A Twisting Ladder to Heaven

by ServusSmith

A boy and his poochyena run away from home, pair up with a riolu who has also run away from his home, and live out side of human civilization until they are thrust back into the world of humanity as well as the machinations of Team Helix.

1. Chapter 1: Runaways

A Twisting Ladder to Heaven

Chapter 1: The Runaways

Sparks leap from a flint onto dry moss and kindling and a tiny fire bursts

into life. The small flame chases the darkness to the edges of the small

cavern. I smile as I blow on the flame while holding my brown hair back

with one hand, and gently coax it into a small fire. Smiling at having

successfully started my first fire, I lean back as I add a couple larger pieces

of wood to the small blaze. A poochyena trots around from the other side of

the cavern and sits down next to me. I pet the poochyena with one hand

while sliding the flint into a bright blue backpack with the other before briefly

rummaging around in the pack. When I pull my hand back out I have a

large jar of peanut butter in it.

"I bet ithat/i lady is glad we're gone, don't you Rogue?" I say scooping peanut

butter out with my fingers and sticking the big glob in my mouth. Rogue

nods and then opens her mouth expectantly. I smile, and scrape another

scoop of peanut butter out of the jar and into the poochyena's open mouth.

I spin the lid back onto the jar and set the peanut butter aside. Rogue looks

at the jar and then back up at me with a begging look. I sigh as I lean back

against my backpack, "Sorry Rogue, but that's all we are going to eat for

now. We only have that one jar and a couple sandwiches." I pick the

poochyena up and set her down in my lap. "We have to make them last as

long as possible."

Rogue licks my face and curls up against my chest, and we both drift off to

sleep in front of the fire.

~0~

A couple days later, both Rogue and I are sprawled on our backs under the

massive oak that grows over the cave we have called home for the past

two days. Our stomachs growl insistently and Rogue whimpers.

"I know, I'm hungry too, but we don't have any more food." I sigh and climb

to my feet. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. We should

probably go home and beg forgiveness."

Rogue lifts her head sharply at this, and growls.

I frown, "Rogue, we have no food. We will starve."

Rogue leaps to her feet and goes down the tunnel at the base of the oak,

and reemerges with a long object that has a black textured handle. She

drops it at my feet then starts to walk away into the woods. I pick up the

object. It's a machete. I'm pretty sure I didn't pack a machete.

I frown, "When did…" I look up at Rogue who has stopped and turned to

look back at me, "What am I supposed to do with this?"

Rogue snarls and snaps her teeth then makes a ripping motion with her

head. I raise a brow, "You mean go out and kill something to eat."

Rogue barks sharply with a nod before darting off. I sigh and chase after

her, iWhat the hell why not?/i

~0~

The mudkip plays in the shallows, completely carefree in the small lake it

calls home. Suddenly, there is a loud splash and Rogue bounds through

the water to tackle the mudkip. The two pokémon slide across the surface

of the water as I sprint over with the machete held high overhead. The

mudkip yelps and dives out of the shallows, and away into the depths of the

lake. We stare at the place where the mudkip disappeared in silence for a

long moment. Then something in me snaps.

"GRAAAAH!" I scream as I stomp and splash like a mad man. I start

shrieking every curse word I know, which is a surprising amount for a boy

of only ten and three quarters of year old, and even make up a few. I freeze

suddenly, my face screwing up into what is probably a comical visage of

surprised pain. I step back and in a fit of injured rage reach down and hurl

the large rock that I just kicked on accident, damn thing nearly broke my

toe! Rogue watches the rock sail through the air dispassionately until the

rock hits the surface of the lake and sinks with a loud 'sploosh'. She turns

back to me with raised brows as if to say, 'You done yet?'

I stand there, machete hanging limply at my side, taking deep slow breaths,

and then sigh, "Come on Rogue, let's go look for some berries or

something."

Rogue starts to follow me out of the lake, shaking herself dry as she does

so, but then we both freeze at a furious bellowing behind us. I turn around

slowly to see an enraged feraligatr rising out of the lake with a large gash in

its head. It quickly scans the area before its gaze locks onto us and its eyes

narrow menacingly.

