Okay here's the next chapter. Thanks to all that reviewed. I hope to get more readers soon.
DISCLAIMER: See chapter one for details.
Chapter 2
Jessie, James, and Meowth arrived at the fork in the road a few minutes after James caught Chimchar. Not wanting to get into another fight at the moment, James silently took the right path without complaining. Jessie was actually a bit surprised. Usually James was always complaining about something. She shrugged and just walked after James and Meowth.
They had been walking down the path for a while, when the temperatures began to drop. James looked up at the sky and noticed the clouds were a dark gray. That couldn't be good. Luckily, Jessie and Meowth noticed this as well.
"Meowth, was there anything on the map about these mountains be snowy?" Jessie asked.
Meowth took out the map again and looked at it. "Dere's nothin' on here about it," he said. "I would tink that if these mountains were snowy dey would tell us dat."
James looked up at the sky again as he felt something land on his nose. Sure enough, it had begun to snow.
"Well, obviously they didn't because it's starting to snow," he said.
"Great, just what we need," Jessie mumbled to herself.
James wanted to tell her that they should've taken the other path, but decided against it. He would try to not start any fights.
"C'mon, let's get moving. The sooner we cross these mountains the better…" he said instead.
Jessie nodded in agreement and picked up her pace to catch up with him.
---
No less than an hour later, the snow shower had turned into a violent storm. The temperatures dropped even lower as the wind picked up. Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, not a single sign of the sun was visible. James and Jessie continued to trudge through the snow which was now up to their ankles. James had to eventually carry Meowth when the snow became too deep for him. Their boots were soaked as well as their socks, so they were almost walking barefoot in the snow.
Snow was continuously blowing on them and making small piles on top of them. James could hear Jessie's teeth chattering behind him and just realized that his were chattering as well. Their Rocket uniforms weren't that warm and all they had on under them were short sleeves shirts. Jessie was worse off because her shirt showed her belly.
"James, we have to find a cave or something. We can't keep walking in this, we'll get sick or worse freeze!" she yelled at him over the harsh winds.
"I know!" he hollered back. "Let me know if you see some shelter that will be of use!"
They continued walking. To make matters worse, aside from the snow, they were walking uphill which made walking even harder. Not to mention the wind was blowing right at them.
At one point, James stepped on a thin piece of ice which began to crack under his weight. He wasn't able to hear the cracking thanks to the wind whistling in his ear, but Jessie could see that the crack was spreading and was going to break soon.
"James stop!" she yelled. "The ice you're standing on is about to break!"
James looked below him and saw the deep cracks. He knew he needed to move, but found he couldn't. His feet were numb and he was paralyzed with fear.
"Get movin' or we won't make it!" Meowth told him.
"I can't!" James said back.
Meowth knew he would have to make James move by himself. He found James' wrist and sunk his teeth into it.
"Ouch! What was that for Meowth?" he yelled.
"Get movin'!"
James slowly turned around so he was facing Jessie. He put his foot up and was about to put it down again when Jessie stopped him.
"Wait, you have to move slowly so you won't break the ice!" she called to him.
He then lifted the other and repeated the same motions. He was almost back to Jessie when the ice made an eerie cracking sound.
"James hurry the ice is going to break!" Jessie said.
Right when she said that, the ice gave way and collapsed under James' feet. Before he could even blink once he was falling towards the ground thousands of feet below him.
"James!" Jessie yelled as he fell.
With the wind cutting his face from the velocity he was falling, James was barely able to keep his eyes open enough to see. He somehow managed to grab hold of a small ledge on the side on the cliff. He looked down and immediately felt like throwing up. He watched as rocks from the mountain fell to the ground. James couldn't even see them land they were so far up.
"Meowth, climb up by yourself, so I can use both of my arms," James told him.
"But I-!"
"Just do it!" James yelled, feeling the ledge he was holding onto about to crumble.
