Chapter 2
Updated: 1/19/15
Someone shakes my whole body, and I open my eyes groggily to see a blurry Rhythmi.
"Five more minutes..." I mumble sleepily and turn onto my side. This time, the shake is much more vigorous.
"Wha..." I sit up and rub my sleepy eyes, then look at the clock that says 1: 00 A.M. "Rhythmi... it's the middle of the night..." I groan.
"I know, but come with me- HEY, wake up!" I almost fall asleep again but my friend didn't allow me to do that. She shakes me awake again and practically yelling at my ears.
I bolt up from my bed, still exhausted and now nearly deaf. "I'm up, I'm up." I heave a sigh and hold up my tired hands in defeat. But who in there right mind would wake up at one the the morning? Especially to wake up more people.
"Great! c'mon then!" Rhythmi pips and motions her hand for me to follow her out of the dorm room.
"Okay..." I say groggily, but my grip slips as I try to get up from my bunk bed. "Wah!"
THUMP!
... I'm definitely not a morning person - if this could be consider morning at all.
Rhythmi turns to see me headbutting the floor. She facepalms and quickly helps me up, pulling me out of the dorm as she does so, saying something about not having time for this.
I rub my aching head as I stand by the table in the common room. I move to the couch to sit down so that I wouldn't fall because I'm feeling a little off balance right now. Probably because i'm still have asleep.
"Took you long enough!" Keith growls impatiently, standing with his arms crossed and tapping a foot against the floor. What got him so tied up in a knot?
"She was hard to wake up!" She looks at me as I begin to fall asleep again, on the couch this time.
"Kate!" They both snap at me, which causes me to straighten right up. Keith puts a hand on his forehead in exasperation. "Okay, I believe you but let's get this thing started already."
They say something else, but I can't make it out but I know that it's long, like an explanation; but the words went in from one ear and straight out the other.
"Wha...what's going on..?" I drone on sleepily and look around to see a group of students, including Keith, Rhythmi, and Kellyn. "Where are we and why are we here?" They all fall to the floor, except for Kellyn.
"Kate!" Keith take hold of my shoulders and shakes me to my core. "Wake up!"
The shaking is making me dizzy, but I became alert after. I slap his hands away and glare at him. "You didn't need to do it for that long."
"We're going to have you go through the Trial of Courage!" Rhythmi informs.
"The wha...?" I say blankly, forgetting my previous annoyance. They facefault again, but bolt right up after.
"Did you not listen to us the first time?!" Keith whisper - yells in exasperation, holding his hands up in the air and making him look like a human shaped Y.
I shake my head. "Nope." I don't do well in paying attention when I'm sleepy, but then again, who does?
"Geez, now I know what it feels like when someone talks to me but I don't pay attention," Keith says indignantly, covering his face with his hands.
Rhythmi rolls her eyes and takes on the role of explaining to me what this trial is about. "Basically, every new student of the school is tested on the night that they arrive,"
"We did this a while ago," Keith says. "So now it's your turn!"
"Me?" I point to myself. They all nod, somewhat enthusiastic about this despite the early wake up call.
"Don't worry, Kellyn will accompany you, since you need a partner to do it!" Keith pushes Kellyn towards me, but I can tell that he doesn't even want to be here in the first place.
"I thought you said you wanted to do it again?" Rhythmi raises one eyebrow while asking the redhead testingly. "You were like 'I got this in the bag'."
"Well..." Keith scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "I, er... changed my mind..."
Rhythmi has a look of realization dawning her face and smirks. "O-h, I get it."
"W-what?" Keith says cautiously, stepping back in defense when he hear the teasing tone in her voice.
"You're afraid of the dark, aren't you?" Rhythmi taunts. "I remember when I got paired with you. It was hilarious!"
"What happened?" I ask out of curiosity but the thought of Keith being scared caught most of my attention.
"Well-"
"Okay, okay! I'll go with her!" Keith grumbles, interrupting the conversation while his face turns red.
"Uh, okay?" I blink. But be really embarrassing. I'll make a mental note to ask Rhythmi about it later, when Keith isn't around to interrupt us.
"I'll be nice and let Kellyn come along with you too." Rhythmi grins triumphantly and then pushes Kellyn towards us. "Be a dear and watch them so that they don't get in trouble okay?"
I can tell that he wants to argue but Rhythmi has this frightening look that leave no room for arguments. Didn't know she can do that.
"And here are your flashlights!" She hands the three of us flashlights, and shoves us down the stares. I was tempted to tinker with the flashlight that Rhythmi gave me, but I was prevented from doing so when tapping footsteps came from the side.
"W-what was that?!" Keith blanches and jumps behind us - or to be specific, behind me.
"Eh..?" I widen my eyes at his sudden reaction. I look over to Kellyn, who isn't bothered at all by any of this. He didn't complain -openly- about being dragged in this, either but his face clearly shows that this was a waste of his time. The two of us search with our flashlights and locate the tapping noise.
... It's a Bidoof.
