The Darkest Shadows
Chapter OneShada buried her face into her mother's fur. She breathed in her scent- a piney smell, from the woods they lived in. Tears streamed down her face. Why? she wondered. Why did this happen. Why did they come?
"Shada! RUN!" her mother roared as the huge tyranitar charged towards the zoroark. Shada was too afraid to move. Tears of fear welled in her eyes. Her legs didn't seem to move. The zoroark looked over her shoulder. "RUN!" she howled once again, then turned to face the monster.
The small zorua finally seemed to regain control of her body. She turned and bolted into the undergrowth. When she was deep enough to be protected, she turned around and looked out from the ferns. The tyranitar had reached her mother. It roared and reached out a hand, then swiped the zoroark across the face, scarlet droplets splattering from the three large gashes left by the beast's claws. Shada gasped and struggled to swallow the lump rising in her throat. No… she whimpered in her head.
The zoroark snarled and glared at the tyranitar, an uncontrollable wildfire burning in her eyes. She leaped forward at the dinosaur, but it only shoved her away. As she tumbled onto the ground, the tyranitar stepped up to her. She gritted her teeth and got to her feet. As she prepared to launch a shadow ball at the monster, the tyranitar swiped its claws at her with immense force. She flew back and smashed into a rock, leaving blood splatters on the smooth gray surface. She fell to the ground and lay motionless. Please, get up! Shada silently pleaded. Please!
She could only watch in horror as the tyranitar stomped up to where her mother lay. It picked the barely conscious pokemon up and pinned her against a tree with one hand and prepared to swipe her in the face with a powerful blow with the other hand. The zoroark managed to look the tyranitar in the eyes with her blue stare before all she could see was blood filling her eyes.
Shada could watch no longer. She whimpered and buried her face in her paws.
She didn't look up until the pained howls of her mother and the vicious roars of the tyranitar had ceased. She looked around and saw nothing in sight but a pile of red and black fur. She gulped and crept out from the ferns. A pool of blood surrounded her mother, and she was bleeding from her stomach, her chest, her sides, her face, and her neck. "M-mother?" she whimpered. "Please, wake up."
But she knew that her mother would never wake up. She knew she was gone.
The warmth began to fade from her mother's body. The zorua buried her face deeper into the soft fur. It all happened so fast. One moment they were playing in the forest clearing, the next, the green pokemon showed up and ended it. Ended it all. Ended their games, ended their happiness, and ended her life.
The zorua eventually fell asleep, her mind haunted by what had just happened.
She awoke dazed, not rested at all. She felt more tired than before. At first, she had no idea where she was. All of it felt like a dream. Then she looked down, and saw the body, the wounds, the blood on both of their fur. Tears rolled down her eyes. She wanted to die with her mother. She wanted to find the tyranitar and demand it to kill her. But there was something she oddly longed more than that. Revenge. She knew she had to avenge her mother's death, but how. She was no match for that monster. She never would be either. But she knew that somehow, she had to find a way. She was determined. Someone had to pay for this.
As much as she didn't want to, Shada stood up. She took one final look at her mother's body as tears streamed down her face, took a deep breath, then turned and walked away.
She walked in a random direction, with no idea where she was going. She had tried to find the tyranitar's scent, but it was impossible.
She walked through the forest, stepping on fallen pine needles and braches as she went.
Eventually, she stepped into an open area, bright sunlight shining down on her. She had never left the forest in her life. The outside world was so strange. So alien. She longed to dart back the way she came and curl up next to her mother, but she knew that would get her no where. She took a step forward, then another, flinching at the strange, warm feeling on the grass which sunlight beat down on almost everyday. She pushed herself onward. Ahead she could see tall gray mountains that reached for the cloud-flecked blue sky. But they were far, far away. Something about those mountains called to her though. That something pushed her onward. She knew she had to go the mountains. Something was lying in wait there.
She would go to those mountains, and eventually avenge her mother, even if it was the very last thing she did.
Dusk was thrown to the ground, dazed, his eyes wide with fear. He turned his gaze to look behind him. The houndoom took another step forward. He squeezed his eyes shut, prepared for the pain. Just get it over with… he pleaded. He could feel the houndoom's warm breath on his back.
"Nightshadow! That's enough! I think the pup's learned his lesson!" called a voice. The houndoom snarled in annoyance. It then leaned down and whispered in the poochyana's ear. "Listen kid," he snarled. "You may have been lucky this time, but next time you trespass, you won't be allowed to escape."
The poochyana immediately scurried to his feet and darted out of the camp, leaving behind a huge chunk of meat, which he tried to steal.
Dusk didn't stop running until he was far away from the houndoom pack's camp. He stopped and caught his breath. His stomach growled and he placed a paw on it. "I'm so hungry…" he moaned, plopping to the ground.
He would've never been in this condition if his parent's hadn't been killed by that hunter. Why did that hunter have to come with his long metal stick? His life had changed drastically. He was all alone, with no one to hunt for him, no one to provide him warmth and shelter, no one to care for him. He was hyper and fearless with his parents around. Now he felt as if he was cornered in a dark alley with dozens of vicious pokemon ready to rip him to shreds. He whimpered sadly and found a hollow in a tree trunk. He curled up inside of it, laying on a bed of damp, musty dead leaves. There was no warmth at all.
Outside it began to rain. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Dusk rested his head on his paws and tried to sleep, but even though he was tired enough to sleep for a week, he couldn't. It seemed impossible for some reason. Was it because he felt so alone? He didn't know. He listened to the rhythm of the rain outside, and the distant roar of the thunder.
Eventually, he couldn't go any longer. He slowly drifted into darkness.
Dusk awoke to bright sunlight shining into the hollow in the tree trunk. He blinked several times, then stood up and stretched. His stomach roared. He padded out of the hollow and looked around.
The meadow was filled with the chirping of birds and the chattering of ferrets and patrats. The grass was wet from the previous night's storm, and droplets of water gathered on his paws.
Dusk sniffed the air, hoping that he could find easy prey. He scented a tailow, an injured one. He padded towards the scent.
He found it laying in a patch of tall grass, with a broken wing. He sniffed it, making sure it wasn't sick. He sighed, staring at the bird. He had never killed anything before, well, except maybe beetles or ants that crawled on his food, but other than that, no. Taking a deep breath, he raised a forepaw and aimed it at the bird's neck. Closing his eyes, he dealt a powerful blow to the poor tailow. It let out a final, pain filled squawk, then lay motionless beneath him.
Opening his eyes, Dusk smiled. He was proud of himself, for killing his first prey, even if it wasn't a challenging kill. He picked the dead bird up by a wing and dragged it back to the hollow in the tree trunk, where he curled up and ate it.
It didn't take him long to finish it. He devoured it quickly, leaving no scraps of meat behind. Dusk stood up and licked his chops, then padded out of the hollow, feeling refreshed.
He looked around the meadow, watched furrets and pachirisus scurry up the trunks of the trees that were scattered around the land. He looked back into a large clump of trees, the entrance to a forest. He padded towards it.
When he was a few yards away from the trees, he saw a human walk out of the forest. At his side were a growlithe and a houndour, and under his arm, was a large metal stick that stank of smoke. He sniffed the air, and froze.
It was the same hunter who killed his parents.
He turned and ran in a random direction.
BOOM!