look who's talking! Your name is also the name of your species!"
"Heh, touche."
"Why were you sitting in the tree?"
"Long story." I said, not wanting to tell her that I came from prison and that I'm a fugitive. She smiled. A friendly smile.
"So, you live in this tree?"
"Ha, no. I don't."
"Don't you have a home or something?" Tears were coming up. Servine took notice of this and panicked. "I-I'm sorry! I shouldn't have said that I-I-"
"It's ok." I gave a weak smile. She looked away.
"Well, if you don't have a place to stay, where are you gonna go?" I shrugged. Then, her face beamed. "I know! Maybe you can stay at my place!" What?
"What?!" Servine lowered her eyes.
"I mean...I-I have two bedrooms. You could stay in one if you would like, I mean." Then she looked at me. "After all, you're the first water type I have seen ever since this all started." Servine plopped down next to me and tilted her head slightly. "Honestly, I never knew what caused all of this." That's because you were never there to see it, I thought. I didn't want to say it, cause that wouldn't be so kind of me to say it to a girl who's giving me an offer. But she's different. Maybe, there are some servines in this world that aren't so bad.
"Alright. But are you sure? I don't want to cause you any trouble. Besides, I'm being hunted down by other servines."
"Don't worry! My home is located by a lake not far from here. But it's concealed by a tall willow with long branches that nearly reaches the ground. Besides, it's better than staying in trees." She does have a point. I have no shelter, and finding a source of water is rare since many grass types guard them. And the fact that they're usually out in the open.
"Hey, Servine?"
"Yeah?"
"Why are you being so kind to me? Even if knowing that consequences are harsh?"
"I...I don't want to be a part of...this." she said, motioning to the direction where I came from. "This war. I think it's outrageous. Fighting for your own beliefs instead of fighting for true peace for everyone and seeing the others' points of view. I want everyone to be happy, not to be ruled by, I don't know, a monarchy. I'm kinda like a pacifist." I sighed in relief. This servine...maybe I can trust her. Though I'll still be on guard. Perhaps she could help me. Then again, I guess it isn't polite to bring such burden to a girl. But, we both want to end this war, so...
"Oh...and, Servine?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks. Thanks for supporting me." We'll find a way to stop this and bring back the world we once knew, I thought. You and me. Together.