"Be careful Keith, he might eat you," I deadpan, shining a spotlight on the Plump Mouse Pokemon and unintentionally scaring the Bidoof off. Keith puts a hand to his chest and sighs in relief.
"Just a Bidoof," he murmurs. "He startled me."
"Oh really?" I ask sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. "It look more like you were scared out of our writs. And can you let go of me now?"
"Huh?"
I point to the obvious hand that is still wrap around my waist. He quickly lets go of me and widening the distance between us. Even though it's dark, I can make out the reddish pink coloring his cheeks but from embarrass for hugging me or for being scared, I haven't a clue.
"A-a-anyway, l-let's g-get this o-over with!" he stammers uncharacteristically spooked. I roll my eyes. The show-off is losing his cool, fast.
The first place I go to is the staff room, or at least I think it is. I hold up my flashlight to the label that says: [Staff Room]
I open the door to see the empty staff room.
Okay... a bit creepy.
Everything is where they're supposed to be but there's this ominous air hanging in the atmosphere that send chills down my spine. Who knew the school could be this eerie during the night? It could be considered as a haunted house if there aren't actually people sleeping right on the floor above us.
"By the way... What am I supposed to do?"
"Okay so, you need to find the four Stylers that we left in each room and bring them down to the basement, and then we're done," Keith explains quickly. "No do this quietly."
"Okay, okay." I look around to see if there is one in the staff room, but there isn't. Someone taps my shoulder, and I turn to see Kellyn right behind me. For a second, my heart skips a beat and i jump in start. Ugh. Keith's fright is making me scared too.
"There." He points to a Pichu. I tilt my head, trying to figure out what he meant, but as the Pichu wanders around, I see a green Styler strapped onto his back.
"Oh! Thanks!"
"Kellyn! You're not supposed to give it away like that!" Keith snaps. Kellyn only shrugs. I walk over to the Pichu.
How hard is it to get it off of a Pichu?
I try to make a grab for the Pichu, but he notices me and runs away.
"Pi! Pichu!" He cries out, startled.
Okay... I take it back. This is going to take awhile.
"Hey! Come back here!" I left the door open, so the Pichu runs out in his panic. I chase him out of the room, not knowing where i'm going to be heading to.
"H-hey! W-wait up!" I hear Keith shout, but I'm too focused on the Pichu to stop.
"I should've used my styler to capture it when I had the chance!" I mutter, thinking how stupid I am. "Now I can barely locate the Pichu!"
I slide open the library and hurry inside. I see Pichu up on the highest shelf in the room, reaching to the ceiling in its glory. Why is there a shelf this high, anyways?
"Pichu!" He pulls the skin under its eye down and sticks out its tongue to mock me.
"Why you..." I get angry and dash to the shelf to start climbing. As I start up, everything begins repeating itself.
"Pi pichu!" He squeaks and starts to run away again.
"Oh no you don't." I take out my Styler and release the disc. "Capture on!"
I use my free arm to guide the disc, while the other one and my feet take a firm position on the shelves. The Pichu looks confused and readies an Thundershock. I clench my teeth as I move my arm faster. The disc makes a solid circle and engulfs Pichu in a flash, but he uses the electric-type move at the same moment.
"Rrrgh!" The electricity shocks me, and my grip slips, causing me to fall backwards. I close my eyes and wait for the pain of the impact. Three, two, one...
Nothing happened, I didn't feel anything. I barely open one of my eyes and see the silhouette of a figure. I open my other eye and realize who it is.
"Kellyn...?" I say, a bit surprised. He's carrying me bridal-style.
"Pi pichu!" Pichu hops down and walks to my side, looking apologetic.
Kellyn sighs. "You should think things through before you act."
My face blushes bright red but thank Arceus that he can't see my face in the dark. I wouldn't want him to get the wrong idea about this. "Could you put me down now?" I squeak.
He sets me down and put his hands on his hips. Pichu hands me the Styler he had with him and I thank him in return.
"You could've captured it without climbing up the shelf." Kellyn points out in an obvious tone.
"I... um..." I squeak, my face still red. My memories are kinda blurry. I felt a sudden soreness traveling through my body. I drop to down on one knee and put my elbow on it, panting.
What's going on?
"Are you okay?" He gets on one of his knees as well. I glance at him, and could swear I see a look of worry on his face, but he looks away. I look around and see another Styler, but... it's on a shelf. I stand up and walk to it, but end up falling forward again. Kellyn catches and supports me.
"Heheh... Let's just get this over with so I can go back to sleep." I laugh sheepishly. "i'm not a morning person... or night person."
"... I notice." he bother to comment impassively. I roll my eyes, blowing a strand o hair out of my eye and start to ascend the bookshelf.
At least it's not as high.
I run a hand on the very top, feeling for the familiar object. Once I got it, I promptly hop down, feeling the shock of hitting the ground springing up my spine as my feet land on the floor.
"Let's go!" He nods and follow me out.
"Oh, and thanks, Pichu!"