Meowth crawled out of James' arms so he was standing on James' head. He looked up and saw Jessie had her hand out so he could grab it. Meowth leapt up and just managed to grab her hand. Jessie pulled Meowth to safety and, after reassuring he was alright, looked back over the edge of the cliff at James. He was still dangling from the ledge which was seconds away from breaking. She knew he couldn't hold on much longer. He looked up and from his eyes she could tell he knew the same thing.
James was looking around for another ledge or something to grab onto. He spotted one quite a long reach away from him. He tried to reach for it and just barely missed it. He knew he probably could've if it wasn't for the coldness taking all of his energy away. But he wasn't going to give up. After all the times he had given up in the past, he knew that it was time he pulled through.
James glanced back up at the ledge again before looking down at his feet. He tried pulling one foot up to a tiny ledge he spotted near his left foot. Once he was sure that the tiny ledge was sturdy enough, he pushed up and tried to grab hold of the ledge above him. His fingers brushed it, but he couldn't get a firm grip on it. His foot slipped of its ledge as he began to slide down the mountain a bit. James managed to keep a hold of the one ledge to keep him from falling. He heard Jessie gasp from up above him as he slipped. This ignited a tiny spark in the back of his head. Why was she worried? She had never been worried about his well being before so why now? Whenever he tripped or got shocked by Pikachu, Jessie never cared to ask if he was okay. Yet, he always asked her.
That was getting off the subject however. This was a life or death situation that didn't allow daydreaming. James tried again to reach the ledge above him, this time pushing up on both feet instead of one. He successfully managed to grab the ledge and felt a bit more relieved. The rest of the climb seemed easy enough. There were many ledges now that would help him.
Slowly, he climbed up the rest of the cliff until he reached Jessie's hand that was outstretched towards him. He thought about doing the rest by himself, just to prove to her he could take care of himself, but… his fingers were in pain not only from the cold, but from climbing as well.
Reluctantly, James grabbed Jessie's hand and she hauled him up to safety. James remained on his knees for a few minutes catching his breath.
"Are you okay, James?" Jessie asked him.
"Dandy. Never felt better," James snapped at her giving her a cold glare.
Jessie quickly backed away from him. She had never heard him snap before. Especially at her. Usually it was the other way around. She hadn't realized she had gotten lost in her thoughts until James called her.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to get out of this storm before we freeze," he told her.
Jessie got up and followed him. "Sorry," she muttered.
"Don't talk to me," James said.
Jessie didn't say anything to him after that. She turned to Meowth who was hitching a ride on her shoulder.
"What'd I do?" she asked.
Meowth shrugged. "He's probably just worried we won't find shelter. Dat or da cold's gettin' to him," he replied.
Jessie just followed after him. They trekked on for a bit longer before James spotted what looked like a cavern in one of the mountain walls. He walked over to investigate and then waved Jessie over.
"This will have to do for now," he said. "At least it will keep us out of the snow."
He ducked inside and Jessie followed his lead. Thankfully, the inside was tall enough for them to stand up and walk around a bit. The only problem was that it was dark.
"It's too dark in here," Jessie said.
"I noticed," James replied in a cold tone.
There was silence between the two before James spoke up again.
"I'll go see if I can find any trees to get enough wood for a fire," he said.
"Do you want us to come with you?" Jessie asked.
There she went worrying about him again.
"No. I don't need any help," he mumbled as he crawled back out into the storm.
---
Jessie and Meowth were beginning to wonder what was taking James so long. Jessie was about to get up to start looking for him when she saw his silhouette enter the cave again. James set the wood down in the middle of the cave before taking out a Poke'Ball. He opened it and Chimchar came out.
"Chimchar, use ember on the wood to start us a fire," James told it.
Chimchar nodded and faced the pile of wood lying before it. It let out a few flames, just enough to get the fire going. James smiled a bit and nodded in approval.
"Thanks, return."