"Rogue. Run."

We both turn and sprint through the trees away from the angry feraligatr. I

glance over my shoulder to see if it was gaining, and it definitely is! I let out

a loud yell as I trip over a tree root and tumble to the ground, the machete

flying out of my hand and into the brush.

I roll over, and scurry backwards just barely avoiding the feraligatr's long

jaws snapping down where my feet had been moments before. I quickly

reverse directions and dive forward. I wrap my arms and legs around the

feraligatr's muzzle to keep it from opening its mouth. I'd heard somewhere

almost all the muscle in their mouths was used for biting down, not leaving

much in the way of opening it. Considering my dad is a pokémon

researcher, I should have plenty of knowledge about pokémon just from

hearing him babble on.

Then again, I never was a very good listener.

Whether or not I could have kept the feraligatr's jaws shut becomes a moot

point as it whips its head violently from side to side and I am slammed into

a tree. The wind is shoved from my chest and my grip fails. I stare up at the

feraligatr as it pulls one of its massive clawed forefeet back and prepares to

turn me into deli cuts. Then, as the claws drop, a grey blur comes in out of

left field to slam into the beast's injured head.

"AIIIIIEEE!" I shriek as the claws tear across my chest, shredding my shirt

and carving a set of parallel furrows into my torso. I roll over, clutching at

my chest, and I crawl away from the furious feraligatr as it tries to get a

bead on whatever attacked it. I manage to get to my feet and start

stumbling away when I hear a yelp followed by a thud. I pause and look

over my shoulder to see Rogue sliding down the base of a tree as the

feraligatr turns on all fours to move in for the kill.

I don't know what happened exactly, but I sure as hell didn't think it through

as I am suddenly scrambling up the feraligatr's back. I reach the top of the

beast and we both freeze in shock. I froze because I just scrambled up a

beast that is easily more than twice my size and a hundred times stonger.

He froze because this is probably more resistance than he has come up

against from his prey in a long time. It turns its head and I find myself

looking into its red eyes. I look past the eyes to Rogue as she struggles to

stand up and remember, iI promised Mother./i

The feraligatr bellows angrily as blood pours around my fingers buried in its

eye sockets. Moments later I am flying through the air and into the bushes.

I roll to a stop and groan as I start to get back up. My hand wraps around

something hard. The machete.

I stumble back to where the feraligatr is still standing, and wiping at its face

trying to knock away the pest that is obscuring its vision. I don't see Rogue

anywhere. Suddenly I feel something at my side, it's Rogue. She is

bleeding from a cut on her head but otherwise seems fine. I crouch down

and whisper after a last glance at the feraligatr as it slowly stops clawing at

its face, "I think we found our meal."

I throw out my arm, pointing away from the feraligatr mind you, and shout

as loud as I can, "RUN!"

Rouge takes off while I drop down onto my back and pray this works. I feel

the earth shake as the feraligatr immediately charges at the sound of my

shout with a furious bellowing. As one foot slams down next to my hip I

stab out with the machete.

The steel blade bites into the softer flesh of the feraligatr's neck and I use

all of my strength to hold onto the blade as it plunges into the beast's

throat. The momentum of the animal drives the blade all the way to the

handle and the point sticks out the back of its neck. I find myself being

dragged along the rough ground. The machete is ripped from my hands as

the massive beast rears back clutching at its throat with hands too large

and clumsy to ever hope to remove the machete. iNot that that would

help anyway. /i

I scurry backwards like a startled krabby as the feraligatr looks like it is

about to fall forward on top of me. Fortunately for me, it falls backwards

against an oak tree and crumples to a seated position. The way it's head

fell slightly to the side it seems as though it is giving me one final sightless

glare before it makes a gurgling noise and dies.

I feel a cold nose nuzzling my arm and I smile, "Well, that went better than

expected, don't you think?"

I look down at Rogue's incredulous expression and my smile widens into a

lopsided grin. "What? You don't think I planned it that way?"