"Pi! Pichu!" He chirps and leaves. We leave and head over to our classroom.
"Wait." I stop, realizing something. "Where's Keith?"
We look around, but see no trace of him. How and when did we lose him?
Wait, wait, wait! That means... I'm alone... with Kellyn?! I panic inwardly as I turn red. Luckily, it's dark, so he doesn't notice it.
Keith's POV
"Um... guys?" I call out, but get no response. Chills run down my spine as I look around in the dark. I try walking around by I ended up hitting a wall. I stumble back and rub my face while cursing.
"Great time to lose my flashlight and them..." I grumble.
Kate's POV
Keith probably got lost and ended up back at the stairs, so I don't worry much about him. Kellyn... on the other hand, is a different story. The silence between us is nice but it's also unbearable. I want to say something but he'll probably shoot it down with a witty remark or something.
We enter our classroom, and at night, I have to admit it's pretty scary, even though I know it's my classroom. There is a shuffling noise, and I jump behind Kellyn.
"W-what is that?!"
"It's only a Bidoof." he says calmly, flashing his light at the Pokémon. I facepalm at my jumpiness.
"I'm starting to act like Keith..." I mutter, then see a bunch of crates. I guess the Styler is hidden in one of them, since I don't see it around anywhere; thankfully, there's the Bidoof in here.
"Capture on!" I release my disc and guide it to the Bidoof, making movements with the Styler until a solid line forms and the Pokémon flashes.
"Capture complete." I click my Styler as the disc returns to me.
"Bidoof, crush that crate!" I command, pointing at the one next to Ms. April's desk. Bidoof smashes the crate to pieces, and I find the third Styler.
"Thanks, Bidoof!" Bidoof smiles and walks away.
"One more to go," I murmur. Kellyn and I head to Mr. Kincaid's room and quickly spot the last Styler on a desk. I take it – now I'm almost done.
That one was the easiest yet!
I spoke too soon as a Zubat comes attacking my face.
"AHHH!" I scream and run around, trying to get the Zubat away from me. I hate bat pokemon. Period.
Someone takes ahold of me, and I look to see the Zubat flying away. I sigh inwardly and look up to see that it's Kellyn. I notice just how tall he is, and I wonder if he's older than me.
"Why didn't you capture it to calm it down?" He states like it's the most obvious thing to do. Which, I suppose, it is.
"Well, for one thing, it came out of nowhere." I hold up one finger, and then another. "Second, I'm... scared of Zubats."
I say the last part quickly while looking away, not wanting to see his expression.
"A Ranger must always face the unexpected and overcome their fears," he lectures me again.
"Whatever," I pout, my cheeks red with embarrassment.
Finally, we head down to the basement and place the four Stylers there.
This place... I can feel something weird in here...
We hear footsteps and someone comes out of the room in front of us.
"WHO'S THERE?!" It's Mr. Kincaid yelling at us. "NO ONE'S ALLOWED IN HERE EXCEPT FOR ME!"
"AHHHH!" I scream again and run away, pulling Kellyn with me by the cuff of his uniform. We climb, more like run, up the stairs, but I trip onto the very last one and faceplant onto the floor.
"Kate! Kellyn!" Rhythmi runs over to help me up.
"You guys took so long, I got worried!" Rhythmi says, wiping away a tear that was on her face, then turns her head. "As well as that guy."
I look to where she is glaring and see Keith sleeping on the couch.
"I knew it!" I say, pointing at Keith.
"Whuh?" Keith wakes up and sees the two of us and brighten up. "Kate! Kellyn!"
He jumps at us like a child. Kellyn avoids it, but I, unfortunately, didn't see it coming. "There you guys are!"
"HUH?!" I say, startled as he tackle me to the floor and hugging me like the idiot he is. "What are you?! A three year old?!"
"I tried to look for you guys, but I got lost and I lost my flashlight." Keith continues, ignoring whatever I just said.
It took awhile but I manage to pry him off of me.
He scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "And somehow... I managed to find my way back here."
"Duh... the school isn't that big." Rhythmi flicks his forehead.
"Well, can't really do anything about it anymore," Kellyn says, with a bit of cold tone. I stare at Kellyn.
"What?" He looks back at me.
"Nothing, just glad that you were with me," I say, bluntly but softly. Oops... did I really just say that?
He looks taken aback by what I said and... is that a tinge of red on his face? Must be getting too tired to see properly.
"Oh yeah... We met Mr. Kincaid in the basement..." I say, turning to Rhythmi and Keith.
"Uh oh," they both chorus as one, color draining from their faces.
My first day felt so long. It feels like I've been with these guys for a while. We go back to our respective dorms.
"Kate..." Rhythmi says, sounding like she realized something.
"Yeah?" I sit up from my bed to see Rhythmi somewhat speechless and pale. "W-what?"
"He blushed..."
"Who?" I tilt my head.
"I've never seen him like that..."
"You're making no sense." I frown, then yawn. "I'm going to sleep."
