Chapter 1: Thieves, Death, and a Beautiful Sky
Dawn smiled a sly smile. She had been doing this for a while, so she was pretty good. She grabbed a cart, and walked around as if purchasing things. She picked up an apple, examined it, and dropped it into her shopping basket. She didn't care whether it was bruised or not. She had been traveling in-between Vern City and Opal Town for a while now, and hadn't had a decent meal for a whole day.
She wished she could just grab handfuls of stuff, and run out, make it quick, and not waste precious time "buying", but she knew she would get caught if she did.
Dawn sighed, and moved on to the canned foods section. She debated about whether she still had he can opener, after the time she had been hiding in a warehouse, got locked in, and used it to break her way out.
What kind of a life did I choose to live? Dawn thought. What sort of-oh, that's right, IT WASN'T MY FAULT!
She felt like crying, but held her tears in. She knew that crying gets you nowhere. Sure, she had used it to get out of going when she had stolen from the corner store, but she never had cried out of emotion.
'Whatever.", she muttered. She stuck a can of peas in, got a can opener, and moved on.
After a while, she was just about finished, ducked behind a wide endcap, and stuffed the can of green beans, the can opener, an apple, two cucumbers, a bottle of water, and vanilla cookies in her plastic shopping bag.
She noticed someone walking her way, and jumped into the box of watermelon on the endcap. A raven-haired boy with a red hat came and leaned way into the shelf. She thought he was nutso, but he pulled out a strip of wires, his face turned as red as a tomato, and he stalked off towards the manager's room.
What was that all about? Dawn thought, but shook it off. She had to get out of the store, and fast, because if management came out, she was caught.
She quickly and as casually as possibly walked out of the store. She noticed they had these big grey tower thingies by the door, but only realized they were for security purposes too late, and an alarm sounded. Everyone turned to look at her, and she ran out of the store as fast as possible.
She almost got hit by a car on the way out, and scraped her left leg because of it. She began to limp, but it didn't affect her speed. She cut through an alleyway, but the store workers were fast behind her. She ran until the busy town turned into small, quaint houses, that then turned into desert. She ran until she met a cliff.
She skidded to a halt, and looked behind her. The workers were still chasing her, and there seemed no other option. She took a step closer, and peered over the cliff. She didn't want to have to jump, but she could at least slide or climb down. She leaned a little father until she heard a strange sound behind her. Before she turned around, someone pushed her, and she fell off the cliff.
On the way down, she did serious life contemplating. She asked herself these dumb questions, but most of all, she thought to herself, It must be nice not to worry anymore. I don't have to worry at all, I wouldn't, I'd be free, freed by death.
She saw the ground getting closer, and said a little prayer that it would be painless. She screamed into the air, "I'm NOT AFRAID! I'M NOT AFRAID ANYMORE, NOT OF DEATH, NOT OF MY LIFE NOW, NOT OF ANYTHING!"
She took a deep breath, and prepared herself for the impact. All of a sudden, a hand reached out and grabbed her skirt. She was lunged into a ledge on the side of the cliff, and fell onto the ground, hitting her head in the process.
Dawn was dazed for a little while, but flew onto her feet the minute she saw a figure looming over her.
It was the boy from the grocery store! "Hi," he said, and smiled. "I'm Ash Ketchum."
She backed away from him. "What do you want?" she said, in the most intimidating way possible.
"Oh, nothing, I- wait, where are you going?" he began, but stopped when he noticed she began to grab her things.
She looked around for her coat. "Where's my coat?! Did you take it?!" she snapped.
"No, I think you lost it in the fall, or whatever you were doing before that. What was it you were doing?"
"Why should I answer that?"
"Look, it's okay, I'm fine, I'm a good person, I'm trustworthy, you have to understand. Um, where do you live? We should get to your house, it's getting dark now, and your parents will probably be worried."
"WHAT IS IT YOUR BUSINESS, YOU CREEP! I'm sorry, but why do you want to know?"
"Well, you should get, home, it's just-"
"I DON'T HAVE ONE! I DON'T HAVE ONE, OKAY? NOW THAT WE'VE GOTTEN THAT OVER WITH, YOU CAN ASK ME A MILLION OTHER PERSONAL QUESTIONS! DO YOU HAVE PARENTS?! DO YOU HAVE MONEY?! DO YOU HAVE A POKÉMON? HUH? ARE YOU CLEAN? ARE YOU HAPPY? ARE YOU WELL-FED?! JUST TREAT ME LIKE A DOG, like a little, little dog... that's better than what I am, a better existence... I SHOULD BE HAPPY, LIVING LIKE A DOG, a POOR LITTLE DOG, it's better, b-e-t-t-e-r!"
She began to cry, just one tear, but wiped it away. It was a sign of weakness. And she couldn't be weak now. Not now, not ever.
"Look, I don't have a family either. I don't have a house, this is my home." he gestured all around him. "I have a bed and everything, and I keep my Pokéballs there, too. There's a little stove-thing in the corner, and I keep my food around there. If you want, we can go outside on the ledge; the stars are beautiful around this time."
"Fine, but make it quick, I have places to be, things to do."
"Here, follow me, you have to know your way around these places. Are you a good climber?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Here, let's make a right, I'm still clearing the path around the left. It's amazing that there are ledges here, I don't think this is a normal cliff. It's special, the weirdest thing is that there's water running in certain places. I'm starting to think it's more of a moun-"
He stopped when he noticed when she wasn't listening, but smiled. She was staring at the stars. The sky was a beautiful, deep deep blue, and the stars twinkled perfectly.
"Oh, and by the way," he asked. "What's your name?"
"I'm Dawn," she whispered. "Dawn Berlitz."