Rogue just huffs and starts licking my wounds. I wince as I chuckle, starting

to feel the crash portion of my adrenaline high kick in. My entire body is

shaking badly and my wounds are starting to hurt again. I push Rogue's

head away from my wounds, but she won't have any of that and just

pushes her head back in.

I shakily climb to my feet and stumble over to the feraligatr. I wrap both

hands around the handle and start yanking on it. However, the weapon

refuses to budge.

I growl, and put one foot on the dead animal's collar bone. When that

doesn't work, I bring my other foot up and plant it firmly on the other side of

the blade and put my entire body into it. I can feel it begin to slide out and I

redouble my efforts.

I only have a split second to contemplate just how stupid a move I just

made as the machete suddenly stops resisting and I find myself airborne

for the second time. Then my head hits something hard and everything

goes black.

`0'

I groan as I come too, and am immediately greeted by a tongue on my face

and a little whine. I open my eyes to find Rogue standing next to my head

and giving me a concerned look as the sky behind her is turning a nice

shade of pink as the sun sets. I must have been out for quite a while.

"I'm fine." I say with a grimace as I sit up and gently rub the pidgey egg on

the back of my head, "Just feel like an idiot."

Rogue yips with a bemused look on her muzzle. I glance down at her and

raise a brow, I can't understand what she says, but I get the distinct feeling

that it wasn't a compliment. "Fine, like more of an idiot than usual."

I start to stand up but freeze when I hear a number of warning growls. I

look up as a trio of mightyena and a few poochyena stalks out of the brush

to stand between us and the dead feraligatr. I hear a rustling behind us and

a glance over my shoulder shows yet another trio of the large canines,

each of them as tall as me.

My left hand starts roaming over the ground looking for the machete as I

turn my head back to the front only to get an eyeful of teeth. I quickly shut

my eyes again and wait for the teeth to close around my head or throat.

The mightyena's hot breath blows over my face as it huffs and I flinch. The

mightyena moves away from me and Rogue growls something next to me

as I hear a wet ripping noise. I open my eyes again to see the mightyenas

tearing into the feraligatr.

I look down and find the machete before I leap to my feet and shout, "HEY!

THAT'S OURS!"

The lead mightyena whirls on me with a vicious snarl that makes me flinch

as the others stop and look at me. I try to keep the machete in my white

knuckle grip from shaking as I swallow, before continuing with as much

bravado as I can muster, "We killed it, and we are going to eat some of it."

The mightyena snorts derisively, as if asking how a mere pair of pups could

bring down the beast behind it. I turn the blade so that the mightyena can

see the dried blood that is caked on the steel, and it suddenly seems to

have a little more respect for me, but it isn't about to turn over a meal like

this.

Rogue takes a step forward and I hear a crackle of electricity that causes

both mine and the mightyena's gaze to shoot down to her as electrical

energy sparks move through her fur. It suddenly occurs to me that I never

figured out all the moves that she hatched with. I turn back to the

mightyena to find that three of the others are now backing him up. This is

not looking good, but I am not leaving here without something to eat, and a

trophy.

"Listen, we are just two and you are more." I say, my voice cracking as I

look to make a deal, "We only want a pup's share each, and the skull."

At the mention of the skull Rogue looks up at me with a questioning look. I

ignore her and focus on the alpha as I lower the blade slightly, "Your

choice, fight and risk losing pack mates, or just let us get a quick bite and

then leave us the skull."

The mightyena considers this for a moment then turns and barks to the

others. I grin as a path to the body opens up. I start walking forward while

Rogue hangs back for a bit; watching as I kneel down and start tearing at

the flesh with the serrated back edge of the machete, working to take a

chunk out of the thigh. When she sees that the pack is seriously going to let

us take a portion, she dashes forward and begins tearing at the meat of the

other thigh with her fangs.

Before long, I have a bloody chunk of flesh in my hands and Rogue is

licking blood from her muzzle as we quickly make room for the mightyena

and their pups to eat, which they do with far less precision than myself and

Rogue used. I take a bite of the red meat in my hand and chew forcefully

as I watch the carnage.

I glance down at Rogue and gesture with my machete, "Let's go find some

berries."