Chimchar disappeared in its Poke'Ball once more. He then sat down by the fire to try and warm himself up. Jessie soon stood up and walked closer to the fire. It was much brighter in the cave now and Jessie, James, and Meowth were all thankful for that.
Jessie took a seat next to James who didn't even seem to acknowledge that she just sat down beside him.
"James, what's wrong?" she asked, in the most caring voice she could muster.
For some reason, whether it was the cold or something else, James snapped and couldn't hold his anger in any more.
"What do you think is wrong?!" he barked. "We're stranded in the middle of a blizzard in some unknown mountain range! We almost froze our butts of and I almost fell and got killed all because of you!"
This sparked a flame in Jessie as well. "Why is all of this my fault?"
"Don't play dumb! You were the one who wanted to take this path, you were the one who said it's be easier to cross, therefore everything that has happened before is you're fault!" James yelled.
"Well excuse me, but how was I supposed to know that a blizzard would come just as we were coming through?" Jessie asked him.
"Because wherever you go something bad happens!" James barked. "You're just a bad luck magnet. Whenever you're with us, we either get hurt, lost, or beaten by those twerps! I bet if you just left us, out lives would be a lot easier!"
Once the words were out of his mouth, he instantly regretted what he had said. How could he say that? How could he be so mean? He was supposed to be the one getting yelled at not vise-versa!
Jessie back away from him, frightened by his outburst. His words were so cold. So filled with hate. She felt her heart begin to break into two. What had come over him to cause him to yell at her like that? It was almost like the two of them had switched minds.
The look of hurt one Jessie's face was too much for James to bear. He had to apologize. Too bad it was too late for that…
"Jessie, listen…I-," he started.
"No just forget it," Jessie snapped back, her voice quavering. "Maybe I should quit Team Rocket. I know it'd make you happier. Good luck James, and goodbye."
Without another word, she stood up and ran out of the cave. James quickly stood up and ran out after to her to try and catch her, but once he had exited the cave, she was already gone. James felt his heart begin to twist. What had he done?
"Jessie!" he hollered. "Come back Jessie! I didn't mean it!"
His only answer was the wind and snow plowing against his face. He looked in all directions to try and spot her, but it was impossible with all the snow.
A wave of guilt then washed over James. This was all his fault. If he had just controlled his anger and kept his mouth shut, they'd both still be in the cave and be warm. Now, Jessie was out in this blizzard by herself with only Arbok, Seviper, and Wobbuffet. If she wasn't able to find any shelter she would freeze. Or worse… James tried not to think about it.
He called out her name one final time, but after getting no answer again, he gave up and walked back into the cave. Meowth was waiting for him by the fire. James plopped down on the ground and began to sob. Meowth, hate seeing his friend sad, walked over to try and comfort him.
"What have I done Meowth?" he asked, looking up at him. "I pushed her away when we needed each other the most. Why did I say that?"
"I don't know Jim," Meowth answered. "You know she'll come back. Whenever yous two gets into a fight, you always get back tagether in da end."
"You don't get it," James replied. "I was the one who yelled at her. I forgive people easily because I'm used to being yelled at, but Jessie… I've never heard anyone yell at her before. What if she won't forgive me?"
"She will," Meowth said, patting his back. "She's probably trying to find us right now."
A thought then hit James. "What if she gets lost?" he thought out loud.
Without waiting for Meowth to answer. He stood up and began walking out of the cave once again.
"Wait!" Meowth called. "Where are you going?"
"I have to go find Jessie and apologize. I'm worried about her," James answered him.
"Can't we wait 'till tamorrow?" Meowth asked.
"No, the longer she's out there by herself, the more danger she's in," James replied. "Now come on unless you want to be left behind."
Meowth jumped on James' shoulder as they both left the cave to try and find their missing companion.
"I swear, if anything's happened to her, I'll never forgive myself," James thought to himself.
Uh-oh, what has James done? Stay tuned for the next installment and you just may find out! Please review!