-0-

Later as the sun vanishes completely and night begins in earnest, I am

gingerly carrying the heavy feraligatr skull. The pale bone has been

cleaned of all flesh by the teeth and tongues of the mightyena pack. Rogue

is walking a little ahead of me, taking the lead with her better night vision.

She has a slight skip to her step as she trots along the path and both our

spirits are high. Sure, my head hurts and my chest stings a good deal from

the gashes across my chest. But we are alive, and our stomachs are full of

berries. We will show that woman who the worthless ones are.

We both stop when we come in sight of the cave entrance. A pale glow is

coming from inside. Someone is in our home!

I sprint forward and hit my knees outside with a thump. I set the skull down

and look inside. There on the opposite side of the little cave holding my

flashlight in its paws is a riolu. But it doesn't look like any of the riolu

images I have seen before; this one has yellow fur where there should be

blue fur. When he sees me his eyes go even wider and the flashlight starts

to shake, "Please don't hurt me!"

My jaw practically hits the dirt, iHe can talk!/i

I shake my head and grab the skull before I shuffle through the opening

and into the open cavern. "I'm not going to hurt you. Why would I?"

"To try and catch me." the riolu whimpers, "Like all the other trainers I've

run into."

I laugh, "Do I look like a trainer to you?" The riolu takes a moment to look

me over, then nods. I frown, there are trainers smeared with blood and

wearing shredded shirts? "Well, I'm not. I'm just a runaway."

"Me too." The riolu says, then presses himself back against the far wall as

Rogue slips in to sit next to me with a confused expression on her face.

"What is she doing here?"

I glance at Rogue, "She's with me."

Rogue looks up at me and yips questioningly. I look over to the riolu, "What

did she ask?"

"She asked how you can understand me." the riolu replies, then his eyes go

wide as saucers, "Wait! You can understand me?"

I chuckle, "Yeah, because you are talking in human speech." I pause

looking from the riolu to Rogue as they stare at me, then it dawns on me,

"You aren't speaking English are you?"

The riolu shakes his head fervently and I shrug and crawl over to start

digging in my backpack, "Well, I don't know how, but I can."

I reach out a hand towards the riolu, "Can I see that flashlight?"

I feel the plastic handle slap into my palm and I turn the light on the

contents of the backpack. A couple shirts, a book on wilderness survival,

scissors, a first aid kit, some antiseptic spray and a couple potions. I hand

the flashlight back to the riolu and take out the antiseptic. I strip off my

ruined shirt and wince as it pulls off some of the scabs over my chest and I

start bleeding again. But that needs to happen anyway. I hesitate briefly

before taking a deep breath and fiercely rubbing my chest with the bloody

fabric, painfully stripping off the rest of the scabs.

I shut my eyes and grit my teeth as I quickly spray the antiseptic across my

entire torso. I whimper at the sharp burn followed by the mellower bubbling

sting of the antiseptic at work. The smell of it fills the cave as I lay back

against the backpack.

"What happened to you?" the riolu asks in awe of the wounds.

Rogue yips something and I raise a brow as the riolu turns to stare at the

skull. "You picked a fight with a iferaligatr/i?"

I chuckle, "Not intentionally." I pause before wiping my chest off with a wipe

from the first aid kit, "My name's Danny, and she is Rogue."

The riolu looks at me with an awed expression, "I'm Gin."

I smile warmly and reach out a fist, "Welcome to the club, Gin."

Gin reaches out to bump his paw against my fist, but frowns, "Why would

you want me in your club? I'm a freak!"

I chuckle as I shut my eyes and relax. "Gin, we don't discriminate. Besides,

there are people who would kill to get their hands on you. Regardless, you

are one of us as of now. You're one of the Runaways now."

"The Runaways?" Gin asks in confusion.

I open an eye to look at him, "Fine, I'll make a better name tomorrow, but

it'll do for now. Turn off the flashlight and go to sleep."

I feel Rogue sidling up on my right side as Gin turns off the flashlight and

curls up on my left, his head resting on my shoulder. We are going to do it.

We are going to live out here and prove that witch wrong.